Fur Now Furniture, Shoes Or Jewelry,” He Said
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PLUS: A RELAXED MOOD AT PITTI UOMO. PAGE MW1 MILAN’S MOMENT: DESIGNERS REVEAL THEIR INSPIRATIONS FOR MILAN MEN’S FASHION WEEK, WHICH KICKS OFF SATURDAY. PAGES MW6 TO MW8 A NEW GEM David Yurman Taps Glen Senk as CEO By MARC KARIMZADEH NEW YORK — Glen Senk’s move to David Yurman Inc. comes with a relocation to New York and an WWD ownership stake in the TriBeCa-based company. Senk, who surprised the retail world when he THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY Q $3.00 stepped down as chief executive officer of Urban Outfitters Inc. on Tuesday, will be joining the pri- vately held company as ceo on Feb. 27. David and Sybil Yurman, the husband-and-wife artists and com- pany founders, declined to disclose the size of Senk’s stake during an exclusive interview with him at their Vestry Street headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, but were full of praise for the executive, who has served on the board at Yurman for more than a year. “First and foremost, he is a friend,” Sybil Yurman said. “We have seen what he has done in his profes- sional life, so for us it was a really easy decision. He just has an exceptional record in expanding multi- channel and multinational retail.” David Yurman added that he was particularly impressed by Senk’s aesthetic sensibility. “He has a great eye and a great appreciation for things of quality, whether it’s a horse, a house, a piece of Fur Now furniture, shoes or jewelry,” he said. “The nature In a 180 from spring’s girly confections, of our company is about creating quality in design and materials. We spent a year and a half looking Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall collection, designed for a ceo, and I don’t think that was ever in the brief. by studio style director Julie de Libran, was After a while, we were so exhausted, and I said, ‘Why don’t we just create a brief and say that we loaded with flannels, military touches and want someone like Glen?’ graphic fur accents. The latter has proven a “That’s what we want, but he wasn’t willing to do resounding trend this season, and at Vuitton the cloning process,” Yurman added. Senk said that he was particularly interested in it came au sauvage via big fox patch pockets, the Yurman business model. “I have always made my tufts on shoes and in contrasting colors decisions in my life based on gut,” he said. “I always on a long vest, shown here. For more, view my aesthetic sensibility as a strength and a weakness. It’s a weakness in that I have an inability see pages 4 and 5. to compromise. One of the many things I love about SEE PAGE 8 Following the Candidates The Republican presidential ON THE candidates may be about to trade the outerwear and sweat- TRAIL ers they donned against the Campaign 2012 New Hampshire chill for clothes more suited to the warmer climes of South Carolina, but some of their comments are likely to follow them South. While Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire pri- mary, he made a few gaffes in the Northern state — and none worse than his comment about firing people. He told a group of business executives at the Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce on Monday that he likes “being able to fire people who provide services to me.” Romney’s full remark went like this: “I want indi- viduals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” It was unfortunate timing for Romney, who has had to defend his tenure at Bain Capital against charges the investment firm bought and sold companies that led to significant layoffs while he and his partners made millions of dollars. But a presidential race is as much about style as substance — and so far the candidates have made a lot of missteps. Romney looked suitably casual in New Hampshire, as did Rick Santorum, but Ron Paul looked downright uncomfortable in his dressed- down duds while Newt Gingrich needs to lose a few pounds — or at least don a version of the Santorum sweater vest. Here, WWD introduces a regular feature, On the PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE MAITRE Trail, tracking what the candidates have said — and how they have dressed. SEE PAGE 6 THE BRIEFING BOX IN TODAY’S WWD Glen Senk, who surprised the retail world when he stepped down as ceo of Urban Outfitters on Tuesday, will be joining David Yurman as ceo on Feb. 27. PAGE 1 The Republican candidates on the issues — and a dissection of ‘Net Increases their style this week. PAGE 1 The Continued Growth of Online Apparel Shopping India adopts a rule to allow 100 percent foreign ownership of Change is occurring more rapidly, making the science of ship in a timely manner, make returns easy, and often single brand retailers. PAGE 3 measuring change more exciting. For 17 years, the Cotton provide free shipping to further incentivize consumers,” Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey has measured Lipsman says. “Successful retailers also have a very The SEC dropped its investigation of American Apparel, changes and consistencies in consumer attitudes and habits. strong brand, very competitive pricing, or both.” boosting the company’s stock price to $1. PAGE 3 For most of those years, these findings have been shared More than one-fourth of consumers (27%) purchase in the Thursday issue of WWD. Beginning in February, apparel online, up significantly from 6% a decade ago, however, the Lifestyle Monitor weekly columns, and the Monitor survey shows. And 6% buy most of their The Tod’s Group names Roberto Lorenzini chief executive officer other industry analyses, will be found exclusively online apparel online, up from only 1% a decade ago. of its North American business. PAGE 3 at www.cottonlifestylemonitor.com. As we bid farewell Whitfield says online newcomers, like flash sales to the printed version, we take a look back at some of the and daily deal sites, have also facilitated apparel sales influential changes of the past decade-and-a-half. in this category. Dolce & Gabbana “strongly reject” claims that representatives at its Canton Road store in Hong Kong engaged in discriminating “Sites like Gilt, RueLaLa and so many others keep or derogatory comments. PAGE 7 t is hard to believe there was once a time when apparel more top of mind among those who shop online consumers were wary of shopping online. Internet for it. This continued evolution of the e-commerce Iapparel shopping queries first appeared in the business model keeps shoppers interested and coming The luxe casual trend continued at Pitti Uomo, Lifestyle Monitor survey in 2000. Today, responses back. They’re part of the apparel landscape.” which saw strong traffic. PAGE MW1 reveal that nearly two-thirds of consumers (66%) Where ten years ago the process was straightfor- browse the Internet for clothes, up significantly from ward, today’s online shopping is no longer simply about 26% a decade ago. Men’s online making a purchase. Content is also Z Zegna’s Paul Surridge looks to the Roaring Twenties browsing jumped from 22% “Compared to 10 years key, with more brands and retailers as influence for his debut collection. PAGE MW1 ▼ in 2002 to 59% in 2011, while ago, shopping online is very providing e-zines that not only tout women’s leapt from 28% to 71%. their wares, but celeb interviews, cock- different. Back then, it was The Designers & Agents trade show will launch And this past holiday season tail recipes and travel tips. ... ‘If I put my credit card a new men’s edition called D&A Man in New York proved e-commerce has not only “We’re coming back to sites that this July. PAGE MW2 caught on, but is thriving. number into the Internet, have a curated feel—like Park & comScore reports retail will I get the item?’ Bond, which marries the idea of e-commerce spending for the ” commerce backed with content,” Spearheaded by chief executive officer Massimo November/December 2011 Jordy Leiser, STELLAService Whitfield says. “Ralph Lauren Suppancig, the rejuvenated Jet Set brand is set for a holiday season reached $37.2 also does a great job of that. It’s presentation at men’s fashion week in Milan. PAGE MW2 billion, marking a 15% increase versus last year and an an approach that’s gained traction”—and inspires all-time record for the season. Ten individual shopping customers to return. Top designers and brands share the inspirations behind their days surpassed $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Currently, consumers spend nearly one hour and 45 creations for the upcoming fall Milan men’s shows. PAGE MW6 Monday, which dominated for the second consecutive minutes browsing the Internet for clothes each month, year at $1.25 billion. up significantly from one hour and 20 minutes a decade Apparel is consistently one of the top selling ago, according to the Lifestyle Monitor survey. American tailoring is having a renaissance — but with a e-commerce items. In 2011, clothing and footwear A lot of that browsing has lead to improved con- softer touch. PAGE MW10 Internet sales accounted for 15% of total Internet sales version rates. In the last year, 65% of online retailers in the U.S., according to Euromonitor International.