WESTERN WAY BLOOMINGDALE’S UNVEILS A FULL-LINE STORE IN GLENDALE, CALIF. PAGE 5 TAKING A TOUR BIGGER BASSO SIR PHILIP GREEN AND NORDSTROM EXECUTIVES CROSS THE DENNIS BASSO OPENS A 10,500-SQUARE-FOOT U.S. FOR TOPSHOP SHOPS-IN-SHOP IN NORDSTROM. PAGE 12 FLAGSHIP ON MADISON AVENUE. PAGE 5 JOINING THE LVMH STABLE Ghesquière Era Dawns at Vuitton By MILES SOCHA PARIS — Nicolas Ghesquière is expected to bring a WWD gust of experimental fashion — and that all-important buzz factor — to Louis Vuitton as the brand’s new ar- tistic director of women’s collections. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 Q $3.00 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY Confirming a widely expected hire, Vuitton said the designer — who catapulted Balenciaga to the forefront of the Paris fashion agenda — would show his first collection here next March. The appointment on Monday afternoon came al- most a year to the day that the Frenchman exited Balenciaga after a 15-year career, sparking a guessing game about where he might land. He had also con- ducted talks with Japanese retail giant Fast Retailing The Suit Ltd., parent of the Uniqlo chain, as reported. Vuitton said Ghesquière would bring “a modern, creative vision to the house’s women’s collections, building on the values of refinement, savoir faire and extreme quality.” He is the latest fortysomething fashion modern- Gets Cute ist tapped by luxury kingpin Bernard Arnault, who last year named Belgian Raf Simons to become Christian Dior’s sixth couturier, and who in recent Dial down the serious power suit — way years brought in British designer Phoebe Philo to MARTIN energize Céline. down. For spring, contemporary designers Known for his exacting, couturelike approach, EMMIE turned up the fun with playful shorts Ghesquière could help Vuitton in its quest to build a more upscale and elite reputation after years of suits like this linen one by Harlyn worn rapid global expansion and a heavy reliance on ASSISTANT: with Levi’s Made & Crafted’s silk top. monogram canvas. Reporting third-quarter results last month, LVMH Collina Strada clutch; Calleen Cordero Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said revenues in the FASHION shoes. For more shorts suits, see fashion and leather goods division slipped 3.8 per- cent to 2.43 billion euros, or $3.22 billion, with Vuitton GROFT; WWD.com/fashion-news. “slightly” underperforming other brands in the busi- ness group, which includes such names as Fendi, KATHERINE Givenchy and Berluti. Signaling an upscale drive designed to stem that sales slide, last month Vuitton tapped accessories ASSISTANT: SEE PAGE 4 PHOTO BEAUTÉ; Gucci’s U.S. Push CHANEL By MARC KARIMZADEH FOR NEW YORK — The transformation of Gucci’s North America business is in full motion. KOHLHAGEN During an exclusive interview here last week, Patrizio di Marco, Gucci’s worldwide president and ANNE BY chief executive officer, outlined key changes the brand has been making here — a strategy aimed at strengthening its U.S. presence with the ultimate goal MAKEUP of surpassing $1 billion in sales in the region. Mainly, Gucci started looking to “drastically BEAUTY; change our presence in the country by taking over the wholesale partners that we had,” di Marco said. ARTMIX “Our intention wasn’t to cut the stores out of the pro- AT cess, because they have been our partners for many years and they’re still our partners. There’s simply a change in the relationship, from coming to us and TRESEMMÉ buying our merchandise to, together with us, manag- USING ing the business, although the business is run directly by the company here.” SYFU The takeover of the Gucci business at Saks Fifth Avenue is now complete, having converted its whole- JEANIE sale presence into directly operated departments. BY Now the company is looking to study its presence in HAIR its Saks doors to maximize opportunities. “The first step was to take over our presence there, and the second step is to consolidate our presence [at Saks], because sometimes we don’t need to have, say, three different points of sale in the same depart- IEROKHINA/MAJOR; ment,” di Marco said. “We can actually consolidate JENIA categories under one roof, because that’s much more efficient saleswise and, most importantly, because PHOTO BY THOMAS IANNACCONE; STYLED BY KIM FRIDAY MODEL: SEE PAGE 8 2 WWD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 WWD.COM Hudson’s Bay Closes on Saks Deal THE BRIEFING BOX Hudson’s Bay expects the deal will create roughly By EVAN CLARK $100 million in annual cost savings within three years. IN TODAY’S WWD To fund the all-cash buyout, Hudson’s Bay sold SAKS FIFTH AVENUE has moved into its new about $1 billion in equity, which included common home at Hudson’s Bay Co. stock and warrants that were issued to HS Investment Hudson’s Bay said its deal to buy Saks Inc. for $3 L.P., an affiliate of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, billion, which includes debt and expenses, closed and funds advised by West Face Capital Inc. Tina Veshaguri today. Saks stockholders get $16 for each of their The debt financing included a $2 billion senior is the subject of shares, and Hudson’s Bay’s chief executive offi- secured term loan, a $300 million junior secured “Model Call” on cer Richard Baker gets a third, and more upscale, term loan and a $950 million asset-based loan. WWD.com. chain for his retail business, which already included Saks shareholders gave the final thumbs-up MANAGEMENT Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor. to the deal on Friday, after which the retailer de- Much of the money from the sale will go to tailed which executives would leave the firm, fol- MODEL Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, who lowing Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and ceo, and held 23.1 million Saks shares, valued at $370 mil- Ron Frasch, president and chief merchant. Among TRUMP lion, and Tod’s SpA chairman and ceo Diego Della those moving on were Robert Wallstrom, executive OF Valle, who held 22.7 million shares, valued at $362.4 vice president and president of Saks Off 5th; Denise million, as of last count. Incandela, executive vice president and chief mar- All together, the Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay now keting officer, and Terron Schaefer, executive vice COURTESY has 320 doors, including 179 full-line specialty de- president and chief creative officer. PHOTO partment stores, 72 outlet stores and 69 home stores. Saks will remain headquartered in New York. Louis Vuitton has named Nicolas Ghesquière its new artistic Men’s Wearhouse Rejects Latest Offer director of women’s collections. Page 1 THE POSSIBILITY of a sweeter offer from Jos. A. Bank represented a 42.4 percent premium to MW’s clos- The transformation of Gucci’s North America business is in Clothiers Inc. hasn’t altered The Men’s Wearhouse ing price of $33.71 on Sept. 17. full motion. Page 1 Inc.’s firm opposition to its competitor’s takeover bid Shares of MW closed Monday at $42.14, down 2.8 or the idea of letting its suitor see its books. percent. Bank shares declined 0.5 percent to $47.71. Dennis Basso has opened a store on Madison Avenue which Men’s Wearhouse said Monday that, after consulta- Robert Wildrick, chairman of Jos. A. Bank, said is triple the size of his old store a few blocks away. Page 5 tion with its financial and legal advisers, it concluded the company was “disappointed” by MW’s refusal “it is not in the best interest of the company’s share- to supply a limited amount of information and Bloomingdale’s on Friday will open a 115,000-square-foot holders to provide Jos. A. Bank with access to non- its choice “not to explore the potential of Jos. A. unit in the Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles. Page 5 public information concerning Men’s Wearhouse.” Bank’s proposal for the benefit of their sharehold- The retailer reiterated its earlier position that the ers. Their board’s position is a matter for consider- Sweet Pea’s manufacturing capabilities have shot up like $48 a share, or about $2.4 billion, offered for the com- ation by the shareholders of Men’s Wearhouse. Jack’s giant beanstalk. Page 6 pany “significantly undervalues Men’s Wearhouse.” “For our part, we stand by our previous state- Jos. A. Bank Thursday said it would consider ment and will keep our proposal open until Nov. 14, Marvin Klapper, who had an illustrious 45-year career with raising its original bid if provided with the opportu- 2013,” he concluded. Page 7 nity to conduct “limited due diligence” of its archri- “It is difficult to understand why the board took Fairchild Publications and WWD, died on Sunday. val men’s specialty store chain. Jos. A. Bank said this position, especially in view of the many Men’s the offer to boost the price would expire on Nov. 14 Wearhouse shareholders who have asked that IMG Fashion plans to outsource production of its fashion if “good faith discussions” with MW hadn’t begun. the company meet with our client,” said Gilbert week events in New York and Miami. Page 7 “Our board and management teams are committed Harrison, chairman of Financo Inc., which is advis- to creating value for our shareholders,” said Douglas ing Jos. A. Bank on the offer. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art + Film Gala on Ewert, president, chief executive officer and a director Harrison said Jos. A. Bank is not walking away Saturday night drew stars from both worlds.