Christina 2ND-HALF FORECASTS/8-11, 13-15 AGUILERA ADS/12 Aguilera inin thethe newnew Versace ads. WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’MONDAY Daily Newspaper • July 7, 2003 Vol. 186, No. 4 $2.00 Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear Hot Stuff NEW YORK — Narciso Rodriguez has just cranked the heat up to sizzle. His resort collection is full of the lean, sexy silhouettes he’s known for, and he also threw in splashes of fire-engine red just to liven things up. Here, his skintight stretch top and pencil skirt. For more on Rodriguez, see page 6. The Buzz on Tommy: No Rush for New CEO Nor for Acquisitions By Lisa Lockwood NEW YORK — Tommy is taking his own sweet time. Despite mounting pressure from Wall Street to name a new chief executive officer and make acquisitions, Tommy Hilfiger, honorary chairman of his eponymous firm, figures he still has plenty of time to replace Joel Horowitz, who plans to give up the ceo post when his contract expires in March. And Hilfiger doesn’t want to rush into any acquisitions that don’t feel right. See Tommy, Page16 PHOTO BY ROBERT MITRA ROBERT PHOTO BY 2 Sean John Flagship Postponed WWDMONDAY Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear By David Lipke 40th Street and the mid-40s, but has expanded its search to other NEW YORK — P. Diddy will have areas of the city, including SoHo. FASHION Narciso Rodriguez lives by the mantra “less is more,” and for resort he’s to wait a little longer than ex- “We want to open this first store pected for his first flagship. in New York, get the business 6 using fiery red and provocative cutouts to bring things to a boiling point. Last week, Sean John offi- model down, and then expand in cials divulged that negotiations other cities. But first, we have to GENERAL WWD, MONDAY, JULYWWD, MONDAY, 7, 2003 for its first prospective retail establish a successful and sus- venture had hit a roadblock and tainable business model here,” Despite mounting pressure from Wall Street to name a new ceo and make a New York flagship would not said Soriano, who holds an 1 acquisitions, Tommy Hilfiger feels he still has plenty of time to take action. open this fall, as initially ex- M.B.A. degree from Harvard and Sean John officials said negotiations for its first prospective retail venture pected. Charles Soriano, direc- joined Sean John last year, fol- 2 had hit a roadblock and a New York flagship would not open this fall. tor of retail at Sean John, ex- lowing a stint as vice-president plained, “We have experienced of retail at Kate Spade. The apparel and textile industries, stuck in a pattern of constant employment some unfortunate setbacks with In other news, Todd Howard, a 2 erosion, lost a combined 5,400 jobs in June. our desired retail space and former president of men’s jeans, EYE: Talking with Olivia Williams, starring now in “The Heart of Me” and come have started another search for P. Diddy juniors’ jeans and boys’ and girls’ 20 Christmas in “Peter Pan”…and “X-Play” host Morgan Webb…plus a scoop. a new location. The opening has at Tommy Hilfiger, is close to been moved to spring ’04 provid- cial perspective, and are not in- being named chief operating offi- Classified Advertisements ..................................................................18-19 ing a suitable location is found terested in opening a money-los- cer and executive vice-president To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is by the end of the summer.” ing store like some other compa- of Sean John, according to DNR, [email protected], using the individual's name. Sean John recently made an nies have done. We aren’t going to WWD’s sister publication. He offer for a 3,800-square-foot space make a rash decision and we moved into his new offices on SUBSCRIPTION RATES U.S. and possessions, Retailer, daily one year, $99; Manufacturer, daily one year, $135. on Fifth Avenue and 41st Street, want to make sure we get the June 30, but an official announce- All others U.S., daily one year $195. Canada/Mexico, daily one year, $295. All other foreign (Air Speed), daily one year $595. but that deal fell through, “due to right location for the first store.” ment by the company has not Please allow 6-8 weeks for service to start. Individual subscription information/Single Copy Sales : (800) 289-0273; outside U.S. (818) 487-4526; new group subscription information 212-630-4196 issues with the lease and finan- The company is still interest- been made. According to sources, Postmaster: Send address changes to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. cial factors,” said Soriano. “We ed in finding a 3,500- to 4,000- he will report directly to Sean “P. WWD (ISSN #0149-5380) is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue every month except July, and two additional issues in April and August, by Fairchild Publications, Inc. want to do this right from both a square-foot space on Fifth Diddy” Combs, as does executive a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc., 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001-8191. branding perspective and a finan- Avenue, somewhere between vice president Jeffrey Tweedy. WWD is a registered trademark of Fairchild Publications Inc.© 2003 by Fairchild Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner. Editorial Reprints: (212) 221-9595 Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other offices. Mailed under Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 517054. Canada Post Returns to: P.O.Box 1632, Windsor, ON N9A 7C9 GST # 88654-9096-RM 0001 Canada Publications Agreement # 40032712 Printed in the U.S.A. Textile, Apparel Lose 5,400 Jobs in June All signed articles published in the paper represent solely the individual opinion of the writer and not those of WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY. By Kristi Ellis Compared with June 2002, “China is the major cause [for For Web site access, log on and subscribe to www.WWD.com. textile mills lost 22,200 jobs, domestic job losses], but demand WASHINGTON — The apparel while textile mill products lost growth is slowing and we do MONDAY: Paris Couture Week (through Thursday). and textile industries, stuck in a 8,400 jobs. Such dramatic losses have imports from other coun- pattern of constant employment over time have mobilized do- tries,” said Charles McMillion, TUESDAY: Hong Kong Fashion Week (through erosion, lost a combined 5,400 mestic textile groups, which chief economist at MBG Infor- Friday). jobs in June, bringing the total blame the losses primarily on mation Services. “However, Nautica Enterprises annual meeting, New York. employment to 773,200. imports from China. China is clearly undercutting Apparel jobs, on the decline The American Textile Manu- U.S. suppliers, leading the im- WEDNESDAY: Moda Barcelona (through Sunday). for three decades, fell a seasonal- facturers Institute last week re- port surge and driving down ly adjusted 2,000 in June against leased an in-house report — dis- prices to levels where U.S. pro- THURSDAY: Retailers report on same-store sales May to 314,500 workers, accord- puted by importers — claiming ducers can’t compete.” for June. ing to the U.S. Department of the twin industries stand to lose McMillion said U.S. apparel Labor’s employment report re- 630,000 jobs by 2006 if imports and textile makers have so FRIDAY: The U.S. Department of Labor releases the leased Thursday. Compared with from China are not restrained. much unused capacity they are Producer Price Index for June. June 2002, apparel employers Six textile trade and lobby increasingly forced to shut down The U.S. Department of Commerce reports on May slashed 47,000 jobs from payrolls groups are pressuring the Bush plants and lay off workers. imports. on a seasonally adjusted basis. administration to invoke a spe- “The outlook is desperate,” The textile mill category lost cial textile and apparel safe- McMillion said. “The textile and SATURDAY: The Brisbane Reed Gift Trade Fair, 2,400 seasonally adjusted jobs in guard against China. The groups apparel industries are major Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (through July 15). June against May to employ are working on a petition seek- suppliers to many other key in- COMING THIS WEEK 270,800 workers, while textile ing to reimpose several quotas dustries, including automobiles SUNDAY: Rome Couture Shows (through July 17). mill products lost 1,000 jobs to that were lifted on imports from and electronics, and when they employ 187,900 workers. The two China as part of a 10-year phase- weaken, there are ripple effects combined now employ 458,700 out of global quotas set to expire throughout the economy.” workers. on Dec. 31, 2004. Continued on page 7 In Brief ● DONE DEALS: Aris Industries Inc. said Thursday that it com- Stock Levels Key to Second Half pleted its sale of the XOXO, Lola and Fragile trademarks, along with certain related assets and goodwill, to Global Brand By Evan Clark to creatively merchandise their tial, according to Goldman Sachs. Holdings LLC, for $43 million in cash, a deal first announced in stores over the next six months. Of this group, national chains May. Shareholders approved the sale to the New York investment NEW YORK — When June sales The sector started off with a carried the heaviest burden with firm at a special meeting held on June 30.