photo by John Aquino

WWDmonday, aPRIL 8, 2013 ■ Women’s WeaR daILy ■ $3.00

Suit Yourselfthe Jones Group will launch a collection this fall called JonesWorks, a style system that simplifies the modern woman’s work wardrobe with key pieces that mix and match. the line features plenty of smart suitings, from double-breasted blazers in glen plaid to trousers in bird’s-eye, as well as an array of classic blouses and colorful knits. here, a polyester viscose stretch blend pantsuit and cotton shirt on the all-American model beri Smither, who made her mark on the fashion scene in the early nineties. the move is the latest strategy from Richard Dickson and his team to reinvigorate the Jones brand. For a full interview and more on JonesWorks, see pages 4 and 5.

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GinA LoLLobRiGiDA REFLEctS on SELLinG hER buLGARi JEWELRy FoR A cAuSE,

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see PaGe 12

By davId moIn

neW yoRK — department stores are flag wavers, but which one can claim the title of “america’s depart-ment store”?

It’s up for grabs, with Lord & Taylor, the nation’s oldest department store, playing “The star spangled Banner” daily to open its Fifth avenue flagship; Bloomingdale’s brandishing the U.s. flag and those of other nations on its facade, and J.C. Penney with a red, white and blue logo evoking old Glory.

macy’s will strike a patriotic chord on may 15 when it kicks off “american Icons,” a promotion run-ning through the Fourth of July touching all 800 of its stores and macys.com.

american Icons will be billed as a tribute to america’s great outdoors, historic destinations, pastimes and traditions like drive-in movies, base-ball and grilling in the backyard — and of course, american fashion designers. Through the promo-tion period, much of macy’s merchandise as well as its marketing and in-store visuals will revolve around americana, with fashion and home goods created just for the occasion by top domestic de-signers and brands. The promotion will also raise money for veterans.

“macy’s is america’s department store, and through this campaign we’re celebrating the unique people, places and things that make our country great,” martine Reardon, macy’s chief marketing of-ficer, told WWd. “This is one icon celebrating a lot of other icons.”

Macy’s Americana Push

By evan CLaRK

Ron Johnson has taken a blow to the ribs from one of his strongest supporters.

The chief executive officer of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. on Friday was harshly and publicly criticized by William ackman, the retailer’s largest shareholder, who installed Johnson as ceo in 2011 with free rein to reinvent the ailing department store.

Johnson has been criticized by analysts and in-dustry observers — including former Penney’s chair-man allen Questrom — for his overhaul of the chain, which alienated many customers by eliminating cou-pons, saw sales slide by 24.8 percent last year and pushed the retailer deep into the red.

now ackman has piled on. speaking at a Boston investor conference sponsored by Reuters on Friday, the investor said the ceo should take some heat. The “criticism is deserved,” ackman said, according to Reuters’ coverage of the conference.

ackman also noted Penney’s had seen “too much change too quickly without adequate testing” and that the execution of the reinvention “has been something very close to a disaster.”

Johnson, whose job is seen in jeopardy by many observers, might not be able to hold on if he loses the support of ackman, who did not respond to a re-quest to comment for this article. Penney’s declined to comment.

ackman sits on the company’s board and his Pershing square Capital management owns 17.8 per-cent of Penney’s stock. already his partner in the in-vestment, vornado Realty Trust has backed down, sell-ing 10 million shares of the company last month. The real estate firm continues to own 13.4 million shares of Penney’s, or 6.1 percent of those outstanding.

“If he’s losing ackman, I think his days are num-bered,” said Rosemary sisson, high-yield debt strate-gist at Lazard Capital markets. “That obviously was the key there, his support for Johnson. everybody’s

see PaGe 12

Losing Patience

penney’s Johnson Slammed by Ackman

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WWD.COM2 WWD MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

Prada Bullish on Year Ahead

TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDFASHION.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2013 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 205, NO. 70. MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, May, June, August, October and December, and two additional issues in February, April, September and November) by Fairchild Fashion Media, 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. For New York Hand Delivery Service address changes or inquiries, please contact Mitchell’s NY at 1-800-662-2275, option 7. 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 all request for reprints of articles please contact The YGS Group at condenast@theygsgroup.com, or call 800-501-9571. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Media 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.

ON WWD.COM

THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

Ron Johnson, chief executive officer of J.C. Penney Co. Inc., on Friday was harshly and publicly criticized by William Ackman, the retailer’s largest shareholder, PAGE 1 Department stores are flag wavers, but which one can claim the title of “America’s department store”? PAGE 1 Prada reported a 44.9 percent increase in net profits in the year ended Jan. 31, touted confidence in the medium-term outlook and forecasted single-digit growth in 2013. PAGE 2 “If we were at a football game, I would say we’re in the second half,” The Jones Group Inc.’s Richard Dickson said about how the turnaround of the sportswear business was progressing. PAGE 4 Gucci announced Friday it has offered to take control of Italy’s historic luxury tableware and ceramics firm Richard Ginori 1735 SpA. PAGE 6 Faherty Brand, a casual sportswear and swim brand, launches Monday via an e-commerce site PAGE 6 Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau, the socialite who turned designer to combat ennui and gloom more than 50 years ago, died Sunday at her Palm Beach, Fla., home at the age of 81. PAGE 8 Gina Lollobrigida isn’t the least bit sentimental about unloading a trove of her Bulgari baubles at auction next month at Sotheby’s Geneva. PAGE 9

As social media grows presenters and attendees at the second West Coast edition of Lucky Magazine’s Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference at the SLS Beverly Hills hotel, were grappling with how to leverage it most effectively. PAGE 9 Socially-minded uptowners streamed into The Plaza in New York Thursday night to take part in the annual Henry Street Settlement Gala Dinner Dance. PAGE 11

The scene at the Frick Collection’s Young Fellows Ball. For more see WWD.com.

EYE: A crush of charity circuit types flocked to the Frick on Thursday night for the museum’s annual Young Fellows Ball. For more, see WWD.com.

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By LISA LOCKWOOD

TEN U.S. FINALISTS have been selected for the International Woolmark Prize competition.

The winner, who will receive $100,000 toward their next collec-tion, will be named at an awards ceremony in New York on July 9. The ceremony follows a five-hour review that day of the col-lections by a judging panel of retailers, designers and journal-ists. That designer will represent the U.S. in the 2014 International Woolmark Prize, which will take place in February 2014 in Milan.

The U.S. finalists this year are Altuzarra (designed by Joseph Altuzarra); Bibhu Mohapatra; Creatures of the Wind (designed by Shane

Gabier and Christopher Peters); Daniel Vosovic; Giulietta (de-signed by Sofia Sizzi); Ohne Titel; Timo Weiland (a collabo-ration between Timo Weiland and Alan Eckstein); Tucker (designed by Gaby Basora); Wes Gordon, and WHIT (designed by Whitney Pozgay). The U.S. contest is open to Council of Fashion Designers of America members, all of whom must be in business three years.

Five regional awards are held, in Australia, China, India, Europe and the U.S. Winners from all the other regions, besides the U.S., receive $50,000. Each of the win-ners gets the opportunity to par-ticipate in the international final, where the winner will receive $100,000 to assist in underwriting their next fashion show, and have

his or her designs carried by lead-ing global retailers.

The global fashion competition awards outstanding and emerging designers for their creativity in merino wool. The contest aims to develop the next generation of fashion designers and to highlight wool’s eco credentials.

Sophie Theallet was the 2012 U.S. winner and went on to com-pete in the international contest. The Belgian Christian Wijnants won the International Woolmark Prize in February. Wijnants re-ceived 100,000 Australian dollars, or $105,000, and his winning collec-tion will be carried this fall at such retailers as Bergdorf Goodman in the U.S., Harvey Nichols in the U.K., 10 Corso Como in Italy, Joyce in China, Eickhoff in Germany and David Jones in Australia.

Ten U.S. Finalists Chosen for International Woolmark Prize

By LUISA ZARGANI

MILAN — Prada SpA had a strong 2012 — and expects the momentum to continue this year.

The luxury brand reported a 44.9 percent increase in net profits in the year ended Jan. 31, touted confidence in the medi-um-term outlook and forecasted single-digit growth in 2013, de-spite challenging market condi-tions. During a conference call with analysts, chief execu-tive officer Patrizio Bertelli stood by the company’s re-tail strategy, expressing con-fidence in the flow of tour-ists shopping globally and in further growth in China while underscoring the need to continue to make in-teresting product.

Net profits last year totaled 625.7 million euros, or $800.9 million, compared with 431.9 million euros, or $587.4 mil-lion, in the year-ago period.

Group revenues gained 29 percent to 3.29 billion euros, or $4.24 billion.

Dollar amounts have been converted at average exchange for the periods in question.

Bertelli trumpeted “new records in terms of revenues and earnings” last year. “Based on these results and a sound equity and financial structure, we will proceed along our path of growth with further investment on retail network expansion, confident that, general eco-nomic uncertainty notwith-standing, the work that has been done over the past few years has laid the founda-tions for the future success of our business,” he said.

The company last year continued to expand its net-work of directly operated stores, opening 78 units, along with the refurbishment and extension of existing stores, strengthening its position in established mar-kets while also entering into new ones. Units opened in Moscow, Houston, Paris, Japan’s Nagoya, Morocco’s Casablanca, Dubai, Ukraine’s Kiev, São Paulo and Kuwait City. The company now has 461 directly operated stores. Directly operated stores showed a 35.6 percent increase in reve-nues to 2.66 billion euros, or $3.4 billion, accounting for 81.8 per-

cent of sales. “For us, the strat-egy is retail. Full stop,” said ad-ministration and finance director Donatello Galli during the call.

Wholesale revenues grew 6 per-cent to 592.2 million euros, or $758 million, despite the reduced num-ber of third-party points of sale.

In the year, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 38.6 percent to 1.05 billion euros, or $1.34 bil-lion, representing 31.9 percent of total sales.

Operating profit gained 41.5 percent to 889.8 million euros, or $1.14 billion. Earnings per share increased by 41 percent to 0.24 euros, or 31 cents, in 2012.

Royalties gained 26.4 percent mainly thanks to the launch of the new Prada Phone by LG cell phone, which sold more than 500,000 units.

The leather goods category grew 42.7 percent, while apparel and footwear increased by 9.9 and 11.7 percent, respectively.

The Asia-Pacific area contin-ued to be key for Prada, show-

ing a 32.9 percent increase and reaching 1.16 billion euros, or $1.48 billion.

“In 2013 we will start looking at China with even greater at-tention,” said Bertelli. “We have fewer stores in China compared with our competitors. We’ve opened more slowly and now we have to catch up.”

Galli chimed in, saying that al-though the general “market con-ditions are mixed, we are com-fortable with Chinese spending

and confident on the driv-ing force of Chinese con-sumers.” At the same time, Bertelli stressed that he has “no intention of flooding the market [with merchandise]. The right amount is crucial for a luxury product.”

Despite the lackluster economy in Europe, the continent was up 28.6 per-cent. The Americas showed a 23.3 percent increase. The company noted that Japan remained a relevant market, growing 14.2 percent.

Looking ahead, Galli said he was “comfortable with a high-single-digit increase in the year, it’s feasible,” al-though he pointed to a “chal-lenging context in the year, nasty weather in Europe in March, and Korea causing concerns,” among some of the issues. “We have good expec-tations for the whole year, but we will have a clearer idea and more elements at the end of May or June.”

Prada closed the year with a positive net finan-cial position of 312.6 million euros, or $400 million, at the end of January, compared with 13.6 million euros, or $18.5 million, on Feb. 1, thanks to strong cash flow.

Asked about future pric-ing adjustments, Bertelli said

he was “interested in growing in terms of volumes and not in terms of pricing, which should not be a leverage, and we should make changes only when there is a real need to balance or [for] fine-tun-ing. The price is not an end.”

In a Citi Research note, ana-lyst Thomas Chauvet said there was “no clear message around [Prada’s] pricing strategy and re-cent price increases; generally we think Prada is less concerned than most peers by the impact of currency fluctuations on regional price gaps.”

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A Prada look from the runway.

26 NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARD

NOMINATIONS—THE INDUSTRY HAS SPOKEN

WE’RE KIND OF

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LEADING THE INDUSTRY FOR THE 11TH STRAIGHT YEAR

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4 WWD monday, april 8, 2013

By Lisa Lockwood

NEw YoRk — “if we were at a football game, i would say we’re in the second half,” said Richard dickson, president and chief executive officer of branded businesses at The Jones Group inc., when asked to describe how the turnaround of the sportswear business was progressing.

after several challenging seasons, Jones has reworked the namesake sportswear lines for fall, going back to the strengths and the heritage of the brands, and lowered price points in an effort to win back its customer. it has also launched a new collection for fall called Jonesworks, a style system that simplifies the modern woman’s work wardrobe with key pieces that are “made to mix.”

“clearly, the stakes are getting higher and the crowds are getting more excited. i look at balancing restless with patience. it’s a big business; it’s a complicated business at a complicated time,” said dickson, who was interviewed at his spa-cious offices at 1411 Broadway here.

There’s no question that the Jones New York brands, particularly Jones New York collection, have been struggling at retail, but dickson believes the worst is behind them. He admitted the company dialed up too much fashion last year, and the customer rejected what was on the sell-ing floor. all this is happening at a time when the corporation is going through a major transition, putting less emphasis on sportswear and more focus on accessories, footwear and jewelry. Jones sportswear has become a smaller piece of the pie, as accessories and footwear accelerate. in 2012, sportswear accounted for 27 percent of group revenues, versus 31 percent the previous year. Footwear and accessories (led by Nine west) generated 52 percent of the business, versus 48 percent in 2011. Jeanswear, which has been a steady per-former at the company, remained at 20 per-cent of the business. (see related chart.)

overall, Jones reported a net loss of $56.1 million on revenues of $3.8 billion in 2012. of that, the Jones New York brand ac-counted for 16.9 percent, or $643 million, of total revenues, down from 19.1 percent, or $725 million, in the previous year.

Jones has been buying new businesses to help fuel its growth. The firm paid an initial $180 million for a 55 percent stake in stuart weitzman in 2010 and bought the rest of the company for an undis-closed sum at the end of last year. it also

shelled out more than $324 million to buy kurt Geiger and its debts in 2011.

But investors are cautious as the core sportswear remains a drag. Jones’ total mar-ket capitalization weighed in at just $926.5 million — well below Fifth & Pacific cos. inc.’s $2.49 billion, PVH corp.’s $7.75 bil-lion or Ralph Lauren corp.’s $15.28 billion.

according to industry sources, Jones’ sportswear business is being squeezed by such brands as Lauren Ralph Lauren, Michael Michael kors, calvin klein and Vince camuto, as well as private label, on the better price selling floor of depart-ment stores. Last year, Jones made the line younger and changed the fit, which alienated its traditional customer, said sources. in addition, the fall 2012 line featured a lot of luxe and heavyweight fabrics, as well as furs, which the Jones

customer bypassed — and the collection was priced too high.

dickson conceded the company had sportswear problems but is in the process of fixing them. He explained that Jones New York has been operating in the tra-ditional space of the sportswear segment, which has been challenged. since he ar-rived at Jones three years ago, the com-pany has tried to reinvigorate the Jones New York brand and personify it with des-tination key items. The brand was built on career sportswear and the group has now returned to that concept with an empha-sis on suits, easy-care shirts and denim.

“she wants classic; she wants to be perceived as fashionable and not trendy. it’s a sophisticated look she’s after. There has to be the right fit, function and value,” said dickson of the core Jones customer, who he said is 45-plus. “she’s a mature, educated, american woman. she’s either in her career or has retired. we have signature, which is polished ca-sual, and collection, which is more of our career-driven sportswear line.”

Last June, Jones hired George sharp as executive vice president of design, report-ing to stefani Greenfield, chief creative of-ficer. sharp was previously creative direc-tor and executive vice president of design at st. John knits. Before that, he was vice president of design at Ellen Tracy. “we got lots of responses from retailers that it [the fall 2013 collection] was a return to the heritage of Jones, but even better. we’re more on brand today, and moving forward into fall, than we have been since i got here,” said dickson.

dickson noted that the fashion element of the business, which struggled at retail, “clouded the success of the key core item basics business, which we’ve been push-ing over the last couple of years. Now that the dust has settled on the year, we’re di-aling things up and down to try and figure out what the right, meaningful initiatives will be that will not only stabilize the brand, but set the brand up for healthy growth in the future.”

The newest initiative is called Jonesworks, which hits stores in august. The collection is a system that offers so-lutions for career dressing.

“we really introduce styles that work as a core base to her wardrobe, but then can also be updated each month with new fashion elements. it’s really to make it eas-ier for her to shop and to go into the store and update her current wardrobe,” said Meredith Page, senior vice president of

sales at Jones. The line features 25 styles, such as pencil skirts, pants, jackets, sheath dresses, knit tops, blouses and easy-care shirts that can be mixed and matched. it is aimed at Jones’ core customers, as well as younger consumers who are looking to buy their first interview suit or work wardrobe.

“it’s investment dressing for this cus-tomer,” added sharp. Jonesworks focus-es on neutrals such as gray, navy, black, camel and bright red, as well as herring-bones, glen plaids and pinstripes. Each of the styles is named, and the hangtags will make suggestions such as “we love this Meredith jacket with this Lucy pencil skirt.” Most of the line is made of polyes-ter viscose, and everything has stretch. Pants, for example, range from narrow ankle-length pants to full wide styles, with several in between. skirts run the gamut

from pencil to boot to below the knee. “For the price point, you can get a great looking suit for around $200,” said sharp. He said the basic pieces can be mixed with more of the fashion and novelty piec-es in Jones New York collection.

Jonesworks will be sold in stores such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, dillard’s and Belk and will hang near Jones New York collection, said Page. Jackets retail for between $129 and $139, skirts are be-tween $69 and $79, pants are between $89 and $99, cardigans are between $79 and $89 and core shells and knit tops go from $29 to $59, said Page. The collec-tion is sized 2 to 16; knits are extra small through extra large, and there are also petites and women’s sizes.

The impetus for the collection came from Greenfield, who reviewed the vari-ous brands in the portfolio and what they stood for, and realized one of the keys to Jones was the idea of a woman going from “day to date.” she had a series of meetings with dickson and Trey Laird, chief executive and creative officer of Laird + Partners, the ad agency, and they came up with Jonesworks. The concept’s motto is “simplify your life, amplify your wardrobe.” The line will have a market-

ing campaign behind it, which is current-ly in development.

changing a company’s course is never easy, and this past year has seen its share of turmoil, with many long-time Jones executives exiting their roles. More than a dozen high-level executives have left the company, many assuming new roles at firms such as Michael kors, kate spade, chico’s, ann Taylor, kenneth cole Productions inc., Nygård international and Highline United Holdings Ltd.

when asked why there has been so much turnover, dickson responded: “it’s a combination of things. Truth be told, in any transformation of this magnitude, there’s a new chapter beginning. There’s an infusion of talent and recognition. The people who got us here with excep-tional skill sets, passion and talent, are maybe not set up for the next chapter of success for us. There are other people who have been here for years who are in-tegrating very well with the transforma-tive vision we have and operating fabu-lously with a renewed spirit.”

some industry sources attribute the turnover rate to Greenfield, who joined in November 2011. “she has complete reign and turned the whole place over,” said

Jones Aims to Get Sportswear Back on Track

JonesWorks polyester and viscose stretch blend suit and Jones New York Collection cashmere turtleneck.

JonesWorks polyester and viscose stretch blend dress under a Jones New York Collection viscose stretch blend peacoat.

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WWD.COM

one source. others questioned whether Jones’s corporate environment is the right fit for the creative-minded Greenfield, who joined from scoop, the contemporary fashion chain she cofounded. sources said she’s not as involved in design as she previously was when she began at Jones.

dickson said Greenfield “has a great eye for merchandising. she adds creative insight, merchant insight and innovation.”

“we have a strategic road map we’ve been following. in order to achieve what we want to achieve, we’ve infused tal-ent into the organization that represents creativity,” said dickson. asked whether Greenfield has operating responsibility, dickson said, “she serves in the creative function specifically on design, merchan-dising, marketing and creative services. she has reporting structure and lends her eye as she operates across the company.”

dickson said the company is a very different place than when he joined. Three-and-a-half years ago, the entire business was based on core brands and labels. Today, 20 percent is done in its investment in designer brands, such as stuart weitzman, kurt Geiger, Rachel Roy, Robert Rodriguez and Brian atwood. “This is a very different profile and a very

different mix of personalities,” said dickson. “we’re much more diversified and much less reliant on one brand or another. we’re diversified in classifica-tion, we extended significant growth in footwear, handbags and the jew-elry space. where we do see the world of fashion and business related by category is more inclined to be in the accessory, foot-wear, handbag and jewelry space. if you look at where we’ve directed our efforts and investments, it does correspond with that space.”

it also extends to the leadership. in october, the company hired kathy Nedorostek as group president of global footwear and accessories. Most recently she had been president of North america wholesale and global licensing at coach inc. The company also brought in Greg clark as chief marketing officer and scott Bowman as group president of global retail and international development. international growth is a key priority at the company, where international pen-etration, thanks to its 2011 acquisition of kurt Geiger, accounted for 20 percent of 2012 revenues, up from 17 percent in 2011, and 10 percent in 2010.

stores appear optimistic that Jones is making progress with its sportswear collections.

kathryn Bufano, president and chief marketing officer of Belk inc., said, “The Jones fall line is very strong with tremen-dous color that appeals to our modern southern customer. we see improvement in the Jones New York signature line and like the new direction in signature with emphasis on key items. The denim launch has been very strong.”

Brendan Hoffman, president and ceo of Bon-Ton stores inc., added, “i think they’re making great progress. we have great faith in wes [card, chairman and ceo of Jones], Richard and stefani and the team there. obviously, we have a huge business with them across all categories. They’ve been great partners. i definitely liked what i saw for fall, which continues to build on some of the progress they made for spring. we need them to be successful.”

Hoffman praised the Jonesworks col-lection. “we’re having great success with those sort of separates in other places,” he said. on the apparel side, he noted, “we’re all hoping for better things this year. certainly, they have their jeans busi-ness, which continues to be very success-ful for us, and obviously shoes and acces-sories, but by their own admission, they’re hoping for bigger and better things out of their core sportswear business this year.”

Hoffman said Bon-Ton does a big business with Jones sport (the weekend wear line), and carries Jones New York collection, which is priced higher, in only a few doors. as for their lowering price points in the fall, Hoffman said, “it will make them more competitive with the other brands on the floor.”

“They’ve been putting a lot of work into it,” added Hoffman. “stefani Greenfield’s done a great job and gotten to know the brands and what the cus-tomer wants. They’ve used her expertise. we have complete faith in them and are counting on them to be a big part of our future success.”

Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chief merchan-dising officer, said, “we at Macy’s continue to enjoy a very strong partnership with the team at Jones, and we are working in collaboration on initiatives within all of the brands. Given the general softness in the ready-to-wear business over the past couple of years, we see opportunity

to strengthen these Jones brands this fall and in 2014 as the customer refreshes her closet and seeks newness in silhouettes, colors and fabrication. Jones is a strong company with terrific resources to inno-vate in response to customer preferences. Meanwhile, Rachel Rachel Roy, which is exclusive to Macy’s, continues to evolve as a core impulse brand for our older Millennial customer. we launched Rachel shoes and handbags last fall, and the brand is front-and-center on our rapidly develop-ing impulse floor,” added Gennette

Looking ahead, dickson thinks the new sportswear pricing strategy will give the company extra volume potential. “Frankly, that opening price and that first markdown is where the business is built. if you price too high, the wait time for that first markdown costs us all turn and time. we’ve adjusted that to be more price competitive,” said dickson.

at a Bank of america Merrill Lynch consumer & Retail conference, card said, “Frankly, we were competitively way over-priced versus the competition. we had jackets in the $200 to $240 range and some of the key competitors were getting down to the $140 to $160 type range.” Jones has also changed the mix of the line to 60 per-cent basic and 40 percent fashion.

Turning to anne klein, dickson said the sportswear is a relatively small category, but some of the other 14 anne klein catego-

ries, such as footwear, are big and growing. However, he sees potential for the sports-wear under Jeff Mahshie, head of design. “Retail reactions have been great. we’re being careful. He’s unearthing the real dNa of anne and translating it for today.”

discussing emerging and other com-pany brands, dickson said:n Rachel Roy continues to be a growth opportunity. “we’re expanding catego-ries with that. we have lots of plans that include categories like home, and other plans for the designer collection, which continues to perform,” said dickson.n Brian atwood recently opened a flag-ship on Madison avenue. Eventually, they’d like to add an apparel collection. n Robert Rodriguez, he said, is a “phe-nomenally talented designer and is con-tinuing to quietly grow in better distri-bution.” He said they’re expanding the Rodriguez brand outside the U.s.n The company has made a big investment in stuart weitzman and is opening stores both domestically and internationally. it has also increased its advertising and digi-tal media spend, and has hired kate Moss as the face of the brand in an ad campaign produced by david Lipman. “it’s one of the prized brands in the portfolio. it’s one of the most profitable brands. we have a three-year strategy for stuart weitzman, which includes some category extensions. we’ve launched handbags in our own stores,” said dickson. apparel may be a possibility down the road.n kurt Geiger, which gives them a European foothold, has opened stores at three locations in the U.s.: Bleecker street in New York; south coast Plaza in costa Mesa, calif., and stockton street in san Francisco. The stores carry only kurt Geiger (kurt Geiger London, Miss kG and carvela). The footwear retails between $150 and $400. Men’s accounts for 30 percent of the business. Right now there’s no wholesale business in the U.s., but that’s imminent.n Nine west is the single largest brand in the company and has a new digital mar-keting strategy, channel 9, he said, which features programming that covers vari-ous aspects of footwear.

5WWD monday, april 8, 2013

Jones Aims to Get Sportswear Back on TrackJonesWorks polyester

and viscose stretch pants paired with a Jones New York

Collection viscose stretch blend coat

and cashmere turtleneck.

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moving forward into fall, than we have been since I got here.

— RichaRd dickson, The Jones GRoup inc.

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WWD.COM6 WWD MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

By SHARON EDELSON

NEW YORK — The Americana Manhasset is walking the walk and talking the talk — in Chinese.

The upscale, open-air cen-ter in Manhasset, N.Y., was the sole sponsor of a 12-page advertising-editorial section in the March 9 issue of the Chinese World Journal. Images from the Americana’s spring advertising campaign, which happens to feature designs with Asian undercurrents, are featured in the section.

“We have a very signifi-cant Asian client base at the Americana,” said Andrea Sanders, senior vice president and creative director. “There’s a very large Chinese commu-nity and the Korean commu-nity is substantial as well. The World Journal section is part of a larger initiative, which is to make everyone feel welcome at the Americana.

World Journal is the largest Chinese language newspaper

in the U.S. Americana wanted to make an impactful statement rather than occasionally run-ning ads in the paper. “We want-ed to communicate with the [customers] more thoroughly and in a more substantial way,” Sanders said. “A lot of potential customers in that community may not know us that well. This big section with ads and editori-al in Chinese allowed us to tell a bigger story about Americana. If Chinese is their first lan-guage, there’s a trust factor with the World Journal.”

The center is helping retail-

ers such as Chanel, Burberry, Hermès, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior and Oscar de la Renta learn about China Union Pay as a form of payment. The na-tional bank card of China works like a credit card. The Americana staffs its concierge desk with a Chinese speaker. “Many of our stores have Chinese-speaking sales associates, and those that don’t are looking to hire them,” Sanders said. “They want to make sure everyone can communicate with someone in the store.”

Just as awareness of luxury brands has grown in China, recognition of high-end brands has increased within the local Chinese communities in the U.S. “We’ve seen a lot of economic growth and affluence in terms of the [local] Chinese communi-ty,” Sanders said. “We’ve seen a huge increase in Chinese home owners on Long Island.”

The Americana recently trans-lated its store directories into Chinese and Korean. Its transla-tions of Web pages into Chinese will be ready by mid-year.

6

By ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

NEW YORK — Some of the greatest ideas have been born from simplicity.

That adage is what Courtney Moss pointed to when she tried to describe the success of her acces-sories and outerwear business. Founded in 2009 by Moss and friend, Gigi Mortimer, Glamourpuss began as a functional brand.

One afternoon in March, while sitting on the sidelines of their sons’ hockey games, the duo struck up a conversation over the chilly temperature in the rink. Both with backgrounds in fashion, Moss in public re-lations and marketing, and Mortimer in design, the women

decided to create fur accesso-ries for their circle of friends who suffered through the frigid hockey games with them.

Little did they know that their idea would become a full-fledged business with multiple catego-ries that would be picked up by retailers across the country.

Beginning with what Moss calls the “fur funnel,” or a Rex rabbit fur-lined neck warmer, Glamourpuss delivered its first shipment to Calypso in October 2009, and by January, the store reported that it sold more than 3,000 pieces.

“We realized we were on to something,” Moss said. “We had a great item, a great idea. It was very luxe.”

Still somewhat surprised by the initial success, Moss offered

that at the time, during the height of the recession, “people weren’t spending money.”

Purchasing a fur funnel, which then retailed for $198, was most likely an answer to a cautious consumers’ shopping withdrawal woes. Although the funnel now costs $225, Glamourpuss hasn’t seen a deceleration in growth. In fact, the brand is “close to dou-bling” its sales volume each year, Moss said, adding that in order to sustain demand, it not only ex-panded its fur funnel styles, but also jumped into hats, mittens, bags, vests and outerwear.

“Four years ago, we started at zero and this year we plan to do $5 million with a 30 percent increase every year after that,” Moss clarified.

Set to hit stores in the fall, the firm’s fur-adorned outerwear has already been picked up by Saks. In general, prices for the brand run from $175 up to $2,500 with a sweet spot of $225 to $375.

Glamourpuss also sells its wares, which includes spring caftans, bags, jewelry, scarves and other beach-centric items, at Tory Burch, Scoop, the W Hotel and Gorsuch, the high-end ski apparel boutique chain.

“Right now, this time of year, we are up over 60 percent from last year,” Moss said, adding that her brand had the “highest sell through” for accessories on Saks’ main floor.

“We are expecting se-rious growth this year,” she noted, adding that the brand is able to keep prices accessible as it

manufactures its win-ter wares in China. The summer product is made in New York.

Glamourpuss’ an-ticipated growth this year rests on the 55 different styles of jackets and vests that come in a variety of colors and silhou-

ettes. The next project for Moss and Mortimer is

further “developing” the compa-ny’s handbag line, and they may open a freestanding store.

The brand, which has a showroom on Madison Avenue here, also sells its product on glamourpussnyc.com.

By DAVID LIPKE

IF CREDENTIALS alone guar-anteed the success of a new label, Faherty Brand would be sitting pretty.

The casual sportswear and swim brand, which launches Monday via an e-commerce site, was founded by Mike and Alex Faherty, identical twin broth-ers with résumés tailor-made for a fashion start-up. Mike, who heads up the creative aspects of Faherty Brand, racked up seven years of experi-ence at Ralph Lauren, most recently as a senior designer at the Double RL division. Alex, who heads up the business side of the new company, was a vice president at private eq-uity firm Cerberus Capital and a financial analyst at Greenhill & Co.

The duo, who are avid surfers and athletes, con-ceived Faherty Brand around their love of water and the beach. To that end, the brand is first launching with swimwear for women and men. In June, the offering will broaden to T-shirts, polo shirts, flannel shirts (called “the bonfire shirt” in the brand’s beach-centric parlance), sarongs and a reversible beach bag. Summer dresses will be avail-able by July, and pants and sweat-shirts will be added in the fall, all with a laid-back coastal vibe.

“We are happiest and most content at the beach. It’s a life-style that we love,” said Mike

Faherty. “Our vision is to have a full range of categories from head to toe.” For spring 2014, the brothers plan to begin wholesal-ing the collection to retailers.

The women’s bikinis are sold as separates, so that customers can mix and match styles and sizes, with bottoms and tops each retailing for $85 to $95. There are solids and ethnic prints, such

as Indian tie-dyes, an Indonesian plangi design and a Japanese-inspired indigo motif.

Men’s styles, also in prints and solids, include a boardshort and trunk, retailing from $140 to $165. The designs feature side pockets with drainage, a zip-pered back pocket and fully fin-ished interior seams. Both the men’s and women’s swimwear, manufactured in Taiwan, are largely made from polyester ma-terials incorporating recycled plastic bottles for an environ-

mentally friendly impact.Women’s is expected to ac-

count for about 70 percent of sales, and men’s is targeted at 30 percent.

The brothers, now 30, have always had the goal of creating a brand. Mike, who is more the fashion enthusiast of the two, wrote his college admissions essay to Washington University in St. Louis — where he studied design and played on the varsi-ty basketball team — about his ambition to launch an apparel

company. Alex gradu-ated from Yale, where he played football, and left his job in finance last month to focus full time on Faherty Brand.

The brothers are bankrolling the company themselves, with a hand-ful of small investments from family and friends. Tory Burch, who sent her three sons to the Allen-Stevenson School in New York, which the Fahertys also attended, has served

as an unofficial adviser to the Fahertys, introducing them to industry contacts and connect-ing them to packaging and ware-house fulfillment companies.

The brothers also put their in-terior designer mother to work, decorating a mobile pop-up shop on wheels that will make the rounds of beach communities across the country this summer.

Faherty Brand Launches With Swim

Tiffany’s CEO Michael Kowalski Sees Pay Decline

MILAN — Gucci announced Friday it has offered to take control of Italy’s historic luxu-ry tableware and ceramics firm Richard Ginori 1735 SpA.

Gucci has made an offer of 13 million euros, or $17.7 mil-lion at current exchange, and pledged to keep 230 employees.

Based in Tuscany’s Sesto Fiorentino, not far from Gucci’s headquarters, and founded in 1735, Richard Ginori, which spe-cializes in handcrafted and dec-orated porcelain tableware, was

declared bankrupt in January. It is understood Gucci is the only company that has offered to help preserve the company. The state court has already accepted the offer, but others can potentially be submitted though a public auction until April 22.

In a statement, Gucci said it plans to launch its own luxury tableware line leveraging the Richard Ginori know-how in the short-medium term. At the same time, it plans to contrib-ute to support the company’s

growth in the long term “with the goal to protect and relaunch a historical Florentine brand, synonymous [with] quality and craftsmanship.” This is also in line with Gucci’s efforts to pre-serve and enhance the Made in Italy production in the world.

Gucci collaborated with Richard Ginori in the late Seventies, and a number of the pieces they created togeth-er at the time are on display at the company’s museum in Florence. — LUISA ZARGANI

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co. Inc.’s chairman and chief exec-utive officer Michael Kowalski saw his total compensation slip 31.7 percent last year.

The ceo’s total compensa-tion declined to $6.1 million in 2012 from nearly $9 mil-lion a year earlier, accord-ing to the definitive proxy statement Tiffany filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The brunt of Kowalski’s compensation cut came from his nonequity incentive plan compensation, which totaled $140,000, down from $1.2 mil-

lion in 2011. The ceo’s salary remained the same at $997,315. His stock and options also re-mained stable, slipping just 0.3 percent to $3.1 million.

The reduction in the ceo’s total compensation also result-ed from a decline in “changes in pension value and nonquali-fied deferred compensation earnings,” which in Kowalski’s case slid 50 percent to $1.8 mil-lion, from $3.6 million.

Additionally, the executive’s other compensation, which in-cludes life and disability insur-ance premiums, dipped 18 per-cent to $141,158.

Because of vesting sched-ules and fluctuating stock val-ues, stock and option awards aren’t necessarily realized by the named executives but, in accordance with SEC require-ments, are reported to the SEC at “grant date fair value.”

For the year ended Jan. 31, the New York-based jeweler said net income fell 5.2 per-cent to $416.2 million, or $3.25 a diluted share, compared with year-ago income of $439.2 mil-lion, or $3.40 a share. Annual sales in 2012 rose 4.2 percent to $3.79 billion, from $3.64 billion in the prior-year period. — A.S.

A fur vest.

Americana Manhasset’s Chinese Outreach

Gucci Makes Offer for Richard Ginori 1735

A look from Faherty Brand.

A page on Hirshleifers from the Chinese World Journal.

Growing Glamourpuss Expands Its Selection

TO ATTEND: patricia_reidy@fairchildfashion.com, 212.630.5926 TO SPONSOR: kristin_mcfadden@fairchildfashion.com, 212.630.4425

For a full list of speakers: wwd.com/summerdigital

REGISTER BY APRIL 15TH

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LONDON // JULY 11, 2013

. FEDERICO BARBIERI Senior Vice President, Digital & E-Business, KERING (FORMERLY PPR)

. MIKI BERARDELLI Chief Marketing Offi cer, TORY BURCH

. CHRISTOPH BOTSCHEN Co-Founder, MYTHERESA.COM

. SUSANNE BOTSCHEN Co-Founder & Head, Buying, MYTHERESA.COM

. JUSTIN COOKE Chief Marketing Offi cer, TOPSHOP

. DANA GERS Senior Vice President, Global Communications, JIMMY CHOO

. MATT HISCOCK Senior Vice President, ASOS US Inc, ASOS.COM

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SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

8 WWD monday, april 8, 2013

obituary

Designer Lilly Pulitzer, 81By ARNOLD J. KARR

LiLLy PuLitzeR Rousseau, the social-ite who turned designer to combat ennui more than 50 years ago, died Sunday at her Palm Beach, Fla., home at age 81.

the cause of death wasn’t immedi-ately known, although she was report-ed to have been in failing health in re-cent weeks.

in search of a hobby after suffering a bout of depression in her late twenties, Pulitzer at first opened an orange juice stand in 1958 and then began develop-ing brightly colored and boldly patterned shifts and blouses to help hide the stains created by her new enterprise.

the clothes were an immediate hit and within a few years were being sold by stores throughout the u.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was featured in Life Magazine wearing a shift by Pulitzer, who had been her classmate at Miss Porter’s day school.

Once established as the purveyors of whimsical tropical prints, she would never need to cope with bouts of depres-sion again.

“She sprinkled fun and pixie dust everywhere she went and was joyful right until the end,” said Kathie Orrico, a partner at C. Orrico, the specialty re-tailer that operates three Lilly Pulitzer stores and carries the line in its other four stores as well. “i saw her just last week and, just like always, she had cute phrases and words that inspired us to be bright and happy.

“Palm Beach is really the only town in the entire world that has its own look and its own designer,” Orrico said. “All her designs reflected the light and the heart that she brought to the world.”

James Bradbeer Jr., president of Lilly

Pulitzer, noted, “Lilly would always say, ‘it’s all about happy.’ there aren’t many places in our industry where happy is at the core. that has transcended time and generations, and it tells you a lot about the kind of special person that Lilly was.”

Bradbeer noted that Pulitzer had remained a consultant to the company following its 1993 acquisition — and subsequent revival — by Sugartown Worldwide inc., the firm headed by Bradbeer and Scott Beaumont. Oxford industries inc. acquired the firm in 2010. Last year, sales grew 29.7 per-cent to $122.6 million, 14.3 percent of Oxford’s total of $855.5 million.

Born Lilly McKim into a prosperous Long island family in the midst of the Depression, Pulitzer seemed destined for a comfortable life in the midst of high society. She and newspaper heir Peter Pulitzer eloped in 1952 and settled in Palm Beach, where her husband oper-ated a citrus grove business, and the couple had three children, Peter Jr., Liza and Minnie, who survive the designer.

the Pulitzers were as renowned for their parties as Lilly was for her free, open spirit and her extensive collec-tion of pets, including monkeys and a calf as well as the more conventional cats and dogs.

Her unfailingly sunny disposition

lost most of its sheen in the late Fifties, however. “i had terrible anxiety at-tacks,” she told WWD in 2008, “so i went to the nuthouse.”

Her time away, in 1958, was eased by the presence of a cousin in the same fa-cility, and she took a single lesson from her time in psychiatric care: She needed a hobby.

Drawing on her husband’s inventory, she began selling oranges to her prosper-ous neighbors from the back of a station wagon and later opened a stand, where juice was available along with produce. to make the stains that came with her new-found line of work less obvious, she decided to outfit herself.

“So i went to the five-and-dime, bought some fabric, took it to the seam-stress, and she did it up,” Pulitzer said, opting for dresses that were “colorful and cotton and cool.”

Drawing the admiration of her juice customers, the accidental designer began selling the dresses for $22.50 apiece and couldn’t keep up with de-mand, aided by a designing couple at Key West Fabrics who helped conceive the lively colors, tropical print themes and other bits of whimsy that would be-come the brand’s signature.

“We like to say that we inhale green and exhale pink,” Orrico commented with a sigh.

While the brand caught on with stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & taylor, Pulitzer had a few other things working to her advantage, including the Jackie Kennedy spot in Life and the Kennedys’ preference for Palm Beach as a vacation destination. “the light was shining in this spot,” she said of Palm Beach during the Camelot period.

She had found her niche, and refused to veer far from it. Pressed to develop cold-weather fall collections, she resist-ed. “it’s always summer somewhere,” she famously replied to one retailer pushing her in that direction.

For a period, it seemed as if the end of Camelot might have been the end of

the Pulitzer enterprise. the designer and Peter Pulitzer divorced in 1969 and the Palm Beach “in crowd” dispersed in the decade after. By the early eighties, the colorful aesthetic seemed somehow out of fashion. She discontinued the business in 1984 and opted for full-time motherhood. She would later marry enrique Rousseau, a Cuban lawyer who died in 1993.

After her husband’s death, the sec-ond phase of her designing career began when she was approached by Bradbeer and Beaumont about relaunching the business. (invited to participate, Christopher Burch declined.) “For me, it seemed like a no-brainer,” Bradbeer said

in 2008. “i grew up with Lilly since my mom was such a big fan. She wore it — and even worked in a Lilly store — and i remember how sad she was when the brand was retired in the eighties.”

the partners’ instinct — that a new generation was ready for the embodi-ment of the sunny disposition contained in the Pulitzer aesthetic — seemed borne out after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when business, down for so many other brands, actually picked up.

the business had been a “good as-cent,” Bradbeer told WWD Sunday, but the growth accelerated after 9/11. “Women feel uplifted ‘wearing a Lilly,’” the executive said. “that gave us that confidence that we could bring the brand back.”

the revitalization was success-ful enough to draw the attention of Oxford, which paid an initial $60 mil-lion for the brand in December 2010, with earnouts that have increased the price of the acquisition since. At the time of the deal, Oxford expected first-year sales of $75 million and operating

income of $11 million in 2011, figures the brand would exceed with sales of $94.5 million and operating income of $14.3 million.

Orrico pointed out that Oxford, led by chief executive officer thomas Chubb 3rd, appears to have “respect for both what Scott and Jim have done and an understanding of what Lilly means to everybody and the importance of her legacy. And they’ve been extremely sup-portive of us” as a retail partner.

Oxford issued a statement Sunday saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with [Lilly’s] family and loved ones. Lilly’s bright and happy outlook on life is the essence of the brand that bears her name. Oxford is proud to be part of her legacy through our ongoing steward-ship of the Lilly Pulitzer brand.”

Her death was noted on the Lilly Pulitzer Facebook page at noon on

Sunday, and the Lilly Pulitzer Web site updated its home page to read, “We cele-brate the life of Lilly Pulitzer, 1931-2013” on Sunday afternoon. the Facebook page was quickly populated with comments from fans, who took note not only of her contribution to fashion but also her strength and independence as a woman.

“Lilly could have coasted,” one devo-tee said. “But she never did.”

“Our responsibility was to bring the brand forward with a clear message in place — for the best times of your life, with prints and colors as its support,” Bradbeer said Sunday. “We built on her template, but she would hate the word ‘template.’”

Phot

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’’’’

She sprinkled fun and pixie dust everywhere

she went and was joyful right until the end .

— Kathie OrricO, c. OrricO

’’’’

Lilly would always say, ‘It’s all about happy.’

That has transcended time and generations,

and it tells you a lot about the kind of

special person that Lilly was.

— James BradBeer Jr., LiLLy PuLitzer

Lilly Pulitzer in 2008.

w08a008(new).indd 1 4/7/13 5:07 PM04072013170807

THE SOCIAL WORLD: As social media matures and splinters, presenters and attendees at the second West Coast edition of Lucky Magazine’s Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference, held Thursday and Friday at the SLS Beverly Hills hotel, were grappling with how to leverage it most effectively.

Brand marketers at the conference, which was sponsored by P&G Beauty and Grooming, said realistic approaches to communicating with their audiences through digital media is critical. In its Styld.by initiative featuring bloggers wearing Gap merchandise, Jamie Gersch, senior director of marketing at Gap North America, for instance, noted the bloggers pair Gap clothes with clothes from other brands.

“It took us a really long time to get to the place to convince the organization

that no one is going to wear one brand,” she said, explaining that wearing one brand is “not how anyone dresses, let alone a new Millennial customer.” By mixing brands, Gersch continued, “You really see the breadth of what we are doing and how our product exists in the real world in a really authentic way.”

At Sephora, director of social media Cathy Choi said the retailer’s digital presentation is incorporating more information geared toward “the everyday girl” rather than the high-fashion, highly curated tactic that it has typically employed. Sephora is also enhancing its video content to demonstrate how beauty products are used in contexts familiar to “the everyday girl.” “Video just

brings this richer level of depth of how to apply makeup,” said Choi.

The conference touched upon not simply the importance of how content is conveyed but the importance of where it is done. In particular, Instagram was

viewed as a powerful social media platform. Geri Hirsch, who blogs at Because I’m Addicted, said, “The real estate of a strong Instagram handle now is just as strong as the real estate of a strong URL.”

Alex Kassan, director of investments at Advance Publications, said it is essential today to have a multichannel presence, but the social media dynamics are quickly changing. “The relative importance of any of these channels is still

being defined. It’s important to have a presence on Instagram,” he said, adding, “You could argue that it is an easier way to build an audience. It is an easier way to demonstrate engagement…As a monetization channel, [it] is completely undefined at this point.”

For brands seeking to partner with online content makers, no matter the social media vehicle, the focus on metrics such as Facebook likes and Twitter followers is certainly strong, although it may be slipping a bit. Speaking of luxury brands, James Nord, cofounder of blogger directory Fohr Card, said, “They care about numbers and they care about followers, obviously, and they care about engagement, but it is definitely secondary to the work and that’s something I’m seeing that’s different than a couple of years ago.”

While much of the discussion at the conference concentrated on business topics, Kelly Osbourne, Drew Barrymore and

WWDSTYLE

MEMO PAD

Gina ExposedAs she readies the auction

of nearly two dozen of her Bulgari pieces to

benefit stem cell research, legendary Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida reflects

on life, her artwork and her portrait sessions with

Fidel Castro. For more, see page 10.

PHOT

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INA

LOLL

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GIDA

{Continued on page 12}

Kelly Osbourne

SCOTTISH FLING:

THE DUKE AND

DUCHESS OF

CAMBRIDGE

WRAPPED UP

THEIR TWO-

DAY VISIT TO

SCOTLAND ON

FRIDAY. PAGE 11

10 WWD monday, april 8, 2013

A crush of charity circuit types flocked to the frick on Thursday night for the museum’s annual Young fellows Ball. The theme of this year’s Donna Karan-sponsored revelry was Dance of Time, coinciding with the museum’s current exhibition, “Precision and splendor: clocks and Watches at the frick collection,” showcasing a multitude of historic timepieces dating from the renaissance to the early 19th century. The exhibition is on view until february.

shortly after arriving, cochair Lydia Fenet recalled her first watch acquisition. “I got three swatch watches when I was seven as gifts from my parents because they knew I may lose them. I’m from Louisiana, so I set one to Louisiana time; one to New York time, even though I didn’t know anyone in New York, and one to London time,” she said. “I thought I was very international.”

fenet, along with cochairs Clare McKeon, Sloan Overstrom, Olivia Chantecaille, Genevieve Bahrenburg and Rickie De Sole Webster, flitted around the room greeting guests. fenet nearly lost her finery when her earring back went missing. An on-top-of-it p.r. person found a replacement. A pregnant overstrom told friends she was due in July, “I cannot wait,” she said with a laugh.

While some partygoers floated through the galleries, most guests took to the garden courtyard, among the streaming fountain and blooming lilies and azaleas. After a prosecco flute or two had been imbibed, the more raucous activities of the evening got underway as revelers took to shimmying on the dance floor. The ballgowns swished as Hannah Bronfman DJed the likes of Robyn, Sky Ferreira and Solange Knowles. one particularly spirited dancer unintentionally riffed on the night’s Dance of Time theme when coaxing a friend to join her on the dance floor: “come on,” she prodded. “This thing ends in an hour.”

� —�TAYLOR�HARRIS

tk

GINA LoLLoBrIGIDA isn’t the least bit sentimental about unloading a trove of her Bulgari baubles at auction next month at sotheby’s Geneva.

Like pretty much all of her jewels, the screen siren bought every last one. In the fifties, the Italian actress even refused gems from the my-way-or-the-highway dealmaker howard hughes, who tried in vain to marry her for 13 years. “obviously, he could have bought all of the shop at harry Winston. I told him, ‘No, I don’t like jewelry,’ so that he would forget about buying me jewelry,” she says. “We were going out every day to this little café, so one time I said, ‘oK, you want to buy me something? Buy me this paper fan.’ I still have this present from him.”

Typecast by millions as the Italian knockout in 60-plus films (not to mention runs on “falcon crest” and “Love Boat”), Lollobrigida insists that her life is and always has been more dimensional than what fans saw on the silver screen. With an estimated net worth north of $200 million, the less-talked-about Lollobrigida is an accomplished photographer, sculptor and philanthropist who now divides her time between rome, Monaco and her art studio in Pietrasanta, Italy, but is still gunning to go back to India and to have her first exhibition in New York. During a sweeping phone interview, she describes photographing fidel castro playing ping-pong, palling around with Maria callas on Aristotle onassis’ yacht and how a TV program about a deathly ill girl prompted her to sell 23 Bulgari jewels to help benefit stem-cell research. “That’s life, you know, one day is one thing, and another day is different. Before I loved having jewelry to wear to all the parties. Today I don’t care anymore. I am glad that I was so moved by this little girl. If there is something that you can do to help, why not do it?” —�ROSemARY�FeITeLbeRg

WWD: Do you have words to live by?Gina Lollobrigida: It’s good to have interests in life because I never had the time to be bored. That’s very important. As long as we have the possibility to live, then let’s do it with courage. More specifically, let’s do the best we can with life by helping people who are not as happy and lucky as we are. To leave something that’s very important in life — to think of others and not all the time about ourselves.”

WWD: how did you get into photography?G.L.: In between films I wanted to be busy, so I got on an airplane and went to places that I didn’t know to take photographs. I published a book in 2007 of my reportage from 25 countries. I

used to see the poor, unknown people, but I also went to see heads of state. I must say they were more curious to see me than I was to see them. With me they were not afraid. I was not interested in politics. I was interested in the side of the person that was not written about in the newspapers. I went to cuba with an American secretary, and I thought, “Why not also do a film?” so I had a cameraman and a soundman. fidel castro didn’t mind. he was very nice. I saw him for 12 or 13 days, every day. I made a very interesting film. I haven’t shown it yet. Actually, I would like to sell it. It was my first documentary. Then I did another one on Indira Gandhi, who was a person I loved a lot and went to see several times.

WWD: What was castro like with you?G.L.: he told me, “You are not like other journalists.” he was like a child. he played basketball with all the young fellows, and then he would fall on the floor. he didn’t care. he played ping-

pong with the students at the schools we went to. he was a human being. I gave a photograph to Time magazine, and they said it was the most beautiful photograph of fidel castro that they had ever shown. I only published two or three. I still keep them because I am very possessive with the things I do. Before I did not want to sell them, but now I’m more obliged.

WWD: Why were you so taken by India?G.L.: When you see India, you can see what there is [happening] around the world. first of all, there are more than 200 religions. With so many religions, the country always has troubles because the people think differently. And religion is an education you learn from the time you are born, and religion is stronger than politics. The people are very proud. Also India’s history and monuments are like stepping into another era. They are dressed like from an older century, so it’s beautiful. I was lucky to meet Indira Gandhi and talk to her like one woman to another woman. she realized I was crazy about taking photographs and that I forgot about danger and would go wherever something was happening. one day in Bengali I found a truck filled with 35 policemen outside the hotel. Indira sent the police so that I wouldn’t

get in trouble. I thought, If I have a whole truck of policemen, I can go work at night. A few days later I photographed Indira in her garden playing with a nephew near an elephant toy, not a real one. It is near the spot where she was killed years after.

WWD: What else stands out from your travels?G.L.: In south Africa, I went to see the miners down in the Kimberley Mine that was owned by the oppenheimers. one jewel that will be sold [May 14] was a gift from Mr. [harry] oppenheimer. It is a 5-carat diamond that is still attached to the stone so it looks like a little piece of salt. The day that I visited the mine they found the ninth-biggest diamond in the world. I was glad that I gave them good luck.

WWD: how did your acting career begin?G.L.: Just after the war, I started painting and doing sculpture. I was stopped leaving school and asked to do movies.

I was not interested at all. But at that time we needed money to eat. We lost everything in the war. The pay was like 1,000 lire, about $500, a day, so I started to make movies. The first time I went to cinecittà [rome’s legendary film studios] on a bicycle, and then the next day I was in a rolls-royce that the producers had given me as a present. They were sure that I would have a big career.

WWD: What was the story with howard hughes?G.L.: I was married and for me the marriage was one

for life. one reason I refused howard hughes was because he was too rich. There was

too much of a difference between me at that time and him. I couldn’t concede to have a man near me where I had zero and he had too much. so I said, “If you sell everything, perhaps.” — stupidly, because even if he sold it, he still would have had money. But I was very innocent at that time. he hated publicity. he hated journalists. he was completely different from what the people thought of him.

WWD: What would surprise people to learn about your friend Maria callas?G.L.: It was fantastic to see Maria with [Aristotle] onassis, because he was the strong one and she was in love with him. she was sweet, dependent on him. We laughed and sang together. Actually, during dinners, especially on the yacht, we would sing instead of speak. Because when you are on a boat, you know you feel like a child and do silly things like walk with weak knees. Then when the marines came up we tried to be more serious. We would see one of my movies. They would play backgammon. We stopped in cairo, went to the museums and I took a lot of photographs. Maria preferred to stay on the boat, so I was always going out with onassis. he had more courage. Maria was more calm.

I loved her a lot. she didn’t trust some people, especially after onassis left her and she lived for a little bit alone. It was a big love affair between the two of them. she suffered when onassis went with Jacqueline [Kennedy.]

WWD: how did she deal with that?G.L.: I think there was a story that onassis had a kind of game with another Greek friend that he could get any woman he wanted. This is what we thought [of] this business with Jacqueline....It was like a joke. It was not a love affair, obviously, but also for other reasons. There are men that you can see love one woman. You can see when a man doesn’t love a woman. With Jacqueline, it was not a love affair. It was a contract, I mean, terrible. In any case, even when he was with Jacqueline, he went to see Maria again. There were photographs so this is not something...

WWD: We’re getting off track. Which fashion designers do you like?G.L.: Valentino. In france, I was very fond of chanel. she was full of life, but when she started to talk, she didn’t stop. In case I had to go to lunch, probably I would wind up going for dinner. she was bright, nice. I used to be much thinner and she was always saying that I was better than the models. I still have these chanel suits that fit me very well. she was very fond of me because I was buying dresses a lot. Also, I like saint Laurent and Balmain, but mostly chanel. I continue with [Karl] Lagerfeld. In Italy, I dressed quite a lot in sarli. To me, he was number one. his dresses were so light and sculpted.

WWD: What would you like people to think of when they hear your name? G.L.: At one of my exhibitions, some people told me, “We thought we knew you. But now that we have seen your sculptures, now we can say that we know you completely.” That was the most beautiful compliment, because I am not just this image that a lot of people imagine. I am an artist. When you are an artist you never get old, because you are always thinking, “Now I want to do this. Now I want to do that.” It’s not the money, because I never thought about the money. I always loved the people without money.

The Frick of Time eye

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PICKING PALTROW: Tracy Anderson and David Babaii would be hard-pressed to find a better champion of their efforts than Gwyneth Paltrow, who showed off her assets in a mini Victoria Beckham dress Thursday evening for the opening of Anderson’s flagship fitness studio in the Los Angeles neighborhood Brentwood. “I think Gwyneth now looks hotter than she did 10 years ago,” said hairstylist Babaii, whose namesake four-chair blowout bar is housed inside the flagship. “She’s reversing the clock.”

Babaii and Anderson are relying on Paltrow’s brains as much as her beauty. Paltrow is Anderson’s business partner, and Babaii said she’s heavily involved in his new hair-care line, which launches at the studio before being introduced with 45 products priced roughly from $19 to $25 with Paltrow’s lifestyle newsletter Goop in about three months.

Paltrow certainly has the energy to work as well as work out. Babaii, who has lost 100 pounds using Anderson’s methods, can’t keep up with Paltrow. When he’s exercising with her, he said, “I’m like, ‘I’m done. I need a juice,’ but she says, ‘You got to do more. You got to do more.’”

— RACHEL BROWN

CLOTHES CONSCIOUS: H&M launched its second Conscious Exclusive collection Thursday night with a four-city event featuring Penn Badgley in New York, Jessica Stroup in San Francisco, Victoria Justice in Los Angeles and Jessica Lowndes in Miami. In L.A., DJ Kissette blared pop tunes while many parents shopped the sustainable party clothes with their kids, presumably eager to see

“Victorious” star Justice. “I’m super excited about this collection because I recycle myself, and I’m eco-conscious,” said the 20-year-old star, who was decked out in a strapless black dress with ivory ruffles. “What I love about H&M is that it’s still very fashionable and trendy but affordable.” Justice describes her own style as “eclectic and funky. I like

to take risks. I walked my first red carpet at 12, so obviously it’s changed a lot over the years.” Now that her Nickelodeon show has wrapped, she’s set to focus on her music career, which includes a 40-city tour with Big Time Rush opening June 21 in L.A. and recording her first solo album for Columbia Records, with a single forthcoming in the fall. “I’ve been writing songs since I was 16, and my album is definitely pop, definitely unique to my personality. It’s also big on girl empowerment.”

— MARCY MEDINA

MET ADDITION: Invites for the May 6 Costume Institute Benefit are starting to arrive, and they feature a surprise high-wattage celebrity name — Beyoncé Knowles.

Beyoncé has been added to this year’s gala as honorary chair. While unconfirmed, it’s possible the entertainer could join cochairs Rooney Mara, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, Lauren Santo Domingo and Vogue editor in chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour on the receiving line.

The benefit celebrates the “Punk: Chaos to Couture” exhibition, which runs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 9 to August 14. — MARC KARIMZADEH

NAME GAME: The luxury conglomerate in the midst of transitioning from PPR into Kering furthered its new name cause for the New York fashion and editorial set on Thursday night at Canoe Studios on Manhattan’s West Side. Former CNBC personality Nicole Lapin emceed the event and led a live interview about the big changeover with Kering group managing director Jean-François Palus. If Lapin’s made-for-TV cheer couldn’t always cut through the din of an after-work crowd that included Shala Monroque, Graydon Carter, Garance Doré and Cecilia Dean, a pair of live art installations loosely themed on transformation by the brothers Steven and William Ladd and Thomas Dexter had slightly more success. The Danish singer Oh Land capped the proceedings with a short set that had nearly all eyes in the room on her, and more

importantly to the people footing the bill, that brand-new Kering owl logo on her backdrop. — MATTHEW LYNCH

TEE FOR CHARITY: Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, who codesign Jessica Simpson Girls, have teamed up with the charity Baby Buggy to introduce a special T-shirt. The sisters launched a design competition, and the winning design, a colorful heart motif by mosaic artist and mixed-media painter Natalie Baca, was selected by the Simpson sisters and Baby Buggy founder Jessica Seinfeld. One hundred percent of the proceeds of this style will be donated directly

to the nonprofit, which provides needy families with baby and children’s gear, clothing and educational services up to age 12.

Baca, who lives in El Paso, said she found out about the T-shirt contest through Jessica Simpson’s Twitter account. “I am a huge fan and follow her on Twitter.…I subsequently asked myself, ‘What would my little girl like on a T-shirt?’ After much thought, I submitted one of my mixed-media paintings that I had made a couple of years ago,” said Baca.

The T-shirt is available in children’s sizes S-XL and will retail for $20 exclusively at Macy’s beginning this month.

— LISA LOCKWOOD

SEEING RED: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Friday wrapped up their two-day visit to Scotland, where they attended the launch of the Tamar Manoukin Outdoor

Centre with the Prince of Wales. The elder prince addressed a crowd of local citizens and 600 youth group members at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, the site of the new center. The duchess donned a red Giorgio Armani coat and a scarf bearing the Strathearn tartan, a nod to her Scottish title. In Scotland, the duke and duchess are known as the Earl and Countess of Strathearn. She also wore black Aquatalia by Marvin K. boots and black tights, a departure from her usual nude stockings. Then again, it’s freezing up in Scotland and she’s six months pregnant. Press Association quoted the duchess as saying that her maternity leave from royal duties will begin around mid-June and that the baby is due in the middle of July. — LORELEI MARFIL

11WWD MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

FASHION SCOOPS

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The Henry Street HerdSOCIALLY-MINDED uptowners streamed into The Plaza in New York Thursday night to take part in the annual Henry Street Settlement Gala Dinner Dance. The group honored Reed Krakoff, president and executive creative director of his namesake label and Coach Inc., as well as Alexandra Lebenthal, chief executive officer or Lebenthal & Co. and Carolina Gonzalez-Bunster, cofounder of Walkabout Foundation.

“The contributions he [Krakoff] has made to organizations help level the playing field, particularly in education…and the arts. His connectivity to those worlds really reinforces why he’s an excellent selection for honoree,” David Garza, executive director of Henry Street Settlement told WWD.

Accompanied by his wife Delphine, Krakoff posed for photos with Garza and Alina Cho, who would later present the designer with his award.

“David Garza does something quite incredible with his life,” Krakoff said. “It’s funny, his wife said to me as I was standing outside, ‘I love your work,’ and I said, ‘the work I do is pretty meaningless compared to the work your husband does,’” Krakoff said, welling up. “I feel incredibly lucky to be in a position where I can be involved with an organization like this.” Following the ceremony, revelers, including Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, John Demsey, Amanda Hearst, Muffie Potter Aston, Barbara von Bismarck and Lesley and David Schulhof, danced to beats by DJ Scott Melker.

— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

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BetseyJohnson provided some girl power moments. Osbourne, who instructed the attendees to dress for themselves and nobody else, acknowledged she hasn’t always been a fashion industry darling. “Earlier on, there were designers who, when I asked to borrow their clothes, would say, ‘She’s not really on brand.’ And that’s code for, ‘She’s too fat and won’t fit our sample sizes,’” she said. “But there have been designers that have always been there for me, and I really stick by them. Now, I won’t wear those other designers.”

Barrymore weighed in on cultural conversation stirred up by SherylSandberg and Anne-MarieSlaughterabout whether women can have it all. “I don’t think you can,” said Barrymore. She elaborated, “You have to choose your battles, definitely. I can’t direct movies right now. I would miss out on my daughter. It was a clear choice.…I just had to make it.”—RACHELBROWN

OBSERVERCUTS: The New York Observer laid off 11 people from the business side of its overall media group on Friday, it said, as part of a reorganization of its sales team. They are the most significant cuts at the weekly since June 2009, when about 15 employees were let go, including at least ten in the newsroom.

This time it was the business side that was hit. The entire classifieds department was scrapped, and two ad directors were let go, including MichaelWoodsmall, a former managing editor who had moved to the sales staff to develop the group’s real estate titles, like the Commercial Observer.

In brief remarks to reassure the newsroom, KenKurson described the layoffs as a matter of efficiency. He tried to put an upbeat front on a difficult day. “It’s still a good news Friday,” he said, according to someone present. He finished his bullpen pep-talk on a positive note. RobertDeNirois editing a section of the paper during the

Tribeca Film Festival. The newsroom found out about the

cuts through a cryptic e-mail sent by the chief executive officer of Observer Media, JosephMeyer, brother-in-law of owner JaredKushner, Friday afternoon. Collectively, the media group owns the weekly, as well as some small-distribution glossies and the recommendations newsletter Very Short List.

Meyer, who was named to the post in late January, wrote he had put into effect a reorganization of the business and combined the digital and print sales teams. “The reorganization is intended to eliminate redundancies and create a clear understanding of individual focus,” he said. There was no mention of staff cuts.

He also said he was studying which “businesses have the most potential and which distract our organization from maximizing growth opportunities,” which some took as a reference to the Observer’s titles outside of the core weekly newspaper. But it doesn’t seem like those titles would be affected, for the time being anyway, by the business restructure. Asked for comment, a spokesman deferred to the staff memo.

In 2011, the weekly turned a nominal profit, allowing then-editor ElizabethSpiers a small budget bump. Few believe that pattern has continued. Sources familiar with the company say only Yue, a glossy for Chinese tourists, and the Commercial Observer title, which covers real estate, continue to be profitable, though its margins are unclear. Profits might also have been helped by a smaller overhead as the Observer, while recently making a number of young hires, has lost staffers over the years and laid off others.

Kushner disputes the Observer loses money. At the paper’s star-studded anniversary party at the Four Seasons, he boasted to a crowd that included MayorMichaelBloomberg andRupertMurdoch of shaking up “an old media organization that was very stuck in its ways.

“We started a lot of new businesses and we tripled revenue in the last seven years,” he said. —ERiKMAzA

Macy’s maneuver this spring seems like a response to Penney’s, which aside from its red, white and blue logo is attempting to re-invent itself under chief execu-tive Ron Johnson into “America’s favorite store.” So far the theme hasn’t resonated as the Plano, Tex.-based chain has been losing popularity and market share.

Asked if American Icons is a broadside at Penney’s, Macy’s Reardon replied, “Absolutely not. This is all about Macy’s country approach.”

That’s a relatively new ap-proach for Macy’s, and refers to an evolving annual strategy fo-cusing on a country for several weeks. In spring 2012, Macy’s staged a promotion called “Brasil: A Magical Journey.” Both Brasil and American Icons represent at-tempts to make the store more en-tertaining at a time of year when business is less robust compared with back-to-school, fall or holiday. As Reardon acknowledged, there is an “open window” of opportu-nity to generate greater shopping interest during the spring.

For American Icons, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Levi’s are among large vendors participating with promotion-spe-cific product. With the designers and brands, each has its own inter-pretation. Some drew inspiration from the flag, others from different regions of the country, such as the desert, or from a great monument, such as Mount Rushmore. Macy’s private brands will be “just as im-portant,” Reardon added.

The event will encompass wom-en’s, men’s, children’s and home. Casual merchandise like denim, strappy sandals and T-shirts will be a major component, given the time of year and because America’s pas-times, like picnics and baseball, are being celebrated. There will also be more inventory involved compared with Brasil, when the goods seemed spotty in some loca-tions, though they had lots of color and sex appeal.

Graphically, too, American Icons will be more dramatic, with large graphics hanging from the ceiling, videos and nine-foot-by-nine-foot “uniframes” with either one big image or nine separate ones. Macy’s will have fashion

statements in the aisles and dis-tribute two catalogues, shot in locations including Miami, New York, Napa Valley and Washington.

In 20 mall parking lots, Macy’s will put up screens to show classic American films for free, simulating the near-extinct drive-in movie. Macy’s will also have events at some still functioning drive-ins.

To support the Got Your 6 vet-eran initiative and its nonprofit partners, the store is introducing a savings pass with the goal of rais-ing $3 million. Beginning May 12, customers can give $3 at any reg-ister or buy a $6 Got Your 6 pin to get a savings pass for a day. The Megan and Liz music duo will take a cross-country road trip in a Ford Mustang to explore the musical history of America. The journey can be followed online at macys.com/icons.

Martha Stewart, who some con-sider an American icon, is even participating in the promotion, in a Macy’s sweepstakes involving submitting recipes to win an “ex-clusive experience” with the home diva. She’s scheduled to be on hand at Macy’s Herald Square on May 17 to discuss and demonstrate recipes from “Martha’s American Food,” a book featuring her fa-vorite national dishes. Her par-ticipation is an interesting twist considering she’s in a contract dispute with Macy’s over the right to sell Penney’s certain categories of products. Some Martha Stewart product lines, including window coverings and party goods, will be sold at Penney’s in a few weeks, while some core categories, such as bedding, remain contested.

Between June 3 and 16, Macy’s will be up on stadium scoreboards announcing giveaways at 10 major league and 35 minor league base-ball games. The store is also hav-ing a grilling contest, whereby recipes can be submitted on Macy’s Facebook page April 9 to 27, and six finalists will compete in a “sizzle showdown” on June 8 in Atlanta, judged by chefs from Macy’s Culinary Council. One win-ner will be crowned “America’s Greatest Grill Guru” and receive $10,000 and a trip to Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks display.

While celebrating all that is American, Macy’s officials noted that American Icons is not a cam-paign to promote Made in the USA.

been tossing that around, ‘How long can he stay in the job?’ The publicity has just been overwhelming, kind of everywhere you look at it, it’s been bad.”

Penney’s stock has fallen 51 percent since Johnson joined in November 2011. But on Friday Wall Street seemed to cheer Ackman’s comments, sending Penney’s stock up 2.5 per-cent to $15.45, leaving it with a market capi-talization of just $3.4 billion.

One source with close ties to the company said Johnson was facing increasing dissent in the ranks as well.

“The merchants are starting to revolt,” the source said. “You’re start-ing to get people in the or-ganization who are starting to challenge him.”

Ackman’s criticisms echo many of the ones Questrom has made for months and represent a significant shift in tone. As WWD reported last week, Johnson reached out to Questrom to have him visit the Penney’s proto-type store in Dallas and Questrom is said to have been impressed. But now the criticism is coming from Ackman, who has ap-peared on TV repeatedly to tout the company’s dramatic reinvention.

In November, for instance, Ackman took to the airwaves to drum up support for Johnson’s efforts to remake Penney’s as a spe-cialty department store housing shops-in-shop devoted to individual brands.

“Ron has gone to launch the fastest-grow-ing specialty retailer of all time, which is what we call ‘New JCP,’” the investor said on CNBC — which is more or less a direct feed into the Wall Street crowd Ackman knows

so well. He added that Johnson was “wind-ing down the old JCP and using the cash flow from the old JCP to fund the growth of this [new] business.”

But Penney’s has continued to miss key targets and the overall business has not been strong enough to fund the transition, as ini-tially anticipated.

The retailer expanded its bank agreement in February so it could borrow up to $2.25 bil-lion. That gave it some additional breathing room and executives have also talked about

selling off the firm’s headquarters in Plano, Tex., but the market still senses increased risk. Factor CIT, among others, was said to have imposed a 1 percent surcharge on vendors shipping goods to the chain.

Johnson’s plans for Penney’s created a lot of buzz and excitement early on, particularly given his success as head of the groundbreak-ing Apple retail busi-ness. But his efforts at Penney’s seem to have been star crossed from the start.

His first big deal was to bring Martha Stewart-branded home shops to Penney’s. Macy’s Inc.,

however, has an exclusive agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. for certain home goods and challenged the ar-rangement in court.

After some high-profile testimony from Stewart, Johnson and Macy’s chief Terry Lundgren, the court sent the parties off to mediation to work out a solution themselves. So far, no resolution has been reached and the trial is set to resume today in lower Manhattan.

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