EXCLUSIVE Xcel Brands Buys Mizrahi for $31.5M By VICKI M. YOUNG ISAAC, MEET XCEL. Isaac Mizrahi has a new backer in Xcel Brands WWD Inc., which has acquired the designer’s licensing business for $31.5 million. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY Q $3.00 At the same time as buying Mizrahi’s company, IM Ready-Made LLC, Xcel will go public through a reverse merger agreement with NetFabrics Holdings Inc., essentially a publicly held shell com- pany traded on the pink sheets. The newly merged entity, renamed Xcel Brands, will be a publicly held brand licensing and management company whose priority will be the acquisition of brands having a strong interactive media presence and the ability to utilize a multichannel distribution strategy. Under the terms of the Mizrahi agreement, Xcel COLLECTIONS will pay the designer $31.5 million at closing, which includes a combination of cash, a seller note and the 2012 issuance of Xcel common stock valued at $13.8 mil- PARIS lion. Xcel also agreed to an earn-out arrangement with the designer that calls for an additional amount SPRING up to $32.70 in cash or stock, subject to achieving cer- tain minimums in royalties generated by the Isaac Mizrahi trademarks over a four-year period. The acquisition marks a comeback for Xcel Brands’ chief executive officer Robert D’Loren — and the fourth backer for Mizrahi during his career. D’Loren is best known for securitization deals that to this day are still unparalleled in the intel- Darth lectual property field — and that have had a some- what controversial history. In D’Loren’s securitization deals, including the $25 million bond securitization of the Bill Blass trademarks in 1999, investment-grade bonds were backed by the income streams associated with the brand’s intellectual property. The cash flow from Victory accounts receivable are first used to pay operat- ing expenses, with the excess income earmarked to pay down the note. Hello, Mrs. Vader, is Darth home? No, but As president and ceo of NexCen Brands Inc., his Nicolas Ghesquière is, at Balenciaga. On former company acquired a number of consumer Thursday morning he staged a show that product companies and franchise industries, in- cluding Bill Blass, which it acquired in December was out of this world, even after a seating 2006 for $54.6 million. malfunction that saw several benches When consumers began pulling back on their spending early in 2008, that caused a cash crunch succumb to the communal weight of at NexCen. And while NexCen had disclosed the those settling in. No matter, the terms of its credit facility in regulatory filings, a crowd was asked to stand, and question arose whether there should have been greater transparency in connection with its bor- the request proved prescient, rowings to acquire Great American Cookies in as the collection dazzled. January 2008. By May 2008, NexCen was fighting Here, under the shade SEE PAGE 2 of a Cristóbal-inspired chapeau, Ghesquière’s IN WWD TODAY cellophane dress. For more on the Paris collections, see pages 4 to 6. Beauty Brands Bullish on Duty FreePAGE 7 BEAUTY:Despite a wobbling global economy, the mood was upbeat at the Tax Free World Association meeting in Cannes, with projections that beauty sales will grow in the high-single to low-double digits this year. ▲ Miyake’s New ManPAGE 2 FASHION: Yoshiyuki Miyamae will show his first women’s line for Issey Miyake on Sunday, and the designer admits the March earthquake in Japan had a big impact on his designs. Suite Dior StylePAGE 9 EYE: The St. Regis hotel in New York has another fashion tie-up, this time creating the Dior Suite — and guests can stay there for a mere $8,500 a night. PHOTO BY STEPHANE FEUGERE 2 WWD FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 WWD.COM Miyamae Readies Miyake By AMANDA KAISER Mizrahi Sold to Xcel {Continued from page one} changes for Mizrahi, first with Chanel until they TOKYO — In post-March 11 Japan, a new sense of values is taking hold. to survive as it suffered a liquidity crisis. Five parted company in 1998, and then a collection at Behind the country’s archetypal stoicism and resilience, the shock of its months later, D’Loren resigned from the firm. Target that ended in 2008, even though annual biggest-ever earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis has left many seek- NexCen began selling off its holdings, includ- volume was estimated at $300 million a year. ing a closer affinity with what they hold dear, stripping away veneers of ing Bill Blass, which was sold to Peacock The colorful and opinionated Mizrahi pure presentation. International Holdings for only $10 million in has a daily Web series featuring his It’s this kind of motivation that has steered Yoshiyuki Miyamae, cash in December 2008. take on cooking, style and fashion, at newly installed at the head of women’s design at Issey Miyake, as he According to a NexCen quar- watchisaac.com. There’s also a media finalizes preparation for his runway debut on Sunday. terly filing, or Form 10-K, with presence via isaacmizrahiny.com, Miyamae, 35, started working on his first collection for the label as the Securities and Exchange where visitors to the site can headlines about the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and Japan’s Commission in August 2010 for the watch the designer’s video blogs. ongoing economic woes were streaming across television sets and news- quarter ended June 30, the Mizrahi’s licensing business paper pages. “It had a great effect,” he recalled in an interview at the enforcement division of the includes the lifestyle collection, company’s all-white headquarters. SEC after a two-year in- IsaacMizrahiLIVE, which is “I wanted to look forward, to make clothes that people could feel in vestigation said it sold at home shopping special- their hearts. So I didn’t think about the shape or things like that, but did “not intend to ist QVC, and Liz Claiborne New more about why people would actually wear the clothes and how they recommend” any York, also sold at QVC, in which would feel [in them]. I thought about how it would feel when the wind action by the SEC. Mizrahi is the creative direc- blew inside the clothes, how [it feels to wear] certain colors,” said the Securitization tor per a design agreement. The designer, who crafted billowing tunics, dresses and pants in Easter egg issues won’t be main Liz Claiborne line, in which hues of lemon, turquoise and print pink. a problem for Mizrahi has no involvement, is “The theme was about the softness and strength of a flower when it D’Loren’s latest sold exclusively at J.C. Penney. blooms. [The collection] expresses ways to show a woman’s body in a brand acquisition, Market sources estimate that beautiful way,” he explained. which is a straight royalty income for Mizrahi totals Miyamae got an early start in the fashion world, taking apart jackets asset purchase of at least $10 million annually. and stitching up things for himself when he was 16 and in his first year the trademarks. Mizrahi’s high-end Collection of high school. “I hated my school uniform, and that was why I started Mizrahi, who line, not part of the Xcel acquisition, making my own clothes,” he recalled. will serve as chief Isaac Mizrahi will likely be phased out and repo- Around that same time, he developed a taste for the art world and designer, said, sitioned as a licensing business. He through a gallery connection he met Miyake. “He knew that I was making my “We’ve spent nearly a year working closely has shown that collection in the past during New own clothes and he remembered me as a somewhat unusual high school stu- with Bob D’Loren and look forward to joining York Fashion Week but did not show this season. dent. So from then on I got a lot of information from Issey-san, and I was also him at Xcel. I’m pleased to be such a signifi- Current plans are for additional licensing personally very interested in his work,” said Miyamae, dressed in a crisp cant shareholder in the company, and believe agreements for different apparel lines, foot- white shirt, three-quarter-length indigo pants and white high-top sneakers. that we are poised for growth.” wear and home categories to launch at better The designer went on to study at Japan’s prestigious Bunka Fashion The transaction is the latest in a series of retailers in fall 2012. College before taking a few years to travel to locales like South America and India and design costumes for contemporary dancers. Upon his re- turn to Japan, he joined Miyake’s design studio and nurtured a 10-year career at the house. H&M Profit Slips 15 Percent in Quarter Working under the tutelage of Miyake himself as well as the house’s previous designer Dai Fujiwara, Miyamae has acquired a keen sensibil- PARIS — Hennes & Mauritz AB said net profit “We have a strong business concept, a ity to fabric and the craftsmanship behind it as well as a mission to sup- fell 15 percent in the third quarter as economic strong financial position and we are continu- port the Japanese textile industry, which is suffering as factories close uncertainty and bad weather kept customers out ing to grow with high profitability. We are in- and fewer young people enter the trade. of stores in key markets, triggering intense price creasing our expansion for full-year 2011 to “Before I entered the company, there was a time when I thought that competition between fast-fashion retailers.