Sartorial Satisfaction It’S a Truism That a Designer Should Know Her Customer
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WHAT’S FOR NICOLAS? NEXT PAGE 12 WWDMONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY ■ $3.00 Sartorial Satisfaction It’s a truism that a designer should know her customer. L’Wren Scott obviously agrees; she designed all of Mick Jagger’s costumes for the Rolling Stones’ “50 & Counting: The Rolling Stones Live” tour that opened Sunday night in London. Together as a couple for a decade, the two sat for exclusive interviews while WWD photographed a fi tting — their fi rst joint project ever — on Friday at Scott’s studio. Not surprisingly, Jagger voiced fi rm ideas about fashion, particularly about what makes a look stage-worthy. But some readers may be surprised that, in one way at least, he’s just an ordinary guy. “Men aren’t interested in clothes that look amazing but are fantastically uncomfortable to wear,” said Jagger, here in Scott’s zigzagged jacket and matching Stephen Jones fedora. “We’re not into pain. We’re into comfort.” For more on Jagger and Scott, see pages 8 and 9. PHOTO BY TIM JENKINS Bangladesh Fire Stirs Action Calls MORE PROMOTIONS LOOM By KARYN MONGET in Bangladesh. It is the second trag- edy to hit the region’s apparel industry Retail Caution Reigns WORKING CONDITIONS in Asian ap- in the last three months. In September, parel factories are again stirring con- a fi re at an apparel plant in Karachi, troversy after a deadly fi re at a plant in Pakistan, killed more than 300 people. Ashulia, Bangladesh, killed more than “We hope the tragic fi re at Tazreen After Holiday Kicks Off 115 people. will serve as an urgent call to ac- The International Labor Rights tion for all major brands that rely construction and home furnishings will Forum, which for several years has on Bangladesh’s low wages to make By DAVID MOIN see a lift as communities rebuild. been tracking and responding to factory a profit,” said Judy Gearhart, execu- Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, fi res in Bangladesh’s garment industry, tive director of ILRF. “Their volun- MIDNIGHT MADNESS materialized president and chief executive offi cer issued a statement Sunday calling the tary and confi dential monitoring pro- just as retailers wished, but there wasn’t of Macy’s Inc., characterized Black fi re at the Tazreen Fashions plant on grams have failed. Now it is time to enough of the same old Black Friday Friday as “similar” to last year, while Saturday night the deadliest factory fi re come together and make a contractual magic in malls and along major shop- at Bloomingdale’s, a division of Macy’s, in the history of the apparel industry SEE PAGE 2 ping avenues through last week to juice “We have a game plan and a strategic up the mood for the holiday season. plan and you tweak here and there for That leaves retailers prepared to things, but we are not changing our stay the course and still confi dent, after game plan,” said Michael Gould, chair- a week’s worth of intense promoting man and ceo. and extended store hours, that they’ll “We are hitting our targets,” said meet holiday goals, conservatively set Linda Chang, Forever 21’s senior mar- at 3 to 4 percent ahead on average. keting manager. “It is a little early for They also believe consumer confi dence us to tell, but in the past two weeks, is holding up, though there’s plenty of we have been seeing good, strong uncertainty with the fi scal cliff looming sales growth.” and with Northeast cities still recover- “Last week didn’t move the needle ing from Hurricane Sandy, which cost that much,” said another retail ceo, retailers billions of dollars in business. who requested anonymity. For fashion retailers, it will be impos- “December is a big month. A lot can sible to entirely make up the lost vol- happen,” cautioned Kathryn Bufano, umes, though companies involved in SEE PAGE 4 2 WWD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 WWD.COM Bangladesh Fire Sparks Action Calls the Briefing Box {Continued from page one} commitment to workers and to in- in Today’s WWd volve workers and their organiza- tions in the solution.” The group claims there have been 700 factory fires in Bangladesh since 2005. The ILRF claimed that re- S e searchers found evidence that G ma Tazreen produced Wal-Mart’s i Faded Glory brand, in addition to finding logos, clothing and docu- FP/Getty a ments from Ace, C&A, Dickies, / Fashion Basics, Sean Combs Co.’s er NG iro Enyce brand, Edinburgh Woollen P tri Mill’s brands (P.G. Field and S Scha Country Rose), Hippo, Infinity by Woman, Karl Rieker, GMBH & Steve Photo Co., Kebo Raw, KiK, Piaza Italia, A Bangladeshi soldier walks through rows of burnt sewing machines after the by Soffe and True Desire. fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory. As the fire began, about 2,000 Photo workers, mostly women, were industry to improve fire safety edu- thoughts go to the ones affected by A Steve Shapiro image of Yves Montand on Fifth Avenue in New trapped on the ’’ first floor of the cation and training in Bangladesh. the devastating fire yesterday at a York in 1961. factory, which was crammed with As part of this effort, we partnered garment factory in Bangladesh. The Midnight madness materialized just as retailers wished, fabrics, yarn and cotton that quick- with several independent orga- tragic accident happened at a facto- but there wasn’t enough of the same old Black Friday magic ly accelerated the raging blaze. nizations to develop and roll out ry that does not produce for H&M. in malls and along major shopping avenues through last Firefighters fought to contain the fire safety training tools for fac- “H&M plays an active role in im- inferno as workers jumped from tory management and workers. proving fire safety in Bangladeshi week to juice up the mood for the holiday season. PAGE 1 the multistory building to their Continued engagement is critical garment factories. We are deeply deaths. The death toll could rise to ensure that reliable, proactive sorry about the disastrous incident Working conditions in Asian apparel factories are because officials said firefighters measures are in place to reduce at Tazreen Fashions.” again stirring controversy after a deadly fire at a plant in could not access some floors of the the chance of factory fires. ” The state-run news agency Bangladesh killed more than 115 people. PAGE 1 building. More than 200 people H&M, which considers Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha were said to have been injured. Bangladesh an “important buy- recently reported that some 6,000 Mick Jagger and L’Wren Scott sit down for a chat about the Bangladesh has around 4,500 ing market,” said on Sunday that people die every year in fires in Rolling Stones’ new tour and the designer’s creations for her garment factories that make men’s, it does not work with the Tazreen Bangladesh. In December 2010, companion’s stage wardrobe. PAGE 8 women’s and children’s apparel, Fashions garment factory. The another factory in Ashulia, an ap- parel industry cluster near the Steve Schapiro, who took some of the most iconic photos Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, of recent decades, reflects on his career on the eve of the We hope the tragic fire att azreen will burned to the ground, claiming the U.S. release of a new collection of his work. PAGE 10 lives of at least 31 apparel workers serve as an urgent call to action for all and seriously injuring 200. There’s an intriguing array of fashion and photo books In the wake of the 2010 blaze, available at the moment, on subjects such as the designs of local trade unionists were critical Alexander McQueen and textiles through the ages. PAGE 10 of the plant’s lack of proper main- major brands that rely on Bangladesh’s tenance of safety and emergency To try to give local manufacturers a helping hand after low wages to make a profit. exits. Firemen rushed to the site but could not enter the fifth floor of Hurricane Sandy, Pratt Center for Community Development the building due to excessive heat, has launched the Made in NYC Holiday Shop. PAGE 11 — Judy Gearhart, InternatIonal forcing the authorities to summon labor rIGhts forum army personnel who tried to res- Joe Biden — looking very “un-vp” in a navy bomber jacket, cue the trapped workers, mostly khakis and a baseball cap — was all smiles chatting with as well as sleepwear, underwear, Swedish retailer has been ac- females, with their helicopters. Centre Street shoppers Friday on Nantucket. PAGE 11 daywear and robes, for retailers tively working to improve factory Many were seen jumping from the including Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Tesco, conditions in the region. The re- building to escape the fire. Fashion will meet opera when two icons of the fashion J.C. Penney, H&M, and Marks & tailer published a Bangladesh At the time, Shahara Khatun, industry, Stan Herman and Rafael Sanchez, will be honored Spencer. The apparel sector gener- Development Plan, which is on its Bangladesh’s minister for home af- by the Martina Arroyo Foundation on Tuesday. PAGE 11 ated $19 billion in 2012 as of June. corporate Web site. “H&M wants to fairs, said an electrical short circuit Wal-Mart issued a statement: contribute to lasting improvements may have been the culprit. Fires Will Nicolas Ghesquière find a backer and strike out on “Our thoughts are with the fami- for people working in the cloth- in Bangladesh garment factories his own with a signature label, or wait for the right fashion lies of the victims of this tragedy.