FIFI FROLICS/12 FACCHINI RETURNS AS FIN.PART CO-CEO/2 Women’sWWD Wear Daily • The Retailers’ DailyFRIDAY Newspaper • June 13, 2003 Vol. 185, No. 120 $2.00 Beauty Cartier’s Le Baiser du Dragon. See page 10. Shining Star NEW YORK — With the launch of her new album on Tuesday, and her single, “So Gone,” at the top of the charts, Monica’s back in the spotlight — all grown up. Whether she’s glamorous in a gold-beaded dress and fur coat, or going much more casual, it’s Monica’s time to shine in the latest holiday looks. Here, the singer wears Rebecca Taylor’s modacrylic and polyester jacket, silk chiffon camisole and cotton and spandex corduroy pants. Shoes by Jimmy Choo; ring by David Yurman. For more on Monica’s return, see pages 22 and 23. Chasing Anne Klein: ANTONIA SARDONE $163M Kellwood Bid, But Others in the Race By Eric Wilson and Kristin Larson NEW YORK — Anne Klein’s clock is ticking. Kellwood Co. stepped forward on Thursday as the stalking horse in the race to acquire the label’s parent company, Kasper ASL, with an aggregate bid of $163.6 million, following a report in WWD on Thursday that Jones Apparel Group is likely to raise the stakes with a more aggressive offer for Kasper. Kellwood and Kasper announced in separate releases that Kellwood See Kellwood, Page 7 PHOTO BY ROBERT MITRA; HAIR BY LEONDRA CREW AT D.D. PAIGE’S AGENCY; MAKEUP BY ROXANNA FLOYD AT ILLUSIONS MANAGEMENT; STYLED BY ILLUSIONS MANAGEMENT; PHOTO MAKEUP AT MITRA; AGENCY; ROBERT BY ROXANNA HAIR BY D.D. FLOYD LEONDRA BY CREW PAIGE’S AT 2 Facchini Returns as Co-CEO at Fin.Part WWDFRIDAY By Luisa Zargani production, Facchini will be but that he never really exited Beauty more involved in the overall the company. MILAN — It was a short-lived managerial side of the company Facchini founded Fin.part in GENERAL break for former Fin.part chair- and will handle the relationship 1996 and embarked on an acqui- Kellwood Co. stepped forward on Thursday as the stalking horse in the man Gianluigi Facchini. with Italy’s Chamber of Fashion. sitions spree that ultimately took race to acquire Kasper ASL, with an aggregate bid of $163.6 million. Although Facchini stepped Fin.part also has set up a on brands including Cerruti, 1 down as chairman last month, the special executive committee, Frette, Maska and footwear firm A report from the 31st Annual FiFi Awards, where winner Chanel showed WWD, FRIDAY, JUNEWWD, FRIDAY, 13, 2003 company’s board turned around which counts Livolsi and Andrea Pfister. 12 that the old guard is not ready to make way for brash upstarts just yet. and named him co-chief execu- Facchini as members, to over- At the same time, however, Cartier is aiming to overhaul its fragrance business with the fall introduction tive officer, along with Silvano see small operations valued at Fin.part amassed a large debt of its newest women’s scent, Le Baiser du Dragon. Storer, who previously was sole less than $25 million. The regu- load, which, at the end of the first 10 ceo. Facchini continues to own a lar board will decide on any quarter, stood at $467.2 million, Although Gianluigi Facchini stepped down as Fin.part’s chairman last 20 percent stake in Fin.part. transactions larger than that. compared with the company’s 2 month, the company’s board has reinstated him as co-chief executive. Facchini stepped down as “Facchini is no longer free to full-year 2002 volume of $526.6 SUZY: Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes tie the knot; Reese gets the Jimmy chairman in April after auditors decide on his own — this much million. A source close to the KPMG rejected the group’s annu- has definitely changed — but his company said that KPMG is still 8 Choos; Rod’s life set to music; A royal birthday in Monte Carlo. al results, citing “financial ten- knowledge of the company is still currently “evaluating” the books Classified Advertisements........................................................................27 sion” in the group’s books. As re- valued,” said a source close to and is expecting a capital in- ported, Fin.part named Ubaldo Fin.part. Another source said crease of between $60 million To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is Livolsi as its new chairman, but Facchini may have relinquished and $80 million. At the same [email protected], using the individual's name. Facchini remained a board mem- the post of chairman because his time, said the source, Fin.part is SUBSCRIPTION RATES U.S. and possessions, Retailer, daily one year, $99; Manufacturer, daily one year, $135. ber. A Fin.part spokesman said “image” with the banks that lent still set on selling its Maska and All others U.S., daily one year $195. Canada/Mexico, daily one year, $295. All other foreign (Air Speed), daily one year $595. that, while Storer will oversee money to Fin.part was tarnished, Frette assets. 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 Postmaster: Send address changes to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. 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. a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc., 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001-8191. 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 Elder-Beerman Execs Talking Takeover 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 By David Moin shareholders, management’s one valuable asset is the compa- GST # 88654-9096-RM 0001 Canada Publications Agreement # 40032712 Printed in the U.S.A. offer would have to be higher. ny’s proprietary credit-card op- All signed articles published in the paper represent solely the individual opinion of the writer and not those of NEW YORK — The management Shares of Elder-Beerman eration which could be sold off. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY. of Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., closed up 9 cents, or 1.7 percent, at Bergren very much wants to For Web site access, log on and subscribe to www.WWD.com. led by president and chief execu- $5.39 in Nasdaq trading Thursday. hang onto Elder-Beerman, espe- tive officer Byron “Bud” Bergren, EB Acquisition said it would cially since he has been pushing is negotiating exclusively to take keep the company’s headquarters the chain’s smaller, new concept over the company through a buy- in Dayton, maintain its employee stores, which could be the key to In Brief out, sources said Thursday. base and expand in various areas the company’s future. They use a Elder-Beerman disclosed on in the U.S. EB Acquisition is led single-story store format, de- May 16 that it had received an un- by Daniel S. Summers, an Ohio- signed specifically for smaller to lG LIMITED, MAY CO. SUIT: A battle between Limited Brands and solicited offer from one party, but based real estate investor and de- mid-sized markets, including May Department Stores Co. over hiring a top executive has entered has never identified that party. veloper with experience develop- central customer service centers the courts. The Limited has filed suit against May Co., which is According to sources, the man- ing and managing commercial for faster checkouts, self-select seeking to block Limited’s efforts to recruit Mark Weikel, former agement group has through early and retail properties. cosmetics, a combined juniors’ chairman of May’s Houston-based Foley’s division. Weikel, as re- July to complete its negotiations Financial sources said that and young men’s shop called ported, has been offered a senior-level position at Victoria’s Secret, and due diligence and arrange fi- Elder-Beerman is under no obli- The Zone, and a bridal registry reporting to the chain’s chief executive, Grace Nichols. In the suit, nancing. Elder-Beerman’s board gation to disclose the party with kiosk. About a dozen such stores Limited reportedly contends that Foley’s is not a competitor to would then be required to enter- whom it is exclusively negotiat- are operating. Victoria’s Secret and therefore hiring Weikel does not constitute a tain other offers. ing until the end of the exclusiv- Market sources say regional violation of noncompete restrictions written into Weikel’s contract One offer has come in so far. ity period. Bergren was travel- chains need at least $1 billion in at Foley’s. May Co. is likely to seek a restraining order at least tem- After first expressing its interest ing Thursday and could not be sales for survival. Elder-Beer- porarily blocking Weikel’s job move, until the issue is resolved in on May 20, EB Acquisition Ltd. reached for comment. man’s net sales for 2002 were courts. A few days ago, Weikel resigned from Foley’s to join on June 4 offered to acquire all Elder-Beerman, a regional, $639.8 million compared with Victoria’s Secret.