COURT DOESN’T SPOIL VICTOR’S SECRET/2 KOHL’S NET UP/3 WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • TheWEDNESDAY Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • March 5, 2003 Vol. 185, No. 45 $2.00 Sportswear Best Western MILAN — Donatella Versace delivered a two-part fashion extravaganza on Tuesday, with her dual show for her Versace and Versus collections, held in a big television studio with 1,000 guests. Her message was that, regardless of the difficulties of the times, people want something to enjoy and desire. The clothes looked great, many with a luxed- up, rock ’n’ roll Western theme, including tuxedos styled to resemble Western shirts and bold coats with fringe. Here, her fringed pastel lynx coat, little top and ultralow-slung leather pants for Versace. For more on the season, see pages 4 to 7. Courting Gen-Y: Forget the Hype, Find Street Cred By Valerie Seckler NEW YORK — What do Kenneth Cole and Coca-Cola have in common? Both are perceived as the real thing by the Millennial generation, marketing consultants contend. Achieving such status is a deceptively difficult trick for brand marketers to pull off, since most of them are Baby Boomers or Generation Xers who are too far removed from the Millennial culture to make an appeal that has IANNONI G the sense of authenticity — and NNI A See Millennials, Page12 IOV G Y B PHOTO 2 2003 WWDWEDNESDAY 5, Court Upholds Victor’s Secret Sportswear By Joanna Ramey new protections for famous Proving economic harm is trademarks so companies could one means to prove dilution, the GENERAL MARCH Versace and Versus, Missoni, Miu Miu, Burberry Prorsum, Alberta Ferretti , WASHINGTON — Victor might quickly stop a look-alike name Supreme Court noted in its be able to keep his little secret a or logo from trading on the rep- Tuesday decision, but a show of 4 and Moschino were among the highlights as Milan runways wound down. little longer. utation or tarnishing the image economic harm isn’t essential. MARKETING: Designer brands are spending millions on ad campaigns aimed The Supreme Court on Tues- of an established company. Limited Brands, the parent 1 at the Millennials, yet most of youth culture remains unmoved by the efforts. day ruled against Victoria’s Se- Federal courts have offered company of Victoria’s Secret, The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against Victoria’s Secret’s claim that WEDNESDAY cret’s claim that a small Ken- varying interpretations of how had a mixed reaction to the tucky lingerie and sex-toy shop the law’s “dilution” standard Supreme Court’s decision. 2 a small sex-toy shop called Victor’s Secret had infringed on its trademark. called Victor’s Secret had in- can be proved. “Although we would obvious- The press wanted to know about Kmart’s post-bankruptcy plans, but ceo WWD, fringed on the national lingerie For example, the 6th Circuit ly have preferred for the Court Julian Day preferred to talk about honesty, discipline and leadership Tuesday. chains’ trademark. Court of Appeals, said Victor’s to rule in our favor on all points, 3 But Victoria’s Secret will have Secret’s similarity to Victoria’s we are gratified that it noted the SUZY: Frosty relations, with and without Nicole Kidman; the London another shot at proving its case. Secret is enough proof of dilution. unquestionable strength and 8 Symphony Orchestra celebrates, and mealtime at Tiffany. The High Court sent the mat- Even store owners Victor and value of the Victoria’s Secret Classified Advertisements ..................................................................15-19 ter back to a lower federal court Cathy Moseley’s changing of the brand and trademark,” the com- with some guidance: Federal law name to “Victor’s Little Secret” pany said in a statement. “In ad- To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is requires evidence of “dilution” to wasn’t enough to avoid a viola- dition, the Court agreed with our [email protected], using the individual's name. a trademark name beyond “the tion, the appeals court ruled. primary argument that proof of SUBSCRIPTION RATES U.S. and possessions, Retailer, daily one year, $99; Manufacturer, daily one year, $135. mere fact that consumers mental- “While no consumer is likely actual economic harm is not re- All others U.S., daily one year $195. Canada/Mexico, daily one year, $295. All other foreign (Air Speed), daily one year $595. ly associate the junior users’ to go to the Moseleys’ store ex- quired to establish trademark Please allow 6-8 weeks for service to start. Individual subscription information: (800) 289-0273; outside U.S. (856) 786-2140; group subscription information (856) 786-0963. mark with a famous mark,” as pecting to find Victoria’s dilution under federal law. We Postmaster: Send address changes to WWD, P.O. Box 10531, Riverton, N.J. 08076-0531. WWD (ISSN #0149-5380) is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional Victoria’s Secret had claimed. Secret’s Miracle Bra, consumers will continue to vigorously pro- Friday issue in February, April, May, June, August, September, October and December, and one Saturday edition in However, the nine justices, in who hear the name Victor’s tect and defend the Victoria’s January, April, August and November, by Fairchild Publications, Inc. a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc., 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001-8191. an unanimous opinion, shed few Little Secret likely automatical- Secret brand, and the Court’s de- WWD is a registered trademark of Fairchild Publications Inc.© 2003 by Fairchild Publications Inc., details as to what level of proof ly think of the more famous cision allows us to do that.” 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, is needed to show a violation of store and link it to the Moseleys’ The High Court’s ruling including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be the 1995 Federal Trademark adult-toy, gag-gift and lingerie counters a 4th Circuit Court of expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner. Editorial Reprints: (212) 221-9595 Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other offices. Dilution Act. That law added shop,” the appeals court ruled. Continued on page 19 Mailed under Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 517054. Canada Post Returns to: P.O.Box 1632, Windsor, ON N9A 7C9 GST # 88654-9096-RM 0001 Canada Publications Agreement # 40032712 Printed in the U.S.A. All signed articles published in the paper represent solely the individual opinion of the writer and not those of WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY. Chico’s: Profits Up, Spinoff Set For Web site access, log on to www.WWD.com By Jennifer Weitzman Chico’s said net income for In Brief the three months ended Feb. 1 NEW YORK — War worries and soared 53.3 percent to $15 mil- snowstorms may have given lion, or 17 cents a diluted share, ● BEBE BATTERED: Bebe Stores Inc. on Tuesday said that prelimi- other retailers pause, but they a penny ahead of analysts’ esti- nary February same-store sales were down 15.2 percent and as a re- couldn’t stop Chico’s FAS from mates, compared with net in- sult, the specialty retailer now expects comparable-store sales for delivering double-digit increas- come of $9.8 million, or 12 cents, the first quarter to decrease in the low- to midteens. In a statement, es in profits, sales and compara- in the year-ago quarter. Sales for John Kyees, chief financial officer of the Brisbane, Calif.-based teen ble-store sales in the fourth the quarter increased 36.4 per- and contemporary specialty retailer, attributed the weak perform- quarter, or from unveiling plans cent to $138.3 million from ance to insufficient inventory in the casual portion of the sportswear for a new retail concept to make $101.4 million in the 2001 period category. Moreover, Kyees said Bebe’s traditional customer has “re- its debut in 2004. and, driven by greater traffic discovered Bebe at a slower rate than expected.” With the February The Fort Myers, Fla.-based and transactions that in many results, Bebe’s comps have fallen for 16 consecutive months. specialty retailer, which sells cases contradicted the experi- casual clothing to female Baby ence of its peers, rose 11 per- ● RWANDA GETS A BREAK: Rwanda has joined 18 other sub- Boomers, will begin testing a cent on a comp basis. Saharan African nations eligible for apparel and textile quota and nameplate in four to 10 new and The company also announced duty breaks. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative formally independent stores, featuring February comps increased 5 per- extended the duty- and quota-free trade breaks to Rwanda under a an equal mix of activewear and cent, hurt by the Presidents’ Day trade measure enacted in 2000 covering sub-Saharan Africa and the intimate apparel, during the weekend blizzard, which forced Caribbean Basin. In addition, Rwanda was designated a Lesser first half of next year, Pat store closures throughout the The C Wear collection inspired Developed Country, which allows it to use fabric from anywhere in Murphy, general merchandise Northeast and Mid-Atlantic re- Chico’s next brand extension. the world until Sept. 30, 2004. manger, told investors on a gions. Comps that week fell in the pected to increase between 5 morning conference call. low-single-digit range, while the and 9 percent, analysts said ● WATTS NEXT: J.C. Watts Jr., the retired Oklahoma Congressman Terri Campana, who previous- rest of the month was positive.