WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 20102WWD.COM

Supreme Court to Hear Wal-Mart Bias Case

Shepard Fairey

• EYESCOOP: See extra images from Art Basel Miami,

Keith Richards’ party and Model Call: Emily Senko at

WWD.com/eyescoop. • FASHION: See the latest

pre-fall collections, including Oscar de la Renta,

Rachel Roy, VPL by Victoria Bartlett, Zero

Maria Cornejo and Reed Krakoff at WWD.com/

fashion-shows-reviews. • BUSINESS: For more

financial news and daily stock movements, see WWD.com/business-news.Ph

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“We’re going to move forward together, for our

common good and for L’Oréal, which is so much a part

of my life.” — Liliane Bettencourt.

Page one.

QUoteDAILY to e-mAIL reporters AnD eDItors At WWD, the ADDress Is

fIrstnAme.LAstnAme@fAIrchILDpUb.com, UsIng the InDIvIDUAL’s nAme. WWD Is A regIstereD trADemArK of ADvAnce mAgAZIne pUbLIshers Inc. copYrIght ©2010 fAIrchILD fAshIon groUp. ALL rIghts reserveD. prInteD In the U.s.A.VOLUME 200, NO. 118. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January, May, June and December, two additional issues in March, April, August, September, October and November, and three additional issues in February) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, Chief Executive Officer; Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., President; John W. Bellando, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer; Jill Bright, Chief Administrative Officer. Periodicals postage 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 addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6. postmAster: senD ADDress chAnges to Women’s WeAr DAILY, p.o. box 15008, north hollywood, cA 91615 5008. for sUbscrIptIons, ADDress 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 on most recent label. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630-5656 or fax the request to 212-630-5883. For reprints of articles, please contact Scoop ReprintSource at 800-767-3263 or via e-mail at sales@scoopreprintsource.com. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Group magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please 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, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

TODAY ON

.comWWD

By Kristi Ellis

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that challenges a lower court’s class-action certification in what could be the largest gender-discrim-ination case in the nation’s history.

The impact of the case might be far-reaching, with Wal-Mart potentially facing billions of dollars in liability.

The high court will not address whether the $400 billion retailer discriminated against hundreds of thousands of female employees in pay and promotions, an allegation the com-pany denies. It will rule on whether claims by individual employees can be combined into a single lawsuit that seeks back pay.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has granted review in this important case,” Wal-Mart said. “The current confusion in class action law is harmful for everyone — employers, employees, businesses of all types and sizes, and the civil justice system. These are exceedingly important issues that reach far beyond this particular case.”

The appeal involves a lawsuit filed in 2001 by Betty Dukes and five other female employees alleging the company’s cor-porate structure discriminated against women regarding pay and promotions, among other accusations. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have since argued that the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, the larg-est U.S. private employer with 1.4 million workers and a total of 2.1 million world-wide, is trying to force the women to file in-dividual cases, knowing that most of them cannot afford to bring them on their own.

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s lim-ited review of the class certification in this case,” said Joseph M. Sellers, lead co-coun-sel for the plaintiffs. “As that decision was based on a vast body of evidence, we are confident that the decision to certify the class was sound.”

Sellers said in an interview that the plaintiffs have “very strong evidence to demonstrate the [discriminatory] practices that we are challenging were consistent throughout the company and that there are questions being adjudicated at trial that are common to the class as a whole.”

Wal-Mart is appealing the 6-to-5 deci-sion of a sharply divided U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which ruled in April that the gender-discrimina-tion complaint could go to trial as a class-action lawsuit. The ruling affirmed a lower court’s certification and also allowed mem-bers to seek back pay and other relief.

The retailer, arguing against the class-action certification in court papers filed in August, said the former and current female employees would come from 170 different job classifications “in different stores in dif-ferent states under the supervision of differ-ent mangers,” who could potentially seek bil-lions of dollars in monetary relief. Wal-Mart said the women should file individual law-suits against separate stores because each store operates as an independent business.

Intel Corp. was among several companies backing Wal-Mart’s position. It said in court papers, “Intel has a significant interest in maintaining proper limitations on class-ac-tion procedures,” contending such status can result in workers forcing large settlements.

By Vicki M. Young

NEW YORK — J. Crew Group Inc. had suitors besides Texas Pacific Group and Leonard Green, but it was the belief that Millard “Mickey” Drexler would stay on in a deal with TPG that tipped the scales in its favor.

According to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Monday, J. Crew said that its chairman and chief executive officer told the special committee evaluating the potential sale of the retailer that “if the company were to be sold, given that he is 66 years old, he had significant reservations about the prospect of working for a new boss, but that he had a high comfort level with TPG and had a positive experience with them during the period in which TPG owned the company.”

The committee concluded that Drexler would be “un-willing to work for any third party other than TPG.”

The private equity fund acquired J. Crew in 1997, brought Drexler onboard in 2003, took the firm public in 2006 and sold off the final remnants of its earlier stake last year. J. Crew agreed to be acquired and taken private by TPG and Leonard Green for about $3 billion on Nov. 22.

According to the SEC documents, there have been oc-casional overtures to J. Crew from entities interested in merging with the retailer, including one in the fourth quarter of 2008 from TPG, but none of those talks pro-ceeded beyond the preliminary stage.

The deal was done in less than three months. TPG co-founder James Coulter, a director of J. Crew, again raised the possibility of buying the company on Sept. 1.

Talks, including TPG’s tie-in with Leonard Green, pro-ceeded into November.

During the talks, another entity, not identified in the fil-ings, made an inquiry that failed to move beyond the pre-liminary stage, and another unnamed private equity firm expressed interest. However, the special committee didn’t pursue the private equity possibility based on its belief that Drexler would stay on only if TPG were involved.

Neither Coulter nor Drexler was involved in the retailer’s board decisions on the sale of the company, according to the SEC papers. Also recusing herself in those discussions was director Heather Reisman be-cause of potential conflicts of interest: her husband is a founding partner of a private equity firm, of which she is a board member, that was also interested in a transac-tion for the sale of the chain.

Although not stipulated in the SEC filing, Reisman is the wife of Gerald Schwartz, founder and ceo of Onex Corp.

According to the acquisition agreement, Drexler owns 11.8 percent of J. Crew’s stock and would enter into a new employment agreement with the new owners. The filing said the initial term is for four years, subject to automatic extensions for successive one-year periods. His base salary will be $200,000, with the possibility of a bonus opportunity of $800,000, based on the achieve-ment of certain performance metrics.

The filing said the initial offer was $41 a share, and through negotiations by the special committee, was in-creased to $43.50. Leonard Green was said to be unwill-ing to go as high as $45 a share.

According to the filing, and information from Perella Weinberg Partners, adviser to the special committee, the $43.50 per share offer, or $3 billion transaction price, puts the company’s enterprise value at 8.6 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the trailing 12 months, versus a medium of 7.9 for specialty apparel firms and 8.9 for the branded retail category.

The offer also represented a 19.2 percent premium to the $36.49 closing price of the stock on Nov. 19; a 29.6 percent premium to a one-month average stock price of $33.57; a 29.2 percent premium to the three-month average stock price of $33.66, and an 8.7 premium to a 12-month av-erage stock price of $40.01. Shares closed down 9 cents at $44.04 Monday versus a 52-week high of $50.96, reached on April 26, and a 52-week low of $32.03, reached on Aug. 16.

Following the completion of the deal, TPG would own 66.2 percent, Leonard Green 25 percent and Drexler and his relat-ed trusts 8.8 percent. The two funds are expected to contribute $1.1 billion to the purchase price. Barring the emergence of another suitor, the TPG-Leonard Green deal has a walk-away date of May 18, 2011. Different termination fees are triggered depending on which parties are still standing on certain dates.

In addition, Drexler will have 5.1 million in shares of vested stock options having a value of $151.5 million.

There are currently seven shareholder lawsuits, in-cluding one in Manhattan federal court.

As of Nov. 23, the retailer operates 250 retail stores including 221 J. Crew retail stores, 9 Crewcuts and 20 Madewell stores, the J. Crew catalogue business, jcrew.com, madewell.com and 85 factory outlet stores.

On Oct. 16, 1963, WWD reported on a new breed emerging in New York social circles: The Young Naturals. “They have the breeding, the posh schools, the banker or broker husbands, the fashionable East Side apartments,” wrote WWD. “But three cheers for their Natural Good Looks, their Ease, their Styles, and they have done it all themselves.” The ladies, all 25 years old and younger, included Linda Hackett (“now built like a statue”), Ritchey Banker (“outdoors-y, right down to the sunburn and freckles”), Marty McLanahan (“loves to land ski”), Mimi Reed (“lean and lanky in the Lauren Bacall man-ner”) and Annette Reed, who was “just back from eight months in Africa where she gained five pounds eating ice cream (she now weighs 103).” “Don’t confuse the young naturals with their safety-first contemporaries in the Social Register,” continued the paper, “following Mother and Grandmother without a drop of in-dividuality and ending up dull, dull, dull.” Here, more of WWD’s descriptions on the “Natural” women. — Venessa Lau

ON BALLS: “Boring…but they go anyway — to a few choice ones.”ON HOmE: “What they all share is a Love of Order — as neat and tidy as you can get without eliminating the human element…a brocade matchbook next to every chair…the hairpins symmetrically arranged on a tray…it’s the discipline of the boarding schools that does it.” ON HEROINES: “Mrs. Paley — so non-caring with her elegance (Mrs. Guinness tries a bit too hard)…Audrey Hepburn is a group-splitter (some think she’s the last word, others question her peace of mind).”ON mAKEuP: “The minimum — for a natural look…but this doesn’t rule out false eye-lashes (“furries”), nude lipstick and powdered rouge instead of pancake.” ON FASHION: “They love clothes but don’t hoard them...they all adore Chanel, in any form…many find Paris couture clothes, even Americanized copies, too hard to wear and too obviously of the moment.”

NATURAL SELECTION

OcT. 16, 1963

Some of WWD’s “Young Naturals.:

SEC Filing Sheds Light on J. Crew Acquisition Details

WWD 100 Years | 100 Designers Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher

Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie

Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto Cavalli Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco

Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath

Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini

Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey

Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl

Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney

Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler

Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen

Miuccia Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint

Laurent Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse

Anna Sui Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni

Versace Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji

Yamamoto Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey

Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto

Cavalli Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian

Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John

Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina

Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo

Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren

Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac

Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul

Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen Miuccia Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco

Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint Laurent Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi

Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse Anna Sui Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro

Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni Versace Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander

Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji Yamamoto Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher

Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie

Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto Cavalli Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco

Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath

Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini

Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey

Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl

Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney

Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler

Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen Miuccia

Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint Laurent

Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse Anna Sui

Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni Versace

Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji Yamamoto

Give the gift that never goes out of style. Available in hard cover at Bergdorf Goodman, amazon.com & WWD.com/store

4 WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010

See more looks from the pre-fall collections at WWD.com/fashion-shows-reviews

growin

g bold

Anything goes this season as VPL by Victoria Bartlett’s Victoria Bartlett and Angela Missoni at M Missoni play with graphic elements for pre-fall, while Rachel Roy looks to the East for inspiration with exotic prints and plenty of feathers.

Rachel Roy M Missoni

WWD.COM5WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010

Dress-up TimeOscar de la Renta: With no less than 59 looks in the lineup, Oscar de la Renta’s pre-fall collection covered plenty of ground. Daywear ran the gamut from trim, tweed suits with cropped jackets to hearty, stretch wool skirts, some A-line with a big bow at the waist. Evening was a pretty, girly affair, full of black lace, bright satin sashes and silk faille ball gowns. Throughout, de la Renta hedged on neither color — high-def fuchsia, scarlet, kelly green, abstract stripes and prints — nor embellishment, as in dense embroideries, feathers on dresses and a cashmere cardigan, and bows that decorated suits and gowns. If the soundtrack (Barry White’s “Love’s Theme”) framed the offerings with a Seventies mood, the collection also met pre-fall’s practicality mandate while catering to de la Renta’s customer’s sophisticated, dressed-up taste.

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VPL by Victoria Bartlett

WWD.COMWWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 20106

Starting big — no doubt a Splen-did notion to countless talented fash-

ion aspirants who struggle just to pay the rent.

reed Krakoff might tell them that a big, high-profile launch has its own set of challenges.

not that he’s complaining. With Monday’s showing of pre-fall, Krakoff completed his first cycle of collections at the self-named label, a span during which he learned a great deal for a sea-soned, ubersuccessful industry vet.

those familiar with the de-signer’s Krakoff collections will

note in pre-fall a significant evo-lution in a short time, one perhaps

aided by the up-close advantages of a showroom presentation. Krakoff, who

stresses that his roots are in sportswear — the résumé features pre-Coach stints at ralph

lauren and tommy Hilfiger — launched the brand around the utilitarian notion of classic sportswear, which he loves.

“What really inspired me,” he said in a preview last week, “was this [idea that] form follows function, a sensibility of american design, where the decorative aspect and the femininity and the attitude grew out of construction, grew out of fabrication and grew out of this utilitarianism and sense of uniform.” that notion formed the basis for the launch.

Whereas his fall was cumbersome and spring skewed utilitarian-tricky, a subtle gentleness now infiltrates the lineup. “it’s combin-ing that [utilitarian] thought with the femininity, the desire, more of a prettiness, more poetic,” he said. thus, though the collection is highly geometric, it is softened by the juxtaposition of sturdy and soft materials, such as leathers and thick wools against lightweight, diaphanous fabrics for insets and underskirts.

this tempering of utilitarian grit proved a necessary challenge. “i felt that that’s what makes it new,” Krakoff explained. “i don’t think the sense of uniform and the sort of strict modernist take is enough. You have to add another sensibility to make it fresh, that femininity and the prettiness. it takes time for the words to make their way into the clothes.”

in the meantime, if Krakoff was a bit surprised at the harsh tone of some of his first reviews, he seems not at all defensive, while

implying that perhaps his reputation as an accessories guru got in the way of his immediate acceptance as the head of a sportswear house. “What i was prepared for was a lot of learning…i’m very open to constructive feedback. i was a little surprised; i’ll be honest with you, a little bit. it was more about my history, i think, just more about where i grew up [in the business].”

Feedback notwithstanding, Krakoff reports that early business has been strong, particularly in his own stores and with online re-tailers such as net-a-porter, with the strongest categories outer-wear, knitwear and handbags.

and no, he doesn’t feel he’s cannibalizing Coach, which he main-tains has a completely different aesthetic. “not one person has ever said anything about Coach when they walk into this room…i defi-nitely felt that my own aesthetic was much more personal and very different than Coach. in a way, it made it easier for me to do Coach, which is like this design puzzle for me. it’s sort of a code and a lan-guage. this is much more direct and much more my own aesthetic.”

typically that aesthetic involves art-world inspirations. Joseph boyd’s work informed Krakoff ’s first collection, and that of british artist rachel Whiteread, pre-fall, particularly in the mix of feminine and functional aspects. Yet Krakoff has grown aware of the pratfalls of running too far with a thought. “one of the most amazing things i learned,” he offered, “is that you have to be able to distinguish be-tween what you like and what’s right for your collection. it’s sort of like when people say, ‘i appreciate it, but i don’t want it.’ it’s not an easy thing to distinguish as a designer sometimes. there’s a big dif-ference between liking something and feeling what’s right for what you’re doing. and, i think, in the beginning it was hard to do that.

“i think some of the earlier things were more directional than i really wanted to pursue,” he continued. “to do anything, you’ve got to do it in a convincing way. and i think that you can only tell some of these stories [through] trial and error.”

Which, Krakoff maintains, is where excitement keeps company with risk. “that hunger to do something different, i think is what keeps me going,” Krakoff said. “i love doing it. and again, making the words real — it just takes time. that’s what i’ve learned over and over again in my career — that you cannot just land at the end. You have to put yourself out there.”

— Bridget Foley

Reed Krakoff: Making the Words Real

“You have to be able to distinguish between what you like and what’s right for your collection. ”

— Reed Krakoff

For more Reed Krakoff pre-fall, see WWD.com/fashion-shows-reviews

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WWD.COMWWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010 7

Continued from page oneThe long-running Bettencourt affair began

in December 2007, when Bettencourt Meyers brought a lawsuit against photographer François-Marie Banier. She alleged Banier exploited the weakness of Bettencourt, who had given him as-sets valued at about 1 billion euros, or $1.3 billion at current exchange. Banier denied any wrongdo-ing and Bettencourt maintained she was sound and acting on her own free will.

Bettencourt Meyers had also initiated legal proceedings against Patrice de Maistre, her mother’s financial adviser, and Fabrice Goguel, Bettencourt’s former tax lawyer.

In mid-November, it was ruled that Bettencourt Meyers’ demand to have her mother placed under legal guardianship merited examination.

Bettencourt Meyers has dropped all legal pro-ceedings she had initiated, as has her mother.

Major terms of the accord reached between Bettencourt Meyers and Banier include Banier agreeing to renounce everything that had been promised to him by Bettencourt that he had not yet received, according to a source close to the dossier. The source also said Banier committed to stay away from Bettencourt. (Banier, in mid-July, had already been cut out of Bettencourt’s will.)

The agreement Bettencourt Meyers reached with de Maistre stipulates he is to step down from his role in Téthys, the Bettencourt fam-ily holding company that oversees its 31 percent stake in L’Oréal. That should happen by Dec. 31. Bettencourt Meyers’ husband Jean-Pierre Meyers will replace de Maistre as Téthys’ managing direc-tor, and Bettencourt Meyers’ two sons are to join Téthys’ supervisory board. Meanwhile, Bettencourt remains Téthys’ president, although with a some-what reduced operational role in its management.

Jean-Paul Agon, L’Oréal’s chief executive of-ficer, lauded the Bettencourts’ reconciliation. In an internal company e-mail sent out Monday af-ternoon, he was quoted as saying, “I am delighted

that our shareholders, Liliane Bettencourt and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, are now in good terms and I am sure you will be as pleased as I am. This favorable development of their relation-ship is also very positive for our group and its em-ployees, given that the family has also expressed its strong and joint commitment to L’Oréal.”

The Bettencourt family feud had risked impact-ing L’Oréal’s future ownership. Had Bettencourt been placed under guardianship, her position on the board of the company — in which she’s the largest individual shareholder — could have been at risk.

Susanne Seibel, a consumer analyst at Barclays Capital, thinks that since it’s likely the

ownership structure of L’Oréal remains sta-tus quo, speculation about Nestlé (owner of about 30 percent of the French beauty giant) taking over the Bettencourt stake or Bettencourt Meyers selling to a third party once she has full control of L’Oréal “should recede. Operationally, [the Bettencourt af-fair] has had little impact on the base.”

“I don’t think that the affair has had a negative impact on the image of the com-pany, and therefore will unlikely have a strong impact now,” continued UBS analyst Eva Quiroga. “Also, given they have so many different brands in their portfolio, consum-ers will be hard-pressed to identify that Lancôme comes from the same house as Biotherm and as L’Oréal Paris.”

The Bettencourt saga blossomed into an affair of state in July, when an allegation surfaced that Eric Woerth, while serving as France’s budget minister and UMP party

treasurer in 2007, received a campaign donation for Nicolas Sarkozy from the Bettencourts that was well above the legal limit. It was also reported that Sarkozy had received envelopes of cash from them.

Woerth is being investigated, as well, for al-leged influence peddling linked to his involve-ment in securing the Legion of Honor for de Maistre in 2008. Woerth had decorated de Maistre when de Maistre was Woerth’s wife’s boss at Bettencourt’s holding company.

And while the Bettencourt family feud may be settled, the French authorities continue to inves-tigate Bettencourt over her former Swiss bank ac-counts and whether they’d been declared to tax authorities. On Nov. 17, Paris’ Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that the Bettencourt affair’s legal dossiers were to be transferred to Bordeaux, France, from the Paris suburb of Nanterre. It was deemed Bordeaux is better suited for the serene working of justice. Dossiers related to Woerth also will be reviewed by the Bordeaux court.

“What has been closed today is the family de-bate, no more,” said one political observer. “The rest is still ongoing. The French justice is slow, and because it is a very difficult case — with a lot of ramifications and debates — I don’t think it will be judged before the elections [for France’s president in 2012].”

BEAUTY BEAT

By Alexandra Steigrad

FEDErAL AUTHOrITIES CHArGED VITALy Borker, the operator of purported luxury eyewear Web site DecorMyEyes.com, with cyberstalking, threatening and defrauding his customers.

Borker, 34, also known as “Tony russo” and “Stanley Bolds,” was arrested Monday morning at his Brooklyn home for allegedly running a scheme to defraud his customers by selling counterfeit and inferior quality goods, as well as making un-authorized charges, according to the U.S. attorney. Firearms and ammunition were also found at the defendant’s residence.

The complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of New york, said that when Borker’s cus-tomers complained about products they received, he allegedly retaliated with obscenities and threats of violence. In one instance, Borker, who has been the owner and operator of the Web site since 2007, repeatedly harassed a customer on the telephone and through e-mail, after she disputed a charge on her credit card upon receiving “de-fective,” “counterfeit” glasses, court papers said.

He then allegedly sent an e-mail to that customer, which included her personal information and a photograph of him outside of her home. About a week later, Borker informed the customer via e-mail to “close the dispute with the credit card company if you know what is good for you.”

“Do the right thing and everyone goes away. I AM WATCHING yOU!” the message said.

“Online consumers should never be in fear for their safety simply because they have chosen the convenience of Internet shopping,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who noted that “well over 200 complaints” had been filed with the Federal Trade Commission by customers from the U.S. and abroad regarding this matter.

Borker, who is expected to be presented in Magistrate Court in Manhattan federal court, has been charged with one count each of cyberstalking, making interstate threats, mail fraud and wire fraud. Cyberstalking and making interstate threats carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and mail and wire fraud carry a maximum penalty of 20 years.

DecorMyEyes.com remained in operation Monday.

MEMO PADSWITCHING SIDES: After months of negotiation, Middle East correspondent Dexter Filkins is leaving The New York Times and heading to The New Yorker.

“I’m over the moon,” said David Remnick late Monday morning. “He’s a heroic talent,” e-mailed Times executive editor Bill Keller.

“I’ve personally written two Pulitzer nominations for him. We’ll miss him a lot, but I understand that after 10 years of high-adrenaline war coverage, he wants something completely different.”

Filkins told the Times of his decision today. “I think Dexter Filkins has long proved himself as one of the

great war correspondents and foreign correspondents not only of his generation but ever,” said Remnick. “And that’s reflected in both his coverage in the Times and also in his book [“The Forever War”]. Time and again he not only writes with real intelligence and grace, but he also has the capacity to report deeply and break stories wherever he goes.

“He brings to us the knowledge of a huge region of the world that is going to be, unfortunately, on our agenda for an untold period of time,” he continued.

But Filkins may not just be limited to the Middle East. “The plan here is to send Dexter to a wide variety of foreign stories that

we will work out mutually,” Remnick said. “I’m sure that he will get his fill of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but I’d also be very surprised if he didn’t travel far and wide — whether that’s the Middle East or Africa or India.”

Doesn’t The New Yorker already have a well-muscled group of foreign writers?

“It’s not very large,” he said, speaking about The New Yorker’s foreign lineup. “We have people who are perfectly capable of going to do a foreign story here or there, but in terms of deeply experienced foreign correspondents, we’re not as deep as I would have liked. Dexter is someone I’ve read for a long time and also talked to for a long time. He’s very good friends with [George] Packer and others.”

The Filkins move provides Remnick a workhorse and a fully dedicated foreign correspondent at a period when other New Yorker foreign writers either have side projects or assignments at home. Packer is expected to cover more domestic issues in the coming year. Steve Coll is the head of the New America Foundation. Lawrence Wright is currently working on a domestic story.

The Filkins negotiation has lasted months, including a moment two months ago when Keller and Times foreign editor Susan Chira tried to convince Filkins in person in Afghanistan to stay at the paper (Keller and Chira were on a previously scheduled trip). Times Magazine editor Hugo Lindgren had tried to set up opportunities for Filkins to write for the magazine. Evidently, it wasn’t enough.

And now The New Yorker becomes that much more powerful. Filkins will report to features director Daniel Zalewski, who turned

down the top job at The New York Times Magazine in September. Filkins wrote in an e-mail, “I love the New York Times, and I will

miss everyone there. I’m eternally grateful for everything they’ve done for me. The New Yorker is an extraordinary institution, and I feel very lucky that I will have the privilege to write for them.” — John Koblin

UP THE LADDER: Two Time Inc. senior executives, Stephanie George and Paul Caine, are getting promotions. They will lead corporate sales and marketing, with George named executive vice president and chief marketing officer and Caine will be evp and chief revenue officer. He will also continue to serve as president of the style & entertainment group. As previously announced, evp Sylvia Auton is heading back to the United Kingdom to take the chief executive officer position at IPC and evp Kerry Bessey will leave Time Inc. at the end of the year. — Amy Wicks

IN THE HOUSE: When Domino shuttered and Blueprint folded a few years ago, young design devotees didn’t know where to turn for their monthly shelter magazine fix. Domino alum Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline, who met Adams at a photo shoot for the magazine, saw an opportunity and created Lonny, an online magazine in the same genre. The first issue in October 2009 featured Deborah Needleman in her garden and, since then, the title has had more big names, such as Celerie Kemble, who appeared on a recent cover. On the business side, as of early December, Lonny had already secured enough advertising in 2011 to exceed its ad performance this year, Adams told WWD. Last month Lonny recorded 9.2 million page views and 101,243 unique visitors.

The print shelter category, now smaller in scope, has watched Lonny closely and now Meredith Corp., home to the “360 degree” strategic marketing approach, has tapped the design duo to create a new digital shelter magazine, Trad Home, as a spin-off of the publisher’s Traditional Home. “This is a new gateway to expand the brand,” said Traditional Home editor in chief Ann Maine, while publisher Beth Brenner said the online magazine will reach out to the “next generation of design lovers.” Two issues will be posted next year, in May and September, with work that is completely original from Traditional Home and Lonny, although the latter site will share content on Trad Home and vice versa.

“We think this will appeal to the reader of Lonny, but it will be an entirely different product,” said Adams. “You could say it will be a more grown-up version. And it will all be free.” As they say, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. — A.W.

Bettencourt Affair Reconciled

Liliane Bettencourt and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers in 2007.

Web Site Operator Charged With Cyberstalking

WWD.COM8

By David Moin

Overwhelmed by all thOse big black Friday deals? Not quite. consumers crowded the malls again last week but exhibited less readiness to spend com-pared with thanksgiving weekend.

the mind-set shifted — browsing became more evi-dent amid widespread promoting that persisted aggres-sively, although down a notch from black Friday’s ca-cophony.

still, retailers and analysts contacted monday said volumes last week were higher than a year ago, and suf-ficient enough to sustain their upbeat outlook for mid-single digit holiday gains.

while last week did see a decline from the end-of-November rush, it was expected, and typical for early december, retailers stressed. they also said they expect shopping to heat up again beginning online around dec. 15 and on selling floors the week before christmas.

“we are pleased with what we saw happen last week,” said keith Fulsher, executive vice president and chief merchandise officer of dress barn. “the catego-ries that were pretty good and that we think will remain strong are special occasion, sweaters, especially longer-length tunics, jeggings, the denim business and cold weather, especially items with fur trims. we are hopeful. we think it will play out to be a good season, but there is still a lot of time ahead of us. so far, we are Ok.”

there’s a significant difference in the tempo at retail from thanksgiving week to the week after. “you don’t get the same volume dollars,” observed liz rodbell, ex-ecutive vice president of lord & taylor. “but the rate of increase [last week] was very strong. business was ex-ceptional throughout the whole week. the cold weather helped a lot,” spurring boots, coats and accessories. handbags and watches were also standouts. “hanukkah could have contributed,” rodbell added.

“the tone is very good,” said one department store chairman who requested anonymity. “there is no rea-son to believe any different. you would see a lull versus black Friday, but you have to make the comparison to a year ago. we are in a reasonably good holiday season. there is no reason to believe it’s changing. i don’t hear people crying.”

“based on our channel checks at several malls and outlets in southern california over the weekend, we noted that traffic remained heavy although conver-sion was not as strong as the black Friday weekend,” according to a report issued by roth capital Partners. “Overall, promotions were not as deep nor were there as many early-bird specials compared to the black Friday weekend which was in line with our expecta-tions given that there are still two full weekends left to shop. in our opinion, given that shoppers continue to shop closer to need, retailers are rightly holding back their ‘firepower’ until the last weekend.”

the roth report said the buckle and Urban Outfitters “stayed consistent with very few promotions while hot topic, wet seal, Pac sun and Zumiez offered buy-one, get-one-free deals on certain items and bebe, chico’s and coldwater creek offered percentage-off specials and/or bounce backs.…we continue to believe that Urban Outfitters, wet seal and Zumiez are posi-tioned for a strong holiday season,” and along with

chico’s “are positioned to weather any potential slow-down in consumer spending post holiday season while still being able to internally fund store growth.”

consistent with the brick-and-mortar performance, growth rates online subsided in the second half of last week, according to comscore, which tracks the digital world. cyber monday generated over $1 billion in online sales, while the holiday season-to-date has generated $16.8 billion online, marking a 12 percent increase from last year, comscore said.

On the promotional front, “we have an aggressive marketing strategy planned,” said a toys ‘r’ Us spokes-woman. “last week, we released our biggest christmas sale ever — a 64-page catalogue filled with up to $4,500 in savings. we will continue to offer one- and two-day sales throughout the season. we’re very pleased with the customer response to our black Friday promotions and offerings, and we expect that momentum to contin-ue throughout the season. members of our loyalty pro-gram, rewards ‘r’ Us, this year can get 10 percent back on purchases made in stores and online.”

target and wal-mart are going head-to-head on free shipping offers. target calls its promotion “the biggest bullseye Free shipping” event ever and will ship 900,000 items at no cost, with a $50 purchase. walmart.com through dec. 20 will ship free almost 60,000 holi-day items, with no minimum purchase or subscription fee. electronics, home appliances and furniture are in-cluded along with jewelry, baby items and video games.

steve eastman, president, target.com, said the re-tailer quadrupled the number of items eligible for free shipping and offers an additional 5 percent off all on-line purchases when shoppers use the redcard. target.com’s daily deals offer one-day savings of up to 50 per-cent off regular prices. New promotions this holiday season include mega merry mondays, featuring low prices on 17 hot items, and total toy tuesdays with deep discounts on five top toys.

the weather and “engineered promotions” are working for retailers, said arnold aronson, managing director of retail strategies, kurt salmon associates. “the cold-weather business is really enjoying a good rebound,” he said, adding that retailers have put out “highly promotional merchandise, particularly gift-ables and cold-weather items, planned with “built-in sufficient margins and substantial value to customers….retailers are not involved in major clearance. they are involved in targeted, engineered promotions.”

stanley korshak, a luxury store in dallas, had a “phenomenal” week with about a 50 percent increase in sales, said crawford brock, owner. “if you look at the trend of the last 90 days i’d expect a 15 percent gain this month,” brock said. “Jewelry is doing great and it was terrible a year ago.”

J.c. Penney declined to divulge figures, but a spokes-

woman said the holiday season is off to a strong start in stores and on jcp.com. bestsellers include women’s private label st. John’s bay cashmere-blend peacoats, fashion boots, children’s character sleepwear such as spider-man, sharper image’s digital video camera and remote control items like an execuheli helicopter.

ashton kelly, a store manager at Pink Zone, pur-veyor of affordable women’s apparel, described black Friday as “absolutely insane” at the mall, but compa-rably mild at the street locations. “since black Friday, things went back to normal,” she said. the dip, she added, is “very typical for us this time of year.” For the season generally, kelly said, “i do feel we are picking up a lot from 2009.”

carl dias, women’s buyer for the los angeles de-signer store traffic, said black Friday sales this year were double last year’s and that black Friday weekend was “back to what it had been a few years before.” after black Friday, he continued, there was a lull reminiscent of post-black Friday periods in past years. “we definite-ly have every expectation of being up from last year,” said dias. “things are steadier. i have been doing this a long time and the last couple of seasons have been nuts, especially in women’s. there was always some kind of rhythm or pattern and you had a couple of years with no rhythm and no pattern. a rhythm has returned.”

Following black Friday, toni Forseth, co-owner of three louie Permelia specialty stores in the seattle area, said business was “just Ok…it doesn’t feel like customers are out there really buying for christmas yet,” she said. contrasting sales this holiday season so far to last year, she said, “Nothing [is] up by any means. a lot of our last-minute shoppers are men shopping for their wives. that is always our last week. men don’t shop early. i’m guessing people are discount shopping right now, and then i am hoping they will come in and shop after.”

chad erikson, president of Just sports, a 27-unit sports apparel retailer, said black Friday was “a little bit above last year” and projected the holiday season to be equal to 2009. “we had some pretty big sales last year. we ran buy-one-get-one-half-off most of the month. we are hoping not to be as aggressive this year, but still keep sales flat,” he said. “if i can do that, i will be as happy as i can be.”

Fred levine, owner of around 20 m. Fredric stores, said, “i am seeing a turnaround. there is no question. i am seeing a spark of life in the consumer through all the month of November, but especially since black Friday. it’s been a couple of years of tough times and this is the first time i am seeing positive energy. People are out shopping and buying for themselves as well as for others.”

— With contributions from Sharon Edelson, Rachel Brown and Holly Haber

“Business was exceptional throughout the whole week. The cold weather helped a lot. ”

— Liz Rodbell, Lord & Taylor

WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010

Holiday Outlook Bullish in Black Friday’s Aftermath

By Rosemary Feitelberg

APPARENTLY, SOME HOLIDAY SHOPPERS STILL HAVE THE urge to splurge for thousand-dollar or higher items.

Consumers haven’t lost their taste for pricy fashion, especially outerwear, according to a spot check of bestselling holiday items in 16 stores. But given the economy, a large swath of consumers also remain stringent about holiday spending. Regardless of their preferred camp — luxe or conservative — women are favoring ver-satile styles wherever they can be found.

Bloomingdale’s is doing well with Moncler jackets, which range from $795 to $1,900 and which are available in long or short styles, including some with hoods and fur trim. Business is “sensational” for a $900 short black style, said senior vice president of public re-lations Anne Keating. “In the fi rst place, it is very warm. And it is very fashion and very sleek,” she said.

Shoppers at Bogner’s U.S. stores are also snapping up outerwear — the $1,299 Freda-D feather-light down jacket in particular. With a Loden look, fi ne embroideries, and a thick strap on the back for an imaginative interpretation of the Janker look, the jacket has an alpine-inspired design and high-tech materials to shield off stormy weather, a Bogner spokeswoman said. The company has 60 stores worldwide.

Shoppers at J.Mendel’s four stores are snapping up the brand’s $3,895 sleeveless sequined, chocolate-colored wool dress with an organza back, grosgrain waistband and Finn raccoon trim. Several are adding a $2,995 chocolate-dyed silver fox muff and $1,395 black-dyed split skin muskrat leg warmers.

Dennis Basso, another designer with a Madison Avenue pres-ence, has seen his customers gravitate toward an $18,500 reversible suede mink coat with a drawstring waistband and mink appliqué on the suede side. The style is the strongest performer in his three boutiques, including one that just made its debut in Moscow with a Naomi Campbell-hosted opening night party.

“This particular style has no age barrier,” said Basso of his bestseller.

Saks Fifth Avenue shoppers have singled out a $1,695 black Donna Karan cocktail dress

that was designed exclusively for the store. New York shoppers may have seen the item displayed prominently in the fl agship’s Fifth Avenue windows. Colleen Sherin, fashion director for the 47-unit chain, said, “It is an update to the Little Black Dress — sleek and modern with a superfl attering fi t.”

Bergdorf Goodman is ringing up sales for Lorraine Schwartz’s 2B Happy bracelets that start at $4,500 and Paul Morelli’s Meditation Bell collection that starts at $1,050.

At Vera Wang’s stores in New York and Los Angeles, women have been focusing on

a $595 dusty rose-colored cardigan with tulle un-derlay and a ruched back and a $895 crystal tube

necklace. Wang said, “The ‘shroud’ tulle and bustle back cardigan is artsy and easy.” As for the necklace, “It

combines rock and roll with full-on bling in a modern, sophisticated way. Also, love the movement!”

Freezing temperatures have fi nally arrived on the East Coast, but Carolina Herrera boutique shoppers are buying styles for warmer climates. A $1,290 belted ivory cotton gabardine ruffl e front dress and a $2,390 one-shoulder black and white polka dot chiffon ruffl e dress are tops this season. At CH Carolina Herrera stores, this sea-son’s winner is a $705 cap sleeve cocktail dress in a blue print.

Shoppers at Nanette Lepore’s 11 stores also seem to be envision-ing more easy breezy locales. A $395 printed Sea Garden silk V-neck dress with a banded waistband and petal sleeves is tops for the holidays. Its color and print are pluses, and women also like that the dress can be easily worn now as well as in the months ahead, a company spokeswoman said.

Fans of agnès b. are also envisioning springlike occasion. A $245 slightly fi tted cotton shirt in a bright pink fl oral print is all the rage at the company’s 246 stores. The designer is gearing up to open a new Howard Street store in SoHo this spring.

In Chicago, Ikram customers’ must-have item is a $3,500 Azzedine Alaïa lace-up, laser cut construction boot with a six-inch heel. “They are the most coveted thing on the planet,” said owner Ikram Goldman.

Another holiday hit is Wendi Reed tops, which retail from $450 to $900. “Everyone is mad for them. They are patchwork, intricate, embellished and come in a slew of colors,” Goldman said.

At Nicole Miller’s 12 stores, this season’s standout is a $385 jer-sey boyfriend blazer with matte black sequins. The designer said, “Everyone is loving the easy silhouette and pairing it with basic tanks and denim/leggings. The matte sequins make it unique and it can be worn both casually and to holiday soirees.”

Shoppers at Cynthia Rowley boutiques are buying the $350 Bold Shoulder dress, which fi ts the bill as a day-into-evening dress.

Lord & Taylor is seeing great demand for three Michael Kors chronograph watches that were recently featured in print ads. The top seller is a $225 white and gold one with crystal accents. The store’s executive vice president of merchandising, Liz Rodbell, said, “Watches are the sought-after accessory of the season.”

Scoop NYC’s top item is a private label $168 long-sleeve feath-erweight cashmere T-shirt. Director of marketing Beth Sturm said, “The lightweight style makes it ideal for layering. And it is high-quality cashmere at a reasonable price that is exclusive for Scoop.”

WWD.COM9WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010

Yule Shoppers Favor Luxe or VersatileReady-to-Wear Report

Holiday hits include a Vera

Wang necklace (far left), and,

clockwise from left, a Carolina

Herrera one-shoulder

dress, a pink Bogner jacket,

a J.Mendel ensemble and a Wendi Reed

hoodie.

WWD.COM10 WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010

Ire Over India’s Cotton Yarn Quotas

Textile & Trade Report

By Liza Casabona

WASHINGTON — A new era for how compa-nies approach labor and environmental issues has emerged from years of finger-pointing and crisis management.

The most advanced corporate social re-sponsibility, or CSR, programs in the fash-ion industry have shifted from a focus on minimizing a company’s risk to a strategic approach that makes responsible labor and environmental practices central to the company’s operation.

The definition of socially responsible business practices has also expanded from a concentration on issues such as eliminat-ing child labor to include everything from working conditions throughout the supply chain to environmental sustainability.

Fifteen years ago, CSR was primar-ily seen as “risk mitigation,” said Kindley Walsh Lawlor, vice president of social and environmental responsibility for Gap Inc. Now companies are looking at their CSR pro-grams more holistically.

When companies “talk about the human benefit, there’s a cor-relation between workers who are treated fairly and paid fairly who make higher quality prod-ucts,” she said. “We’ve taken the foundation of the auditing model in the field and evolved to a stakeholder model doing more than just monitoring.”

Gap evolved beyond the checklists of wages, working hours and conditions in the facilities to also look at the business case for responsible practices, from education for workers to what quality of life workers had when they went home at night, Lawlor said. The company also broadened its focus to include the full supply chain from design through the product’s end of life and trying to educate consumers on what to do with clothing instead of throwing it away.

CSR programs have become more integrated into how companies operate, said Amy Hall, director of so-cial consciousness for Eileen Fisher.

“This is how we need to be doing business,” Hall said. “It’s a survival strategy when you get right down to it.”

In a broad sense, CSR efforts “used to be about avoiding risk and meeting legally required compliance standards, and nowadays it’s much more about marrying the values to the brand and what’s important to the brand,” she said.

At Eileen Fisher, responsible labor and environmen-tal practices, grouped under the umbrella of “social consciousness” by the firm, are one of four key values

that the company seeks to in-corporate into every decision it makes, from ordering office supplies to supply chain deci-sions, Hall said.

“CSR has become a part of the fabric of how companies do business as opposed to a button stuck on the side some-where,” said Randy Rankin, vice president of CSR services

with Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, a cer-tification organization. “It’s not about one or two people [at a company] who want to save the world, the ideologue off to the side. It has become a part of how companies look at business plans.”

The number of companies operating true social re-sponsibility programs is still relatively small, but the numbers have grown in the last 15 years, said Marsha Dickson, a professor and chairwoman of the fashion and apparel studies program at the University of Delaware.

“The general trend has been to invest only to the ex-tent that is needed,” Dickson said. “The majority of pro-grams have been very risk-focused, with the emphasis on staying out of trouble.”

But a handful of companies recognized that in order to succeed, the commitment to CSR had to be integrated into every part of their operating procedures, she said. If the design practices, buying tactics, price points, manufactur-

ing deadlines and other important decisions aren’t made in the context of socially respon-sible practices, a company’s sourcing arm can end up working against the aims of its own CSR team, Dickson said.

“We have fully integrated the CSR system into our sourcing production process,” said Cara Chacon, director of social and environ-mental responsibility with Patagonia. “What that means is that people from sourcing, quality control and social responsibility all sit at the table and make decisions together and report to the same vice president.”

By integrating CSR into its business model, Patagonia can include things like fair or living wages in cost calculations, Chacon said. In order to achieve that integration, the company streamlined its supply chain and culled its number of suppliers from more than 100 to closer to 50, she said.

The long-term goal is to have all its facto-ries fully invested in a socially responsible op-erating model. Until then, the company works with factories to make sure its own standards are met, she said. If there are minimum wage or overtime issues at a facility, for example, Patagonia may run a program for the manage-ment and workers educating them on how to

find the root of the problem and what systems could be used to address the issue, Chacon said.

“Everyone is talking about sustainability, but we need to talk about CSR and sustainability side by side,” said Steven Jesseph, president and chief execu-tive officer of the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production organization, which certifies factories. “How do you continue being a socially responsible business and making sure your supply chain is operated in a legal and ethical manner, and at the same time how do you sustain your industry and your enterprise?”

Jeannette Ferran Astorga, vice president of corpo-rate social responsibility for Ann Taylor Stores Corp., said, “We view having an active and thoughtful CSR program as being absolutely essential in how business is conducted today. Ann Taylor has worked to establish partnerships with its factories — in one instance in Indonesia working directly with a factory and connect-ing them with a consultant who helped them manage production better to avoid excessive overtime.

At their core, CSR programs are about two things, said Jeff Streader, senior vice president of global sourc-ing at Guess Inc.: protecting your brand and ensuring that vendors and suppliers are adhering to internation-al standards for labor and workers rights.

“Worker rights have improved significantly in the last decade,” Streader said. “Nobody wants to support a fac-tory that abuses their workers or doesn’t pay their work-ers or where the working conditions are horrific. No one wants to be associated with that, but they exist throughout our industry because not everyone is on the program.”

By Mian Ridge

NEW DELHI — India’s imposition of a limit on its exports of cotton yarn has angered the nation’s yarn spinners and provoked a mixed response from textile and ap-parel manufacturers.

India will limit shipments of cotton yarn to 720,000 metric tons in the year from Oct. 1 to strengthen domestic sup-plies, the textiles minister said last week.

Fabric and apparel manufacturers in India — the world’s second-biggest pro-ducer and exporter of raw cotton — have long lobbied the government for a ban on all exports of cotton, arguing that high domestic prices are damaging an indus-try that employs 80 million people. On Nov. 19, apparel factories across India closed to urge the government to impose an export ban on cotton yarn.

But on Thursday, two days after the government set the quotas, officials from the Confederation of Indian Industry, or CITI, said the timing of the new arrange-ment would cause problems. Since a large number of registration certificates that allow the export of yarn have already been issued, exporters will hurry to get the yarn out of the country in the next 45

days, the period during which the certifi-cates are valid, CITI said.

“Mills will be forced to divert supplies from the domestic market to export mar-kets during this period, reducing the avail-ability for domestic consumers of yarn,” said Shishir Jaipuria, CITI’s chairman.

He added that the cap would push up international prices of cotton yarn and that other big cotton yarn exporters, including Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia, would be the biggest beneficiaries. But Premal Udani, chairman of the All India Export Promotion Council, or AEPC, said he wel-comed the export cap.

“I don’t see what CITI’s problem is,” he said. “When we have an economy that is growing at close to 9 percent, there is a surg-ing domestic demand, as well [as interna-tional]. We would have been pleased if the cap was set even lower, but this is good news.”

India, on Sept. 4, said it would limit raw cotton exports to 5.5 million bales in the year beginning Oct. 1 in a bid to meet domestic demand. The textiles min-istry halted registration of new export contracts on Oct. 11 when applications reached the specified limit. The agricul-ture minister, Sharad Pawar, has said the limit may be reviewed this month.

Around the same time, however, it was revealed that domestic output had jumped to a record 37.7 million bales this year, com-pared with 26.6 million bales the year be-fore, which could cool prices.

Meanwhile, different sectors of Indian industry, from cotton growers to apparel makers, may unite to ask the government to set export limits on a monthly basis, re-placing the ad-hoc decision making cur-rently in place. This would allow a more measured assessment of factors from pro-duction to consumption levels.

In Washington on Friday, the American

Apparel & Footwear Association sent let-ters to Obama administration officials urging action against India’s cotton ex-port restrictions, which it said violated global trade rules. The AAFA will press the administration to immediately request consultations with India under the World Trade Organization, Nate Herman, vice president of international trade, said in an interview. If India refuses consultations or the talks do not lead to a satisfactory reso-lution, Herman said the AAFA will urge the U.S. to formally launch a WTO case against India.

Taking Social Responsibility to the Next Level

A factory manufacturing goods for Gap in Bangalore.

An employee working at a cotton factory in Mauayama, India.

Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles allows consumers to track specific garments through the supply chain.

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WWD.COM

GIDDYUP: Horses are divisive: Either you’re indifferent to them, or they’re such a passion you never forget the name of the first one you ever rode. “Tintero,” Charlotte Casiraghi enthused about hers Sunday at the Gucci Masters show-jumping event, where she competed. “I was fourth yesterday. My horse jumped really well,” said Casiraghi, who was joined by her mother, Princess Caroline of Hanover, at a VIP luncheon the Italian brand hosted.

“Frosty Lad” gave Georgina Bloomberg, daughter of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and an accomplished equestrian, her first ride in the saddle, but she stood on the sidelines Sunday, leaning on a cane owing to a bad fall last month. Her first book, “The A Circuit,” about the horse-show scene, is out in May from Bloomsbury. “It’s fiction: a light read for kids and young adults,” she explained.

Actress Imogen Poots, who just wrapped up a comedy-cum-horror movie “Fright Night” opposite Colin Farrell, confessed she’s not much of a horse enthusiast. However, she couldn’t avoid them in another film she completed just prior: “Jane Eyre.” “I learned how to ride sidesaddle and canter,” she beamed.

Otis Ferry, son of crooner Bryan Ferry and a huntsman, felt right at home amid the thoroughbreds. “I work with horses, very aptly,” he chuffed. His brother, Tara, a drummer, said he’s about to start touring with his dad, starting with a gig in Newcastle in January, and he’s in the studio working on a first album for his band, Rubber Kiss Goodbye.

Model-turned-actress Marie-Ange Casta said she’ll soon start filming Jalil Lespert’s “Des vents contraires,” a police drama. She’s also set for the launch party later this month for the range of jewelry she designed for French brand Maty, extending her hand to show off a double coil of yellow gold dangling a tiny branch of coral.

THE PRODUCER: Many in the fashion world know Maria Cuomo Cole as the tireless activist and advocate for the homeless and victims of domestic violence; the daughter of former New York governor Mario Cuomo, and wife of Kenneth Cole. Cuomo Cole, however, can now add ‘bona fide producer’ to her already-impressive repertoire.

Her short documentary “Living for 32” was just selected for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival’s Short Film Program. Directed by Kevin Breslin, it portraits Colin Goddard, who survived the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre with four gunshot wounds, overcame his injuries and trauma to now become an activist in his own right.

EXCEPTION TO THE RULE: The late Lee Alexander McQueen will be posthumously honored with the award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design at the British Fashion Council’s British Fashion Awards today. The BFC said the award “celebrates the achievement of a designer whose work has had an exceptional impact on global fashion.” The awards ceremony at London’s Savoy Theatre is to open with a film by Nick Knight, which will showcase McQueen’s “most iconic pieces” with a soundtrack by Björk. Knight said of the film: “My desire was to speak in some way about the dark and light

contained within Lee, and within us all.”

PAS DE DEUX: Naeem Khan had tears in his eyes last week at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas as he watched ballet dancers twirl down the runway wearing his sparkling spring dresses. “It was breathtaking to see it,” Khan said following the annual benefit luncheon for the Texas Ballet Theater. “I had chills because I had never seen my clothes presented like that.” Ballet patrons joined Khan back at Stanley Korshak to shop, handing over more than $100,000 in total sales.

The designer is making a “big push” in Dallas because he feels it can rise to the level

of Houston — his single biggest market, he noted. Bestsellers included a $6,990 silk chiffon caftan studded with oxidized sterling paillettes and a silver glass bugle beaded cocktail dress for $2,990. Khan said that this year’s volume is up nearly 30 percent over 2009, and 2011 orders represent the best spring season in four years. “I feel there is a spark in the economy where people are feeling good about going out and dressing,” he said. “We did 25 [trunk] shows [for spring], and we’re seeing it across the country.” Khan is currently negotiating licenses for designer handbags, shoes, scarves, cosmetics and fragrance. He expects licensed products to debut at the end of next year for spring 2012.

SPEAKING OF DANCE: The stakes for creative look books just got raised. Korean designer Kuho Jung of Hexa by Kuho sent out his spring 2011 look book, accompanied by a Flip Video camcorder, to 40 editors. In addition to a recording of his September show at the Park Avenue Armory, the device includes a film collaboration between Jung and artist Olaf Breuning, which features ballet dancers in silhouette — at times equipped with forearm crutches — and a model in Jung’s clothes. “I thought his collection was very radical — it was based on prosthesis and fake body parts,” said Breuning. “I chose ballet because it’s a very artificial dance, very constructed by humans.”

Breuning, who collaborated with Cynthia Rowley for October’s “Move!” exhibit at MoMA PS1, has more fashion projects in the pipeline. Next March, he’ll do the windows for Hermès in Tokyo.

COWLES’ TREASURES: A clutch of jewels that belonged to the late editor and international socialite Fleur Cowles sold for nearly $195,000 pounds at Christie’s during a sale of royal, aristocratic and historic jewels that took place last Wednesday. The top lots far outstripped estimates, with Cowles’ trademark 94.98 carat rough emerald ring fetching $12,642, following an estimate of $760 to $1,100. A gold and old-cut diamond bangle that Cowles designed herself and a Seventies Cartier silver, gilt and diamond vanity case fetched a similar price. The top estimate of the former piece was $7,500, while the latter was estimated at $6,000.

“These jewels attracted widespread interest from around the world,” Keith Penton, head of jewels, Christie’s London told WWD. “Many people who came to the pre-sale view remembered and/or had met Fleur. Private clients were inspired both by the pictures of Fleur and her remarkable life story.”

The pieces were sold by Cowles’ widower Thomas Montague Meyer, and were part of a larger, twice-yearly event known as Jewels: The London Sale, which also featured ancestral pieces from the Portland Collection.

LEPORE GETS HONOR: Nanette Lepore, who has been a vocal advocate for preserving local manufacturing in New York’s Garment District, will be among the honorees tonight at the Center for an Urban Future’s 2010 Support the Future Gala. She will be honored along with public relations honcho Richard Edelman and former Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal Deborah VanAmerongen (now a strategic policy adviser) at the Angel Orensanz Foundation Inc. The center’s mission is to promote economic diversity; identify emerging growth sectors; advocate for workforce development policy, and target problems facing low-income and working-class neighborhoods in all five boroughs.

WWD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010 11

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Imogen PootsA dancer wearing a Naeem Khan design.

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ART ROCKKeith RichaRds wasn’t taking much responsibility for his personal celebrity friday night.

“things just…happen,” he said with a grin. “i never wanted to be a ‘somebody,’ i just wanted to be a good musician. and those two things go together…you realize that you have to be famous to be able to make good music. Double trick.”

he gestured with a loose hand at his surroundings — a private, 40-seat dinner louis Vuitton was hosting at the gramercy park hotel’s rose bar in honor of his recently published autobiography, “life.” the family richards struck a surprisingly cuddly pose, considering their rock ’n’ roll cred. richards’ wife, Patti hansen, repeatedly pet their daughters, theodora and alexandra, and referred to them often as her “babies.” richards —- bandana, eyeliner and skull-scarf in place — switched tables halfway

through the meal in order to sit with the missus. and what of the text at hand?

“i haven’t finished ‘life’ yet,” hansen admitted. “after 30 years of marriage, you kind of figure you know the story. i’ve got it on my kindle. it’s a little tough. there’s some things…like him having sex with [former love interest] anita [Pallenberg] and then smelling the orange? man, it breaks your heart a little. you don’t want to read that. because that’s deep!”

new york luminaries and Vuitton executives were among those who joined the family for the three-course dinner. Fran Lebowitz posted herself at the bar to receive visitors, and alec Baldwin, Jimmy Fallon, charlie Rose, John Mcenroe and Patty smyth all sidled up to chat. a midnight toast for the man of the night found richards

seated next to mcenroe. both men sported a style of wire-rim spectacles generally favored by the senior set, as they intently peered at a video on the tennis legend’s iphone. the duo might have been mistaken for any old pair of sixtysomethings were it not for richards’ enduring patina of cool. he laughed when asked on casting preferences should “life” become a movie.

“i’d leave it to somebody else to look around for someone like me,” richards said. “i mean, good luck!”

• • •those who didn’t score an audience with keef could take solace in miami beach last weekend, where the city’s annual art basel spin-off offered a swirl of party options.

on friday, pringle of scotland and the serpentine gallery put on a joint affair that drew tilda swinton, Ryan McGinley and Jefferson hack, among others. meanwhile, at the w, Visionaire’s annual bash blasted disco in the hotel’s tight palm garden. alber elbaz, stefano Pilati, Viktor horsting and Rolf snoeren and cecilia dean were among those joining in the mini fashion week.

guests at the standard could take in a screening of video artist Marco Brambilla’s newest piece, “evolution (megaplex),” projected in three dimensions. Francisco costa, Jean Pigozzi, Michael stipe and anouck Lepère were among those who donned special-made armani exchange aviators for the viewing.

it wasn’t all nightlife, though. tory Burch was at the scope art show on saturday afternoon when a passerby complimented her handbag.

“that is such a great bag,” the gentleman said. “who makes it?” “thank you,” burch replied. “um, tory burch.”“honey, that is tory burch,” his female companion explained.

More images at WWD.com/eyescoop.

Alexandra Richards in Louis Vuitton with her father, Keith.

Francisco CostaJohn McEnroe

Fran Lebowitz and Patti Hansen

Alber Elbaz

Anouck Lepère

Moviegoers at The Standard.

Theodora Richards in Louis Vuitton.

Tory Burch

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