LATE SPRING FOR KMART?/4 FASHION’S NIGHT/10 Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • November 3, 2003 • $2.00 Uma Thurman and Jean Paul Gaultier at WWDMONDAY Night of Stars. Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear A Simple Plan NEW YORK — Not every girl is into flou and flounce. So fans of streamlined chic will be happy to note that Calvin Klein is branching out with a better-priced collection that will be shown to stores Wednesday. The line features no-fuss looks à la signature Calvin — supersoft tanks and Ts, matte jersey dresses and sporty jackets. Here, a leather jacket, Tencel top and charmeuse skirt. For more on Calvin Klein, see pages 8 and 9. Intrigue Grows at LVMH: Karan Said Up for Sale, Could Jacobs Be Next? By Eric Wilson NEW YORK — Donna Karan International is for sale, after all. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is preparing to sell the fashion house, possibly by the end of the year, according to numerous sources familiar with the two companies. In the meantime, sources said, Jeffry M. Aronsson is the lead candidate to take the chief executive reins at Karan, replacing Fred Wilson. But that’s not the end of the intrigue about LVMH. While insiders say the French luxury conglomerate has been quietly shopping Karan around for at See LVMH, Page13 PHOTO BY THOMAS IANNACCONE; UMA THURMAN BY JOHN CALABRESE THOMAS IANNACCONE; UMA THURMAN BY PHOTO BY lejaby rose. the ultimate french lingerie. trade preview this week. appearing in stores april 2004. 4 WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2003 WWDMONDAY Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear Vendors Bemoan Kmart’s Silent Spring GENERAL Calvin Klein’s new better-price line keeps things simple and streamlined, By Vicki M. Young vice president and chief creative they look elsewhere for business. officer, reporting to chief execu- The Kmart spokeswoman, 8 but sources still expect it to generate first-year sales of $100 million. NEW YORK — Kmart Holding tive Julian Day. She is expected however, emphasized that by Observers are becoming convinced that LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Corp. says it’s being “strategic” to work closely with a chief mer- now a “majority of the orders 1 might be open to a sale of its Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs franchises. about its spring ordering, but chant at Kmart but that post, as have been confirmed” with our some of its vendors have another has been the case for several vendors and that “deliveries are The annual Night of Stars gala heated up when Donna Karan teased her word for the approach — slow. years, has yet to be filled. not in jeopardy.” 10 ceo, Fred Wilson, about his rumored departure for Saks Fifth Avenue. While many of its competi- A Kmart spokeswoman said Non-apparel vendors say that Fin.part, the heavily indebted group, is at odds again with auditor KPMG, tors, such as giants Wal-Mart that the slow pace of spring or- they haven’t experienced any- 2 which has declined to certify its accounts for the first six months of 2003. Stores and Target Corp., have dering was due to nothing more thing unusual with the rate of been busy putting through or- than Schultz and the new team orders placed by the store, so Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana broke with tradition, appearing at ders for the spring season, ap- she’s assembling getting a han- the issue with unconfirmed or- 23 Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship for the launch of their new Sicily fragrance. parel vendors say that Kmart dle on what’s store-bound for ders is peculiar just to apparel EYE: Arthur Inch, the former butler for Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother, currently is sitting on its hands next year. firms. 6 talks about his book, “Dinner Is Served”…lunching with Giambattista Valli. and on confirmation of many “Because of the changes in At least one apparel vendor, spring orders. Their nervous- the Kmart merchandising team, whose sales associate just re- Classified Advertisements ..................................................................26-27 ness was recently exacerbated we were being strategic about turned here from a meeting by the departure of Michael the apparel assortment that with Kmart, wasn’t appeased by To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is Lewis, who had been divisional would appear in our stores for news of the confirmation of a [email protected], using the individual's name. president of women’s wear. spring 2004,” she said. “The “majority” of Kmart’s orders. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. COPYRIGHT ©2003 Manufacturers characterize process involved evaluation and The vendor said, “We were FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. the Troy, Mich.-based dis- reviews of the proposed spring told that orders are not being VOLUME 186, NO. 93. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY (ISSN 0149-5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays counter, which emerged from lines, which delayed confirma- placed right now and that the with one additional issue every month except July and two additional issues in April and September and three in August) by Fairchild Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications, Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY bankruptcy nearly six months tion of vendor orders.” buyers would need to speak 10001. Shared Services provided by Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, ago, as hemming and hawing its Some apparel vendors didn’t with its product development C.O.O.; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice-President and C.F.O.; Jill Bright, Executive Vice-President_Human Resources; John way into the holidays and using seem reassured by that and are team. From what I understand, Buese, Executive Vice-President_ Chief Information Officer; David Orlin, Senior Vice-President_Strategic Sourcing; Robert Bennis, Senior Vice-President_Real Estate; David B. Chemidlin, Senior Vice-President_General Manager, Advance Magazine corporate reorganization and a complaining that Kmart isn’t it is the new team that will place Group Shared Services Center. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post review of early 2004 merchan- even confirming orders that were orders from now on. They could- Publications Mail Agreement No. 40032712. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 88654-9096-RM0001. dise as a cover for procrastina- already placed. Manufacturers’ n’t even tell us how long we Canada post return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P.O. Box 1632, Station A, Windsor, ON N9A7C9. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. tion and lack of direction. fear of being stuck with unsold should wait for an answer.” FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WOMEN’S WEAR As reported, Kmart two good has grown in the last month, She added that even after DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008; Call 800-289-0273; or visit www.subnow.com/wd . Four weeks is months ago named former Gap with some questioning how much speaking with the Kmart buyers, required for change of address. Please give both new and old address as printed on most recent label. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production executive Lisa Schultz senior longer they should wait before Continued on page 24 correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-221-9595 or fax requests to 212-221-9195. Visit us online: www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS, DAMAGE, OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART Déjà Vu for Fin.part, KPMG WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WWD IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE By Amanda Kaiser buying craze and racked up it’s negotiating the sale of textile ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED OVERNIGHT-DELIVERY RETURN ENVELOPE, POSTAGE PREPAID. enough debt to rival the size of printing company Star. MILAN — History is repeating its yearly revenues. The acquisi- Fin.part said Thursday its net itself for Fin.part. tions binge culminated when it financial debt stood at $414.7 MONDAY: New York Spring Accessories Market Week. The heavily indebted multi- snapped up Cerruti through two million, or 356.4 million euros, as brand group that owns Cerruti is transactions in 2000 and 2001. of the end of September, down TUESDAY: Fatex and Interselection trade shows, Paris once again at odds with KPMG. Fin.part paid a total of $137 mil- from $621.7 million, or 534.2 mil- (through Thursday). The auditing firm has declined to lion for Cerruti, a company that lion euros, a year earlier. certify the company’s accounts, posted consolidated sales of $66 KPMG, reiterating comments WEDNESDAY: WWD/DNR CEO Summit, New York this time for the first six months million in 1999.