s BEAUTY: PARIS: Nina Ricci, Rick How niche Owens, Balmain and s brands are more, pages 4-6. weathering the storm, s RETAIL: Buckle page 11. bucks the tough retail climate, page 14. PARIScollections/fall ’09 Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • March 6, 2009 • $3.00 WBeauty wDFRIdAY French Boast “It’s very Parisian,” said Nicolas Ghesquière of the ultrachic Balenciaga collection he showed on Thursday. In it he said curtains to high tech, replacing it with some fine French drapes, along with exquisite tailoring and sophisticated color play. Here, a caviar-beaded “tweed” top worn with an intricately swagged skirt. For more on the collections, see pages 4 to 6. Lovely Shade of Black: YSL, Finally Profitable, Plots Ambitious Growth By Miles Socha PARIS — While the global economic crisis has thrown many high-flying luxury brands into a tailspin, operating under trying circumstances is old hat for the folks at Yves Saint Laurent. “We’ve always been in crisis,” said Valerie Hermann, who arrived as chief executive officer of YSL in early 2005, a year after losses had ballooned to 76.4 million euros, or $95 million at average exchange rates. “I think we have a team which is quite well prepared to go into this crisis.” And there is a motivating victory to celebrate: As reported last month, YSL reached breakeven in 2008, surprising many in the market. Gucci Group, which acquired YSL in 1999, has resisted setting a profitability deadline for the storied fashion See Broader, Page7 PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI GIOVANNI PHOTO BY 2 WWD, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009 WWD.COM Lambertson Truex Files Chapter 11 By Vicki M. Young request because it hopes to lease it to another tenant. Until then, Samsonite is paying the rent HIGH-END ACCESSORIES FIRM LAMBERTSON and real estate taxes for the New York store. WWDFRIDAYBeauty Truex on Thursday filed a Chapter 11 petition in The company’s Web site continues to operate. a Delaware bankruptcy court, and its exit strat- It said the wholesale business and online opera- FASHION egy is a sale of the company. tion are profitable. Nicolas Ghesquière went for color play and draping s 4 Giuseppe Bonfiglio, president, said the com- Dembsky said that due to the extreme down- at Balenciaga, while Olivier Theyskens’ romantic Nina pany has been actively courting potential part- turn in the global economy, even those who used Ricci collection was glitter-dusted. ners. to seek out the “highest quality product” are “We have been approached by several pri- now in the “shy spending” mode. He also said GENERAL vate equity firms who share our confidence and the company was unable to obtain credit for its While the economic crisis has thrown many luxury ability to reorganize and restabilize in the short- wholesale operations. 1 brands for a loop, operating under trying times is old term,” he said. The company said it has “determined that it Lambertson Truex was formed 10 years ago will not pursue [debtor-in-possession] financ- hat for the folks at Yves Saint Laurent. and Samsonite Corp. took a majority stake in the ing to sustain its post-petition operations.” With 3 Retailers generally reported lower same-store sales for firm in 2006. A call to Samsonite seeking com- the closure of the two retail stores, the company February, but decreases moderated slightly from the ment wasn’t returned. Founders John Truex and said it had “determined that it has adequate levels of recent months. Richard Lambertson are still with the firm as cash flow to fund itself during the Chapter 11 creative directors. proceeding pending a sale.” 8 Attendance was as low as the spirits at the Personal Rumblings about a possible filing started in Samsonite is the top unsecured creditor at Care Products Council’s annual meeting at the Boca early February. Bankers at the time said one $17.9 million. Next are the landlords for the Raton Resort and Club. problem that contributed to “liquidity issues” two shuttered stores: $4.7 million for the Los 12 Rancor rose over the Employee Free Choice Act, as a was the quick rollout of stores after Samsonite Angeles store at 8457 Melrose Place and $2.5 retail group said it would cause job losses and Presi- took control of the firm. million for the Las Vegas store at The Shoppes dent Obama reiterated his support. In an affidavit by Maurice Dembsky, at The Palazzo, which owner General Growth Lambertson Truex’s director of finance, the com- Properties is attempting to sell. 13 Investors steered away from Urban Outfitters Inc. stock pany said it shuttered its Los Angeles and Las According to the petition, estimated liabili- Thursday after it said higher markdowns led to lower Vegas stores around Feb. 25. The New York store ties are $10 million to $50 million and estimated fourth-quarter earnings. on Madison Avenue remains open at Samsonite’s assets are between $1 million and $10 million. 13 Fifteen local chapters of UNITE HERE, representing 150,000 members, have set a vote for Saturday on whether to disaffiliate from the union. 14 The Buckle Inc., which delivered a 21 percent February Five Held in Alleged Counterfeit Scheme Nina Ricci same-store sales gain, is moving its 391-store fleet to its most easterly point yet. By Matthew Lynch 2008 after a cooperating witness informed it of Classified Advertisements.................................................................................................15 the group’s desire to smuggle shoes, bags and IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT other items into the country. Between last June TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS agents in New York arrested five people and the time of the arrests, undercover agents [email protected], USING THE INDIVIDUAL’s NAME. Thursday for their alleged roles in a conspiracy helped broker the import of 62 containers from WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2009 to import more than $40 million of counterfeit China, only 15 of which were actually delivered, FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. merchandise into the city’s ports. the complaint revealed. VOLUME 197, NO. 48. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with Authorities charge that a yearlong under- Containers seized by the agency held counter- one additional issue in January, May, October, November and December, two additional issues in March, April, June and August, and three additional issues in February and September) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division cover investigation showed Chang Miao Ye, Guo feits with an estimated street value of more than of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services Long Xu, Xue Hu Huang, Xiao Fang Zhu and Ke $40 million, authorities said. provided by Condé Nast Publications: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. Ren Wang all aided in some way in the shipment Meanwhile, in Rome, 150,000 pieces of coun- Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage of containers that held fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci terfeit Burberry clothing and accessories were paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian and Nike footwear. seized at the Italian capital’s Fiumicino Airport addresses to: P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES All five were arraigned in federal court in on Thursday, according to AFP reports. Police TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS Brooklyn late Thursday afternoon. Each faces and customs officers found the fake clothing — CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed a statutory maximum 20-year prison sentence. all labeled with the Burberry logo — among a on most recent label. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all A judge released Zhu on bond but held her co- consignment of goods from China. The street editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. defendants. value of the clothes was estimated at around For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 10 million euros, or $12.5 million at current Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services agents arrested the alleged co-conspirators exchange. Following the find, Italian police that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please earlier in the day after participating in the con- have launched an investigation into import- advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, trolled delivery of two containers that carried ing counterfeit goods against five individuals, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR counterfeit goods with a street value of about three of whom are from China and two from ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS.