GAP’S MIDEAST DEAL/2 TOURING TOKYO WITH RALPH/8 WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’TUESDAY Daily Newspaper • April 18, 2006 • $2.00 Ready-to-Wear/Textiles Bow and Behold LOS ANGELES — Designers are going back in time, channeling the early Sixties with elegant eveningwear, often detailed with beading and bows. Here, Bradley Bayou’s silk satin dress with vintage silk lace. Swarovski earrings and bracelet. For more, see pages 6 and 7. Jumping the Nike Ship: Mindy Grossman Exits, Joins Barry Diller’s IAC By Melanie Kletter Y MONICA SCHWEIGER NEW YORK — In another dramatic YLED B management shift at Nike Inc., Mindy Grossman has stepped down as global vice president of apparel to become chief executive officer of retailing at Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp. Y KRISTEN HILTON/CELESTINE; ST Y KRISTEN HILTON/CELESTINE; IAC owns the Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, Evite and several other interactive businesses. Grossman will be ceo of IAC Retailing, which includes HSN, Cornerstone ANK MANAGEMENT; MAKEUP B ANK MANAGEMENT; Brands, Shoebuy and IAC’s international retailing operations, and had sales last year of $3.05 billion. The online commerce company had overall See Mindy, Page 17 IRA/L.A. MODELS; HAIR BY JOHN RUGGERIO/FR IRA/L.A. MODELS; HAIR BY PHOTO BY MICHAEL POWERS; MODEL: PHOTO BY 2 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2006 WWD.COM Gap Inc. Enters Middle East By David Moin tegic alliances and Gap Japan 11,000-square-foot showroom Merchandising, said in an inter- at 620 Sixth Avenue, at 18th WWDTUESDAY Ready-to-Wear/Textiles NEW YORK — Gap Inc. is entering view Monday. Street, which held its fi rst mar- the Middle East with about 25 Gap Licensing and shops-in-shops ket week for franchise customers units and 10 Banana Republics by were also considered, but fran- in February. The fi rst franchis- FASHION 2010 through a franchise agree- chising would be the best route. ing agreement was announced Designers are channeling Alfred Hitchcock ingenue Tippi Hedren by ment with the Al Tayer Group, a “Franchising is very appropriate last January with FJ Benjamin, 6 creating evening gowns that are feminine, regal and a little bit quirky. private, diversifi ed company im- because it provides for strong which plans to open up to 30 Gap mersed in luxury retailing. control of the brand on our part,” and Banana Republic stores by The Gap agreement brings Schulman said. “Gap Inc. will 2010 in Singapore and Malaysia. GENERAL both parties involved to new mar- control all of the product — it’s Around the same time, the In a key management move at Nike, Mindy Grossman has left as global kets — Gap to the Middle East designed and produced by Gap fi rst Gap stores in the Middle 1 vice president of apparel to become ceo of retailing at Barry Diller’s IAC. and Al Tayer to midtier retailing. Inc. — as well as the marketing, East will open. The fi rst Banana EYE: Artsy types went West for the fi rst Los Angeles Art Week and Meanwhile, Saks Fifth Avenue the creative and the store design. Republic stores in the region 4 get-togethers celebrating Ballroom Marfa and several openings. has signed a licensing deal in We will also work with strong are scheduled to open in 2007. Shanghai, and will push for addi- local operators to understand Asked if the Gap’s subpar On his fi rst trip to Japan in 25 years, Ralph Lauren was a natural with the tional overseas locations, under- their marketplace and who have sales performance lately makes 8 locals, as they mobbed him and took photos as if he were a rock star. scoring how retailers that have strong relationships with the real it more challenging to fi nd fran- RTW: Shoppers will have lots of outerwear options this fall, thanks to reached maturity in the U.S. are estate community and strong re- chisees, Schulman fl atly replied, Company Ellen Tracy, George Simonton, Lilly Pulitzer and Cockpit USA. reaching overseas for growth. lations with local talent to pull “No. In fact, there’s a tremendous 9 Gap has always owned and op- together the best local teams. amount of interest in our brands International Textile Group’s Cone Denim unit announced plans for a new erated all its stores, including the The franchise model provides the from different parts of the world.” 17 denim facility in Nicaragua’s Jorge Bolaños Abaunza Textile Park. international units already up right balance between protecting In the Middle East, “we’ve done Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company run by billionaire investor and running. There are Gaps and the core values of our brand and a lot of studies [showing] there is Warren Buffett, is acquiring activewear fi rm Russell Corp. Banana Republics in the U.K., insuring strong local execution.” an appetite for this brand.” 17 Canada, France and Japan. Schulman added that the inter- He would not disclose wheth- Obituaries...................................................................................16 However, a year ago, the $16 national program “is not one size er any more franchise deals billion, 3,000-unit retailer deter- fi ts all. In other markets, we may would soon be announced, but Classifi ed Advertisements.............................................................19 mined it needed a new model decide on directly owned stores.” he did say, “The program is ac- To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is fi rstname. for international expansion. Al Tayer is the second fran- celerating. [email protected], using the individual’s name. “Right now, we are pursu- chisee signed on with Gap, “The Middle East, with its WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. COPY- ing the franchise strategy. We which has been gearing up for young and affl uent population, is RIGHT ©2006 FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. feel comfortable with it,” Joshua overseas expansion. The Gap’s a particularly attractive market VOLUME 191, NO. 82. WWD (ISSN # 0149-5380) is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one ad- Schulman, senior vice president international division, based for the Gap and Banana Republic ditional issue in January and November, two additional issues in March, May, June, August and December, and three ad- ditional issues in February, April, September and October by Fairchild Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications, of Gap Inc.’s international stra- here, early this year opened an Continued on page 18 Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.: S.I. Newhouse Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President & C.E.O.; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President and C.O.O.; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President_Human Resources; John Buese, Executive Vice President_Chief Information Officer; David Orlin, Senior Vice President_Strategic Sourcing; Robert Bennis, Senior Vice President_Real Estate; Maurie Perl, Senior Vice President_Chief Communications Officer. Shared Services provided by Advance Magazine Group: Steven T. Florio, Advance Magazine Group Vice Chairman; David B. Chemidlin, Senior Vice President_General Manager, Shared Services Center. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. Limited Stores Appoints Top Merchant 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 88654-9096-RM0001. Canada post return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: DPGM, 7496 Bath Road, Unit 2, Mississauga, ON L4T 1L2. 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