NEW YORK BELSTAFF NEW BOWS COLLECTIONS YORK A FIRST LOOK AT THE TOMMY, CAROLINA, THAKOON, NEW BELSTAFF LINE, BASTIAN, THE ROW... COLLECTIONS WHICH WILL SHOW NEW YORK FASHION WEEK IN LONDON THE NEW YORK COLLECTIONS TOOK A FINAL TURN ON THE RUNWAY WITH SHOWS FROM DESIGNERS THIS WEEKEND. SUCHROLLS AS ON.RALPH PAGES LAUREN, 6 TO CALVIN 10 KLEIN, PROENZA SCHOULER AND RALPH RUCCI. PAGES 4 T0 7 PAGE 16 THINKING BIGGER PPR Aims to Triple In Size by 2020 By JOELLE DIDERICH PARIS — PPR is thinking big. François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief execu- tive officer of the French group, hopes to triple the size of its core luxury and sport & lifestyle divisions FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 Q $3.00 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY by the end of the decade and increase revenues to 24 billion euros, or $31.5 billion at current exchange — WWD roughly on a par with the sales posted by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2011. Pinault revealed his ambitions for PPR, which is shedding its retail activities to focus on high-growth potential brands like Gucci, Puma and Bottega Veneta, at a press conference following the publica- tion of 2011 results that showed a record 26.4 percent Mara jump in net profit from continuing operations. “Our primary ambition is to build a group with rev- enues of at least 24 billion euros by 2020, with roughly 60 percent generated by the luxury division and 40 percent by sport & lifestyle,” Pinault said. “Our brands are powerful and have considerable Time potential for organic growth, because they are in line with the underlying consumer trends of today: self- “I wear a lot of black,” Rooney Mara fulfillment, a certain hedonism, consumers’ sense of responsibility for their choices and the convergence laughed backstage at the Calvin Klein of tastes from country to country and from generation Collection runway show on Wednesday. to generation,” Pinault added. “You know what, black’s easier.” He said prospects for 2012 were good, despite some economic uncertainty, noting that sales so far The Oscar-nominated star of the this year had maintained their momentum from the “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” fourth quarter of 2011. “PPR is confident that 2012 will be another year of sustained revenue growth and may share color preferences with improvements in our operating and financial perfor- Lisbeth Salander, but she proved mances,” the executive said. a touch more sociable than her The European debt crisis has not only hampered consumer spending in the euro zone, but is also drag- trademark character before taking ging out the off-loading of PPR’s mail order business a front-row seat alongside Emma Redcats, after banks last summer withdrew their orig- Stone. In a nice feat of synergy, inal financing deal for potential bidders. PPR group managing director Jean-François Palus the show’s mood was dark said talks continue with less than 10 interested par- and brooding, but some ties, mostly private equity funds, and the sale of of the collection SEE PAGE 16 actually had a softer side with ladylike, Avon Chatter Grows charming looks. For By MOLLY PRIOR more from AS PRESSURE CONTINUES to build at Avon Products the shows, see Inc. and investors grow increasingly impatient, the belea- pages 4 to 7. guered direct se ller could have a new chief executive of- ficer in place by its annual shareholders meeting in May. For more Mara, Momentum seems to be building in the firm’s search see page 14. for a new ceo, with HSN ceo Mindy Grossman continu- ing to dominate industry chatter about who may be the lead candidate. On Dec. 15, WWD first reported that Grossman was seen as a candidate. Other names have surfaced as well, including former Gap Inc. ceo Paul Pressler, and former Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. group president Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, who also sits on HSN’s board. Both Grossman and Bousquet-Chavanne dismissed the talk with “no comment.” One name industry watchers can cross off the list is former Procter & Gamble Co. veteran Ed Shirley. The former beauty and grooming executive cited P&G’s non- compete policy as the reason that he has not thrown his hat into the Avon ring, although he would have liked to. “I have not talked to Avon because of this,” he said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening. “It’s a great brand. There is a lot going for it, particularly in the emerging markets, where the company plays.” Plans call for Avon’s chairman and current ceo Andrea Jung to assume the executive chairman role once a new ceo is in place. “Names are being thrown around heavily that it leaves me to believe Avon is interviewing people,” PHOTO BY STEVE EICHNER SEE PAGE 10 2 WWD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 WWD.COM Nordstom Gains With Rack, E-commerce across the full-line, Rack and di- ever, continues to be disappoint- THE BRIEFING BOX By DAVID MOIN rect divisions quarterly. ing, though the company has been On the brick-and-mortar side, experimenting with a new for- IN TODAY’S WWD FOLLOWING A strong year and one full-line store is planned. The mat at stores in Nashville and St. Christmas quarter, Seattle-based company has 117 full-line units Louis. The format has fewer divi- Nordstrom Inc. is boosting invest- and believes it could ultimately sions between departments and a ments in e-commerce, where it operate 125 in the U.S. better flow through women’s. Jared Leto and sees the most growth, as well as in Erik Nordstrom, president of “It’s been a challenging year Lindsey Wixson planning and allocation, and mo- stores, characterized Canada as for us and that prompted some at The Last bile devices. “an attractive market for us. We changes,” said Pete Nordstrom, Magazine party. The company is also sustaining have a lot of customers there, being president of merchandising, refer- heady growth of its Rack outlet di- as close to the border as we are. ring to the women’s apparel busi- vision, with 15 openings planned It’s a healthy retail market but a ness and the January departure of this year on top of last year’s 18, tough real estate market. We think Loretta Soffe, executive vice presi- and for the last year has been dent and general merchandise eyeing Canada for expansion, manager for that area. although getting the right real For the year ended Despite that, Nordstrom’s estate there is tricky. direct business grew close to For the year ended Jan. 28, Jan. 28, Nordstrom’s 30 percent in 2011, and was Nordstrom’s total sales sur- lifted by enhanced service passed $10 billion for the first and free shipping and returns time, and rose 7.2 percent on total sales surpassed launched in September. A a comp-store basis, while the small “pilot” testing same-day SCOTT PHOTO RUDD BY Rack outlets surpassed $2 delivery followed. There will $10 billion for the François-Henri Pinault has big goals for PPR — to triple billion in volume. Net earn- be a $140 million investment its sales by the end of the decade. PAGE 1 ings rose 11.4 percent to $683 first time. in e-commerce this year, rep- million, from $613 million in resenting 30 percent of the 2010. Earnings per diluted share we can learn a lot [in Canada] that total capital budget for the year, Avon Products Inc. could have a new chief executive officer were $3.14, compared with $2.75 a could inform us for expansion after compared to $100 million in 2011. in place by its annual shareholders meeting in May. PAGE 1 year earlier. that. At this point, it is a real estate Nordstrom plans to expand the The fourth quarter net rose question and we haven’t answered online assortment, boost the e- Nordstrom plans to invest in e-commerce, its Rack 1.7 percent to $236 million, or that yet.” Vancouver is likely commerce team with another 400 division and mobile devices in the coming year. PAGE 2 $1.11 a diluted share, compared the first target since it is close to employees, continue to rollout with $232 million, or $1.04, for the Nordstrom’s Seattle base. mobile devices to sales associates The warm weather failed to impede the progress of same quarter a year ago. Same- On the merchandise front, and further customize the custom- The North Face during VF Corp.’s fourth quarter. PAGE 2 store sales rose 7.1 percent to Nordstrom did best in handbags, er engagement online. $3.17 billion, versus $2.82 billion designer labels and cosmetics last The HauteLook Web site, The Jones Group has established the Jones Group in the year-ago period. quarter, while footwear and online owned by Nordstrom, saw a 60 Fashion Office, under the direction of Stefani Greenfield, This year, Nordstrom expects sales overall were robust all year. percent sales gain and a doubling with the purpose of supporting the growth of core and same-store sales to increase 4 to In addition, “regular-price selling of membership to over 7.5 million emerging brands. PAGE 8 6 percent, and earnings per dilut- remains at historically high lev- last year, though the acquisition ed share in the range of $3.30 to els,” said Blake Nordstrom, presi- was a 23-cent drag on earnings Monica Bellucci, who recently returned to her old $3.45. Also, Nordstrom has decid- dent of Nordstrom Inc. last year and is expected to be the home at Dolce & Gabbana, is about to launch a lipstick ed to break out same-stores sales Women’s apparel overall, how- same this year.