Page 1 Tuesday FASHION: More from resort, including s NEWS: Tina Lutz Oscar de la Renta, Diane von and Marcia Patmos Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera and of Lutz & Patmos to s Narciso Rodriguez, pages 8 to 11. part ways, page 3. BEAUTY: Natalie s RETAIL: Group including BCBG Portman new face of Max Azria buys German department Parfums Christian store chain Karstadt, page 2. Dior, page 4. s Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • June 8, 2010 • $3.00 WReady-to-Wear/TextilesWDTUESDAY Message To Michael NEW YORK — After 29 years in the business, Michael Kors received one of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s top honors Monday night: the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. He brought his mom (“I was in disbelief when I heard”) and Gwyneth Paltrow, in custom Michael Kors and Fred Leighton (“I’m in a dress and a ponytail and I’m comfortable”), to Alice Tully Hall for the occasion. And having been to countless ceremonies throughout his career, Kors has learned something along the way. “I like two things, short shows and short speeches,” he said. It’s safe to say his peers would agree. For more on the CFDA Fashion Awards, see pages 6 and 7. NER H IC E EVE T PHOTO BY S PHOTO BY 2 WWD, TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2010 WWD.COM BCBG Consortium to Buy Karstadt By Melissa Drier The labor union Verdi openly favored Berggruen among the bidders, saying his offer WWDTUESReady-to-Wear/TextilesDay BERLIN — The insolvent German Karstadt was the most attractive in terms of its long-term Department Store Group is to be acquired by a perspectives and financing. Berggruen was the FASHION partnership between private investor Nicolas one investor whose plan reportedly didn’t in- Bold prints and rich textures dominated lineups s 8 Berggruen and BCBG Max Azria Group. clude further cuts in — or concessions from — as Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg and On Monday evening — almost exactly a year Karstadt’s 25,000 strong workforce. more showed their looks for resort. to the day since the German retail chain filed Berggruen Holdings won out over the for insolvency — the Karstadt creditors com- Highstreet consortium, which owns 86 of the GENERAL mittee chose the Berggruen-led consortium as Karstadt store properties and represents the After a decade of designing together, Tina Lutz Karstadt’s new owner. combined interests of Goldman Sachs, which 3 and Marcia Patmos will close their Lutz & Patmos Berggruen is the son of deceased German art owns 51 percent of the consortium, along with company at the end of this year. collector and patron Heinz Berggruen and is Deutsche Bank, Pirelli Real Estate, Generali founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, Insurance and Italian department store mogul 3 Sales growth at Hermès International should which has assets of more than $2 million, ac- Maurizio Borletti, and the third official bid- drop off in the second half, chief executive officer cording to the company. In his bid to take over der, the German-Scandinavian private equity Patrick Thomas said Monday. the 129-year-old Karstadt, Berggruen enlisted firm Triton. BEAUTY: Parfums Christian Dior said Monday it the strategic partnership of the BCBG Max Azria An official offer from Russian investor 4 has inked a deal with Natalie Portman to be its Group. Financial details of this joint venture Artur Pakhomov, who emerged as a potential new face. have also not been revealed. buyer last week, was never submitted, accord- Max Azria, designer, chairman and chief ex- ing to the insolvency administrator’s office. The Council of Fashion Designers of America ecutive officer of BCBG Max Azria, said, “We Also on the sidelines was the Metro Group, 6 selected Marc Jacobs the Womenswear Designer have a fantastic opportunity to turn around this which runs the competing German Galeria of the Year at the CFDA Awards Monday. business and make it the jewel of the German Kaufhof department store chain, which has Retail stocks fell 1.7 percent Monday, hitting lows retail market.” 113 units and had long expressed interest 14 David Jehan, director of international op- in taking over some — but not all — of the not seen since February as investors worried over erations for BCBG Max Azria, added: “We can- Karstadt doors. consumers’ continuing move away from plastic. not wait to begin paving the new path we have This ends a year-long search to find a buyer 15 With its vivid red lacquered walls, the dreamed of for Karstadt.” for the entire 120-door Karstadt. At the end of Diane von 4,700-square-foot Ferrari showroom-store on Berggruen Holdings is based in New York Monday’s more than 10 hour meeting of the 11 Furstenberg Park Avenue is an homage to the Italian brand and with offices in Berlin, Mumbai, Istanbul and Tel member creditors committee, insolvency admin- its blend of flash, luxury and tradition. Aviv. The 26-year-old group has worldwide inter- istrator Klaus Hubert Görg said a contract would ests in real estate, renewable energy and private be signed as soon as possible. Details of the deal Classified Advertisements.................................................................................................15 investments in creative fields. were not disclosed. To e-mail reporTers and ediTors aT WWd, The address is [email protected], using The individual’s name. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2010 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 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