ALL MAN LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN SHOWED A NEW TAKE ON BRITISH STYLE, AS SEEN AT LEFT WITH ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, WHILE AT PITTI UOMO, OPTIMISM REIGNED. PAGE MW1 GRANOFF BECOMES CEO Vince Gets New Team Amidst Talk of IPO By LISA LOCKWOOD NEW YORK — Kellwood Co. is stepping on the Vince accelerator. The company said Wednesday that Jill Granoff, chief executive offi cer of Kellwood, will assume THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY the additional responsibility of ceo of Vince, over- seeing the strategic growth and direction of the Los WWD Angeles-based contemporary brand. In addition, Granoff named Doo-Ri Chung creative director of Vince. Chung will relocate to Vince’s Los Angeles de- sign studio and will be responsible for design, prod- uct development and creative branding initiatives. The moves were spurred by the resignations Tuesday of Vince cofounders Rea Laccone, ceo, and Christopher LaPolice, president. Granoff plans to name a new president in the near future. Granoff said one of the reasons she was hired by Sun Capital Partners to be the ceo of Kellwood “was to accelerate the growth of Vince and unleash its po- tential as a global lifestyle brand.” There has been speculation Sun may do an initial public offering for Vince, but Granoff declined to comment. Kellwood is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs as it ex- plores an IPO or sale of Vince, although it couldn’t be learned if the investment bank has been offi cially hired to put together an offering. If there were an IPO, fi nancial sources believe it would be a partial spin off of Vince, which would leave Kellwood holding a signifi cant stake in that business, as well as its other, less profi table businesses, such as COLLECTIONS Rebecca Taylor, Sag Harbor and My Michelle. “I’ve been involved in overseeing [Vince] since Day One,” said Granoff, who joined Kellwood PRE-FALL last May after having been ceo of Kenneth Cole 2013 Productions Inc. Vince’s retail, licensing and mar- keting operations have reported to her. She will con- tinue to be based in New York and will travel back and forth to Los Angeles. SEE PAGE 8 Uptown Serge Azria’s Big Deal By EVAN CLARK The very busy Serge Azria — the creative force be- hind Joie, Equipment and Current/Elliott — has Girls been even busier lately as a dealmaker. On Tuesday evening, Stella McCartney brought Azria has sold a 60 percent stake in the trio’s cor- her downtown party uptown — to Park Avenue’s porate parent, Dutch LLC, to private equity fi rm TA Associates. A source close to the transaction said it Americas Society Art Gallery to be exact. She valued the company at over $500 million. celebrated the New York woman with classic Azria has been actively developing the business- es, moving them into new product categories and ex- touches of the English girl: men’s wear-inspired panding their distribution. And investors have been camel toppers over graphic black-and-white hot to get their hands on fashion names with growth stripes, lots of rich jacquards and an eveningwear ahead, especially in the potentially lucrative areas of retail and accessories. lineup that, McCartney said, “shouldn’t wear you, In an interview late Wednesday, after the deal but capture you.” Here, two columns in velvet and was fi rst reported on WWD.com, Azria said he didn’t matte silk. For more on McCartney, see wwd.com/ need to sell, but wanted to position the company for continued growth. “I need to plan long term in ad- runway. For more pre-fall, see pages 4 to 6. vance, and to go public and [take] bigger steps, I like to have a big partner with me,” he said. More deals could be in the offi ng. “ Yo u never know, maybe we’ll have other acquisi- tions as well,” Azria hinted. Dutch’s revenues and profits have grown by more than 30 percent in each of the last fi ve years. All together, the three brands are sold in over 2,000 stores across 75 countries, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Printemps. Joie and Equipment also both sell direct- ly to the consumer via the Web and six stores in New York, Los Angeles and Newport Beach, Calif. “With the recent addition of e-commerce and PHOTO BY GEORGE CHINSEE SEE PAGE 8 2 WWD THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013 WWD.COM H&M Unveils Sites for New Concept THE BRIEFING BOX are designed to provide endless which stands for Collection of By JOELLE DIDERICH styling choices. The aim is to de- Style. In 2010, it bought Fabric IN TODAY’S WWD sign lasting wardrobe treasures Scandinavien AB, the company PARIS — Bucking the prevail- within a wide price range.” behind hip denim label Cheap ing economic gloom, Hennes & The creative department for Monday and contemporary fash- Mauritz AB is going full steam & Other Stories is based largely ion chains Weekday and Monki. ahead with its brand diversifi- in Paris, and is led by head of Neil Saunders, managing di- The inspiration for cation, with the opening in the design Anna Teurnell, although rector of U.K.-based retail con- Etro’s men’s collection. spring of the first physical and a second, smaller team is based sultancy Conlumino, said that online stores for its new brand, & in Stockholm. while H&M continues to lag be- Other Stories. Elke Kieft, p.r. manager for & hind its rival Inditex in terms of The Swedish high-street re- Other Stories, said there would be subbrands, the launch of & Other tailer plans to open brick-and- four different product universes Stories will help it reach a wider mortar stores in seven cities — within the brand, corresponding potential audience. Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, to different styles. The brand’s “Strategically, they have taken London, Milan, Paris and handwritten logo will be used a step up and they’re becoming Stockholm — to mark its first col- on store signs and clothing tags, much more like Inditex in terms lections under the new banner. sometimes in combination with of having a stable of brands which Averaging 7,500 square feet other words, separated by a thin they can roll out across different in size, the stores will sit in high- black line — for example, “Rue locations for growth,” he said. profile locations such as Regent Saint-Honoré & Other Stories.” “That’s important for them, Street in London, Rue Saint- “ Yo u will be seeing it a lot. It because relying on the core H&M Honoré in Paris and Corso Vittorio could be a price tag on the gar- brand for growth was never an Emanuele in Milan to give the ment. It will look exactly the option, because it’s becoming brand maximum visibility. same with the line through the much more saturated and also Kellwood Co. said Wednesday that chief executive officer In addition, an e-commerce site, middle, and it could be ‘Leather there’s a danger it becomes a lit- Jill Granoff will also assume the role of ceo of Vince, which stories.com, will launch in Belgium, & Other Stories’ or ‘Cashmere & tle bit ubiquitous as well, and it gets a new creative director in Doo-Ri Chung. PAGE 1 Denmark, Finland, France, Other Stories.’ We can continu- can’t serve all constituents of the Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, ously play with that name, and fashion market,” he added. Serge Azria — the creative force behind Joie, Equipment Spain, Sweden and the U.K. that is the idea behind it, be- Saunders noted that & Other and Current/Elliott — has sold a 60 percent stake in the The brand will sell women’s cause we want to let people know Stories was launching in loca- PAGE 1 ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, acces- what we are about,” Kieft said. tions with significant footfall, trio’s corporate parent, Dutch LLC, to TA Associates. sories and beauty products in- The brand is plotting a strong strong fashion credentials and cluding skin care, body care and presence on social media, with high visibility. Further coverage of the WWD Apparel & Retail CEO a color cosmetics line developed channels on Facebook, Twitter, “Although the economies over- Summit, including presentations by Value Retail’s Scott in collaboration with makeup YouTube and Tumblr in addition all are sluggish, the locations Malkin and Avery Dennison’s R. Shawn Neville. PAGE 7 artist Lisa Butler. to its own site. they’re opening in are high-growth Prices will begin where H&M “Obviously, on the Web site, locations, so actually, they should The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed down a stops, although the retailer has you have more possibilities to re- be relatively insulated from the unanimous decision in favor of Nike Inc. in a trademark said & Other Stories will feature ally tell a story with images, but general downturn,” he said. dispute with Already LLC over a footwear design. PAGE 10 a wider spread than its high-end there will be lots of images in the “By choosing these locations, concept COS. stores as well to give inspiration. they are giving themselves a lot Delta Galil Industries Ltd. has signed a global licensing Prices will start at 7 euros, or We don’t want to dictate anything. of exposure. That said, of course, agreement with Columbia Sportswear Co. to produce a $9 at current exchange, for cer- We’re really looking for a custom- they’re much more expensive lo- collection of socks for men and women. PAGE 10 tain cosmetics, jewelry and foot- er that has their own style already cations, so they’re going to have wear items, and 15 euros, or $20, and who can pick something that to make sure that the volume The Missoni company said Wednesday that its men’s wear for ready-to-wear.