By EVAN CLARK

THE BATTLE FOR American Apparel Inc. is heat-ing up with both ousted founder Dov Charney and the board that deposed him angling for position.

But they are just the main combatants.On the sidelines are a host of interested parties

— from lenders such as Lion Capital, which is owed $10 million, to would-be investors licking their chops at a brand that they believe should be much bigger and profitable.

One financial player who took a look at American Apparel said there’s plenty of opportunity to improve the business. Inventories, for instance, could turn much quicker.

“Everyone sees the quality of the brand,” said the source, who described Charney was “a very, very tal-ented merchant,” but said he had become a one-man band, personally overseeing the company’s 249 stores.

“American Apparel, as a brand, should be big abroad,” the source said, noting it could do that and maintain it’s U.S.-based production philosophy.

But how the brand develops from here depends on who’s in the driver’s seat.

The company scrambled over the weekend to set up a stockholder rights plan, or poison pill, to prevent ousted Charney from regaining control of the firm by accumulating more stock.

Charney — a lightening rod libertine who was sidelined as president, chief executive officer and chairman for alleged misconduct — already owns 27.2 percent of the company, or 47.2 million shares.

And on Wednesday he quietly inked a deal that would have Standard General buy at least 10 percent of the company’s stock and then loan Charney the money to acquire the stake.

The New York-based Standard focuses on “com-panies with complex capital structures that are un-dergoing dramatic change.” And American Apparel

Summer Lovin’

WWD

PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI

SEE PAGE 9

POISON PILL ADOPTED

Charney Set to FightFor American Apparel

Forever 21 LookingTo Double Business

SEE PAGE 12

PARIS — Hedi Slimane looked back to the Summer of Love for his spring Saint Laurent men’s collection — and along the way encapsulated some of the key trends of the season, including bomber jackets, as seen in this embroidered model; graphic prints, and a strong return of denim. For more on the end of the Paris men’s shows, see pages 4 to 7.

SHANGHAI TANG MAKES PLANS TO MARK ANNIVERSARY. PAGE 8

RETAILER TEAMS WITH “SNL”

FOR KEY TO THE CURE. PAGE 2

‘SATURDAY NIGHT’ AT SAKS

FIRST-ROUND FASHION

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH ANDREW WIGGINS, THE NBA'S NUMBER-ONE

PICK. PAGE 10

TURNING 20

By MICHELLE DALTON TYREE

LOS ANGELES — Don Chang is plotting a dramatic expansion for Forever 21.

The founder and chief executive officer of the fast-fashion chain, based here, told WWD his “ulti-mate goal is to double the size of our company with-in the next three years,” giving it a footprint of 1,200 doors globally.

And the company’s newest concept, F21 Red, could be key to that ambitious plan. Last month, Forever 21 launched the banner at the Azalea Shopping Center in South Gate, Calif., a working-class community about 20 miles south of here.

The 18,000-square-foot store targets a value-orient-ed customer with a deeper selection of the Forever 21’s core items at seemingly sharper price points. The move surprised many analysts and retail experts, who questioned how the company would make its margins on $1.80 camisoles, $3.80 tank tops, $4.80 bikinis and denim starting at $7.80.

“Are they doing this as a loss leader to take mar-ket share and trade the girl up, or are they that big and have such buying power that they can work on such razor-thin margins?” asked Liz Pierce, senior re-search analyst at Ascendiant Capital Markets.

The answer might be both. Chang — who is known for being famously tight-lipped on the company’s plans — said the price points at F21 Red are actu-ally the same as those at Forever 21. It’s a wider assortment that is the secret sauce for the concept.

MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014 $3.00 WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

PARISSPRING 2015

MEN’S COLLECTIONS

WWD.COM2 WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

Obama to Tap Former P&G CEO McDonald

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 ©2014 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 207, NO. 131. MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, April, May, June, August, October, November and December, and two additional issues in February and September) 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 6356, Harlan, IA 51593. FOR SUBSCRIPTION, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA 51593, call 866-401-7801, or email customer service at wwdPrint@cdsfulfillment.com. Please include 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 reprints, please e-mail reprints@condenast.com or call Wright’s Media 877-652-5295. For reuse permissions, please e-mail contentlicensing@condenast.com or call 800-897-8666. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Media magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.wwd.com/subscriptions. 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 6356, Harlan, IA 51593 or call 866-401-7801. 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.

‘SNL,’ Saks Team for Key to the CureBy ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

“LIVE FROM NEW YORK.…It’s Key to the Cure.”

In what appears to be one of the more unlikely unions of two New York institutions, Saks Fifth Avenue has teamed with “Saturday Night Live” for this year’s Key to the Cure campaign. As the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s 2014 ambas-sadors for KTTC, past and pres-ent “SNL”ers Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong and Colin Jost were photo-graphed wearing the Rag & Bone-designed T-shirt for KTTC.

The all-in attitude seems simpa-tico beyond the fact that the two op-erations are less than a block away from each other in Rockefeller Center — “SNL” is celebrating its 40th season and Saks is nearing its 90th anniversary. To build on the show’s milestone, seven New York-based labels have designed exclusive items inspired by vari-ous “SNL” characters that will be sold for a limited time in October.

T by Alexander Wang “Mango” leather shorts, anyone? For Rag & Bone’s David Neville and Marcus Wainwright, that meant a pleated skirt, white shirt and waistcoat inspired by the school uniform worn by Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher character. The TV show’s Emmy-nominated costume designer Tom Broecker curated the selection. This fall, those two labels will share the stage, so to speak, in the Saks flag-ship’s limited-run “SNL” concept shop with one-offs from Diane von Furstenberg, Elizabeth & James, Suno, Alice + Olivia and Eugenia Kim. While all of the proceeds from the $35 KTTC Rag & Bone T-shirt, which makes its debut Oct. 1, will benefit the EIF’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund, 30 percent of all sales from the “SNL”-inspired cre-ations will also be donated to that cause. “SNL” creator and execu-tive producer Lorne Michaels de-scribed the selection as “an incred-ible tribute to the show’s history.”

Over the years, the show has spoofed its share of designers, in-cluding Donatella Versace, John Galliano, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, among others. A fall 2011 skit with guest host Ben Stiller was set in what was sup-posed to be a Rag & Bone store.

Saks’ charity shopping week-

end is set for Oct. 16 to 19 at all of the company’s full-price stores as well as its online one and Off 5th stores nationwide. Known for their sense of irreverence, Rag & Bone’s Neville and Wainwright will make a personal appearance at the Fifth Avenue flagship on Oct. 16. Their unisex design is a first for Saks’ KTTC initiative, as is spotlighting a handful of celebrities instead of one female A-lister, as was the setup in years past. Former ambassadors include Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Charlize Theron.

During the charity shopping weekend, Saks will donate 100 percent of the limited-edition KTTC T-shirt sales and 2 percent of participating vendor sales to local women’s cancer organiza-tions, and in New York, Beverly Hills, saks.com and off5th.com, up to a total of $500,000 to EIF Women’s Cancer Research Fund.

In the 15 years since the debut of its first annual charity shop-ping weekend, Saks has donated more than $35 million to cancer research. Reluctant to give any projections, Saks senior vice pres-ident of marketing and public re-lations Kathleen Ruiz would only say that 10,000-plus KTTC T-shirts have been produced — about 2,000 more than last year — and all are expected to be sold.

Like Bayer, who is a cancer survivor, this issue is one that Ruiz is all too familiar with and one she thinks requires a certain amount of distance. Asked if she was wary about using humor in a PSA that address what is such a serious matter to many, Ruiz said, “Laughter is the best medicine — and I’m a cancer survivor myself. When you go through something like that, you really don’t want to think about that. You want to go through what you have to do to get well, but you want to be able to be courageous and laugh. I think it’s terrific that they’re taking some-thing serious and saying, ‘We be-lieve there is a cure for this.’”

Neville said, “We wanted to support KTTC because cancer causes devastation and suffering to so many families.”

The final image used by Saks’ in-house creative time is a group shot, though each “SNL”er had to be photographed individually due to their conflicting schedules by the show’s staff photographer Mary Ellen Matthews. Aside from fly-ing to Los Angeles to shoot Ferrell (who liked the shirt so much he asked to wear it home), the other locations were all in New York. On set last week at Root (Drive-In), Gasteyer and Matthews shared an easy rapport, with the comedian gum snapping her way through various poses. Logistics being what they are, Saks brass dealt with los-ing Maya Rudolph in the 11th hour as they would any other major photo shoot. For last year’s KTTC campaign, Penélope Cruz needed to be photographed in Spain due to her other commitments. And one year’s EIF ambassador, whom Ruiz declined to name, only had “two minutes” for the shoot.

But back to this year’s lineup — “Everybody wanted to sign on board. If we could have had more spaces, we probably could have gotten more people to be in-volved,” Ruiz said. “That, to me, says the world is interested in doing good things.”

And in all likelihood, the “SNL” fivesome — not to mention cur-rent stars and perhaps some of the show’s alum — will spread the word via social media to a de-gree unimaginable by one retail-er. While Saks has not upped its media buy for the KTTC campaign, which will appear in September and October magazines, it is count-ing on all the interested parties to take its message viral.

The potential impact is vast considering that “SNL” and Saks have, respectively, 920,000 and 321,000 Twitter followers alone, and the seven brands tied to this year’s KTTC campaign have 1.6 million Twitter followers. (Von Furstenberg leads that brigade with 693,000, and Wang follows with 351,000.) Wang hinted at things to come by posting a T by Alexander Wang video featuring Chris Kattan’s Mango character earlier this month and taking the actor to the CFDA Awards.

ON WWD.COM

THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

The battle for American Apparel Inc. is heating up with both ousted founder Dov Charney and the board that deposed him angling for position. PAGE 1 Don Chang, founder and chief executive officer of Forever 21, told WWD his “ultimate goal is to double the size of our company within the next three years.” PAGE 1 Saks Fifth Avenue has teamed with “Saturday Night Live” for this year’s Key to the Cure campaign. PAGE 2 Shanghai Tang is preparing for its 20th-anniversary celebrations in October. PAGE 8 Tasaki is aiming to position itself as a fine-jewelry player with international ambitions. PAGE 8 Levi’s, Ralph Lauren and Wrangler were among the apparel brands retaining a place on Brand Keys’ ranking of the most “patriotic” brands. PAGE 9 Nina Ricci’s Peter Copping and Hermès’ Véronique Nichanian are among judges for the International Woolmark Prize’s Europe regional awards. PAGE 9 Maison Lejaby has nominated Ivana Nonnis to the newly created position of U.S. manager. PAGE 9 Andrew Wiggins walked out of the NBA Draft in style as the number-one pick. PAGE 10 Russell Westbrook’s collaboration with Barneys New York was celebrated Saturday night in Paris. PAGE 11 Marc by Marc Jacobs’ fall campaign is making a statement with a cast of real people and a social media twist. PAGE 12

Paris Men’s Fashion Week street style. For more, see WWD.com.

THEY ARE WEARING: Off the runways and onto the streets and sidewalks for some of the best looks from Paris Men’s Fashion Week. For more, see WWD.com.

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The Rag & Bone design for the campaign was inspired by Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher character.

Ana Gasteyer being photographed for Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure campaign.

PRESIDENT OBAMA today is expected to nominate retired Procter & Gamble Co. chief exec-utive officer Robert McDonald to head the Department of Veterans Affairs as its new secretary, White House officials said Sunday.

The President is betting on McDonald to turn around the be-leaguered agency, whose health system has been charged with

serious mismanagement of more than eight million veterans a year.

Last month, the President ac-cepted the resignation of Eric Shinseki, a retired four-star gener-al who had held that position since 2009. Sloan Gibson has been acting VA secretary since that time.

The move to nominate a ceo of a consumer-driven market indi-cates that customer service will

be at the forefront at the agency in the future.

McDonald, 61, is a West Point graduate and served in the Army for five years — achieving the rank of captain in the 82nd Airborne Division — before starting at P&G. He retired from the company in June 2013. McDonald’s appoint-ment must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. — DAVID YI

The Levy Group mourns the loss of

JACK J. LEVY

He is remembered by many for his kindness,

wit, generosity, strength and above all else,

his devotion and love for his family.

He will be greatly missed.

Any donations in Jack's memory may be directed to The THANC Foundation. www.Thancfoundation.org

1932-2014

4 WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

Dior Homme: Fashion’s rush to sporty and lounge-y styles for spring could leave the businessman feeling high and dry. Dior Homme’s Kris Van Assche proposed a solution, parading linear yet loose shapes aimed at all kinds of Dior’s men, mashed up with cheerful nautical sportswear.

He opened the show with a trio of deep blue tuxedos, announcing the collection’s tailored focus and nautical theme. There were three principal suit shapes, described backstage as classic, straight and “fashion,” the latter boasting tapered pants and a cropped jacket that closed with a toggle. The straight-lined silhouette, neat and slightly boxy, prevailed in various guises: classic or shadow pinstripes, micro houndstooth or plain dove gray.

Scoopnecked tank tops in bold sailor stripes, reminiscent of Victorian swimwear, were the third element of the suit, adding a graphic punch and a youthful edge.

There were horizontal lines on dress shirts, too, and handwritten script — lifted from a Fifties letter penned by Christian Dior himself — that approximated stripes or waves. The latter ticked a trend box — the return to logos — in a discreet and classy way.

A secondary street-art theme, expressed as crayon squiggles on pale denim and white shirts, seemed a forgettable sidetrack.

Van Assche did a naval collection only two years ago, but it’s clear he had more to say. Sailing coats in waxed yellow jersey or papery navy leather were immaculate and chic enough to wear on Wall Street.

Saint Laurent: Hedi Slimane continues to indulge his rock ’n’ roll fantasies on the Saint Laurent runway; this season a psychedelic romp that included one model who was a dead ringer for Jimi Hendrix — and another for Lord Farquaad.

Parading his spring men’s collection on the same night as Glastonbury was drawing to a close, it was plain the French designer is targeting the young festival crowd with his high-fashion take on the Summer of Love. Blanket ponchos and macramé capes glistened with metallic threads and embedded crystals. Velvet blousons bloomed with sparkling starburst embroideries. Jean jackets came edged in metallic studs.

Everything was pinned on the tightest black jeans imaginable, giving his hunched models an aspect of Tim Burton animations with their licorice-thin legs.

Slimane seemed energized by the hippie theme, decorating leather and suede jackets with fringe; blazers with military braiding; a linen caftan with gold filigree, and a camouflage jacket with golden tassels.

He accessorized looks to the hilt with gaucho hats, metallic cowboy boots and fringed necklaces — and completed the Haight-Ashbury scene with a handful of women’s looks.

Patchwork prairie skirts, tapestry jackets and a sheepskin-edged vest were among the best things yet shown by Slimane, the merchandising wizard behind Saint Laurent’s sales momentum, up 27.1 percent in the first quarter. As Janis Joplin sang, “Get It While You Can.”

Lanvin: “We’re all about an elegant look,” Alber Elbaz said backstage at Lanvin’s men’s show, his wingman Lucas Ossendrijver nodding approvingly. But then he quickly added that fashion shouldn’t be too perfect, idealized or overly stylized. “It has to look good in life,” Elbaz said.

The show was mainly about tailoring worn in an offhand way, and sportswear — done in the swanky couture fabrics that Elbaz introduced to the men’s universe — given a dressy spin.

Gangly young models passed through a set of doors propped on the runway and headed off purposefully, most of them lugging some rugged, useful bag and looking suave enough to wear the same outfit through their nighttime activities.

The elongated drape jackets, loose trousers, Whipstitch trim and inky colors gave the show a Teddy Boy twang. Lustrous blousons, spongy trenchcoats and parkas were worn with tailored pants for more of a soigné take on casual, even if they were paired with aerodynamic sneakers.

The show climaxed with a series of languid looks in jacquard fabrics, in step with the season’s pajamalike mood, though familiar to the Lanvin universe. Elbaz said he has no problem dialing back the pace of change. “Men are pretty stable,” he shrugged, “even if they’re in fashion.”

Hermès: “A manifesto of prints,” the Hermès show notes trumpeted, somewhat disingenuously. Véronique Nichanian’s latest collection was another demonstration of calm and quiet chic — the reassuring kind impervious to the overstatement one might expect from large-scale scribbles and paint strokes, which appeared on everything from breezy trenchcoats and capes to pull-on pants.

The opening look — a crisp, one-button cotton suit in tan — set the tone, the effortless tailoring and neutral palette calming the abstract printed shirt underneath.

To be sure, the fancy pants were new and unexpected — jogging-style chinos in blurred botanical prints or those big squiggles and splotches. They were occasionally paired with cotton voile shirts in bandana prints, but always in the same color story, and therefore hardly jarring.

What came to the fore was the sumptuous fabrics: immaculate cotton poplin, serge and gabardine for shirts, blousons and blazers, plus tissue-weight suedes and lambskin that gave straight-line bombers the ease of a camp shirt.

Forgetting the obligatory crocodile item, here a hoodie in a deep bottle green, Nichanian showed considerable restraint, employing gauzy fabrics and only the occasional flash of color — a pumpkin orange belt here, a glimpse of a teal green shirt there.

Cardigans are not exactly the freshest idea out there. But then it dawns on you: Nichanian’s are knitted from nubuck lambskin, a proclamation of understated luxury if there ever was one.

Paul Smith: Gardening is a national sport in Britain, and Paul Smith is a quintessentially British designer, so it should come as no surprise that potted plants inspired his spring collection — and were dotted across the mosaic floor of the circular Bourse de Commerce.

But this was no Chelsea Flower Show. Instead, Smith turned his collection into an ode to stoner culture, with patterns incorporating cannabis leaves and psychedelic imagery, including clowns with cactus hats and a graphic banana peel motif (a post-munchies remnant, perhaps?).

His color palette was gorgeous, with a gamut of purple and blue shades that played out particularly well on the satiny fabrics used for zippered jogging pants and suits with the ease

of pajamas. Rainbow color gradations were cloudy on a dip-dyed T-shirt, or crisply graphic as horizontal stripes on a fine-knit sweater.

Pot-patterned pants and shorts had a retro tropical flair, but were strictly “not safe for work.”

Givenchy: A four-seat Cessna airplane was dissected and strung over the circular catwalk at Givenchy, exploding in four directions, an installation by Dutch artist Paul Veroude. Was it a signal of the military undercurrent in Riccardo Tisci’s spring men’s wear, full of multipocket aviator jackets dangling ripcord zipper pulls? Or was it perhaps symbolic of a designer pulled in too many directions?

The tailoring was strong and sharp, contrary to the prevailing loungewear mood in men’s wear this season. Shoulders were defined, lapels peaked and the fit taut, harking back to earlier Tisci collections for Givenchy.

Graphic bands, the collection’s main decorative motif, were applied like warning tape; crisscrossing white shirts, bisecting polo shirts or strapped across the backs of filmy Windbreakers or beefy stadium coats. A primarily black and white palette telegraphed a dark, sober mood.

Paint splatters and baby’s breath flowers were the other prints, worn

in familiar athletic pileups. The show climaxed with a glimpse of something new, unexpected and slightly jarring: pearl embroideries swirling on gauzy black T-shirts or clustered on the floral prints, adding a 3-D aspect. Despite that touch, the collection lacked the electricity that Tisci usually delivers.

Comme des Garçons: Fashion has always been a vehicle for political expression, and Rei Kawakubo is hardly a stranger to the concept. Backstage after her contemplative yet rebellious show, the soft-spoken designer explained the message she wanted to get across this spring was “antiwar — but in a quiet way, with no words,” she offered.

Kawakubo’s new model army paraded in military jackets and matching drop-crotch pants or Bermudas, at times displaying the remnants of their exotic prey via a faux leopard skin worn as cover on their backs. The designer took cues from the camouflage netting the military uses to conceal its heavy weaponry to construct big-lapel coats and knitted jumpers. The geometric patterns of the punched-out fabrics then transitioned into more rock ’n’ roll suits. Their combative boots featured exaggerated toes curved like elves’ shoes — or sabers, depicting Kawakubo’s satirical take on the subject of war.

PARISSPRING 2015

MEN’S COLLECTIONS

The Paris men’s shows ended their five-day run with looks inspired by the military,

sailors, bohemians and sportsmen.

C’est FiniDior Homme

▲ Saint Laurent

▲

WWD.COM5WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

Ann Demeulemeester: In his first collection since being officially named creative director of Ann Demeulemeester,

Sébastien Meunier stuck to the codes of the

brand and did the founder proud with a light-hearted collection that played out in a monochrome and nude palette.

Looks were layered yet retained a sense of lightness

and romance, thanks to featherweight or sheer fabrics like the pastel organza that was cut into strips and pieced together on candy-stripe jackets and coats. These carried undertones of 18th-century garments, as did the sleeveless vests that were spliced into

some of the looks. Crinkled, raw-edged tunics added a layer of toughness.

There were decorative effects, too, but always done with a light hand. A white parka was stitched with a delicate ecru floral pattern, while tone-on-tone embroidery glistened from the mandarin-collared black coat that closed the show.

Music has always been a powerful antiwar tool. The disco-ball reflections

on the lilac and golden micro-printed single- and double-breasted ensembles yelled, “Let’s not make war, let’s dance!”

Ami: The bell rings: School’s out for summer. Alexandre Mattiussi set his youth-fueled spring show in a Parisian high school, sprinkling real-life students as props among the working press and buyers.

The models were younger than usual, parading looks that oscillated between boyish and playful or masculine and chic.

Checks and stripes were in abundance. The designer introduced a coat in oversize windowpane check for him and her, a nod to his future plans of launching a line for women, “who are stealing their boyfriends’ pieces anyway,” as Mattiussi explained before the show. He constructed a somewhat boxy shirt jacket from Prince of Wales check, while horizontal stripes looked fresh and cool on stand-up collar blazers and varsity jackets worn over denim shirts. Colorful Windbreakers added a sporty touch.

Throughout, nonchalance was the mantra. The torn blue jeans were as vital to the collection as a blue-gray blazer with rolled-up sleeves harking back to Eighties chic, for which Mattiussi said he found inspiration in John Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club.”

Lanvin Hermès Paul Smith Givenchy

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Berluti: What is bespoke tailoring, if not catering to customers’ tastes? Noticing that a growing number of men were requesting made-to-measure jeans, leather jackets and other casual items, Berluti creative director Alessandro Sartori decided to devote his spring collection to leisure pursuits.

For starters, he traded the house’s trademark loafers for sneakers, which were worn with everything from paper-touch waxed linen suits — in shades ranging from clay to olive, sunflower and violet — to a more informal combination of chinos with jackets made from cashmere-soft leather in nubuck, suede and napa finishes.

A handmade sports shoe constructed by master boot-makers from a single piece of leather, the Playtime launched in a limited run of 100 pairs worldwide the day after the show.

While the tailoring erred on the side of conservative, with a slightly longer suit jacket, there was plenty of innovation in the materials. These included a lightweight silk, normally used for shirts, that was glazed with a protective film to make it suitable for a trenchcoat.

Origami techniques were used to shape the pockets and lapels of suit jackets, as well as a backpack made of leather so thin that it can be folded flat into a rectangle.

Y-3: Yohji Yamamoto says he’s been asked the question at least a thousand times: Why black? His spring Y-3 collection, inspired by surfing and tropical gardens, was the answer, to “let people know Yohji can use color,” he said backstage.

Though he kicked off in a somber mode, with black blousons in matte and shiny textures and baggy cropped pants, the Japanese designer let loose with Hawaiian-style floral prints that were spliced in as panels on a black suit or a slinky silver zip-up jacket, or used as a top-to-toe motif on the closing look.

An artificial shade of light green appeared as piping on a black blouson jacket, and in a dégradé T-shirt paired with gray Neoprene jogging pants.

“For the holiday season, so many people go to the islands and they enjoy the beach, swimming and surfing,” said Yamamoto, confessing a passion for swimming and diving, without equipment, and feeling reborn under the water. So what color does he wear on the beach? “Black,” he replied with a grin.

Kenzo: California kids Carol Lim and Humberto Leon drew inspiration from Paris for their spring men’s collection — a gaudy celebration of the city’s storied monuments, and even its tourist traps. The invitation — a metal loop jangling with mini Eiffel Towers, like the ones hawked in the Tuileries — said it all, as did a soggy, open-air set on the banks of the Seine that had Joe Jonas and Jesse Metcalfe huddling under umbrellas.

The city’s most iconic emblem found its way onto oversize polka dot parkas, as well as more somber, biker-inspired jackets, via holographic badges that were either stitched or printed onto the fabrics. Elsewhere, the simpering face of Cosette — the famous character from “Les Misérables” — stared out from a knitted sweater or tank top.

The Ladurée macaron color palette — pastel pink, mint, sky blue and peach — was perhaps too sweet and a bit cliché. Underneath the sugar coating, however, was a street-smart and appealing mix of biker pants with zipper details running down the calves, rubber-bonded sweaters as well as crossover biker/jeans jacket in heavy cotton twill.

Maison Martin Margiela: Normally, a parachute fabric would not be considered overtly elegant, yet the design team at Maison Martin Margiela made it look that way on long, languid coats worn over breezy shirts and blazers. Done in glossy rust, light beige and sunflower yellow, the collection’s light and fluid trench and car coats looked as easy to wear as a T-shirt, yet surprised with their sensual sense of refinement and natural cool. Elsewhere, a tightly belted safari jacket gave a pair of tuxedo pants a sporty feel. Neoprene backing did the same to a leather perfecto.

The show was fresh and compelling, though not without mishaps. Tailored pants with mismatched legs, or with pant legs of mismatched lengths and fabrics, were without rhyme or reason.

Thom Browne: Thom Browne played the game of “Tron” for spring. Harking back to the sci-fi classic by Steven Lisberger, the show was divided into two parts, showcasing two essentially different collections.

Part one kicked off with futuristic, laser saber-wearing guards walking between a group of masked models, sitting orderly in their gray suits, coats or jackets — all new reinterpretations of Browne’s famous gray suit.

But Browne was in an even more experimental mood this season, with “modern” and “future” spooking his mind.“Did they glow in the dark?” he asked backstage after the show. They did — along with the models’ neon-coated nails.

In part two, an army of sci-fi gamers boasted what Browne referred to as “tectonic” compositions. Consider blazers, Bermuda shorts, pants and vests constructed from partially moving panels, which were based on the actual human anatomy, though “in a futuristic way,” as the designer explained. Other numbers, such as tartan varsity and short-sleeve tuxedo jackets, had some heavy padding, further feeding into this season’s combative theme.

Browne did not skimp on the fabrics, either. Both collections impressed with embroidered seersuckers, noble silk jacquards and madras plaids developed especially for the show, along with Browne’s very own registered tartan pattern.

Junya Watanabe: Junya Watanabe never strays far from denim, and his slouchy and cropped jeans for spring — decorated with leather pockets, hobo patches or sashiko stitching — looked like winners.

What was new for this versatile Japanese designer was the full-scale ode to his homeland, from the serene landscape painting as the runway backdrop and the jutting samurai hairstyles to the grunting soundtrack.

Japanese indigo fabrics are unbeatable, and Watanabe employed plain cottons, ticking stripes and folksy florals for his trademark patchwork jackets: trim blazers, jeans jackets, cardigans and his beloved reversible Field & Stream styles with their utility pockets and snap closures.

The show climaxed with denim’s best friend — the T-shirt — done in an array of indigo motifs. Basics are definitely back.

Umit Benan: Photographer Slim Aarons, who served as inspiration for Umit Benan this season, would have had plenty of motifs to shoot at the designer’s spring show, set on the tennis court of a fictitious Cartagena country club. Benan’s insouciantly chic pack flashed three-piece suits featuring a bathrobe-y belted jacket or double-breasted blazers with elastic bands around the wrists, allowing these hobby athletes to wear their sleeves half up if needed.

Sumptuous twill fabrics upped the luxe factor of common parkas and key-ways, while Benan’s new knitwear manufacturer provided retro-inspired graphic crewneck jumpers and posh jacquard sweatpants.

Offering petrol green, cream, tan and various shades of blue, the collection struck a balance between chic and slightly tacky, which is essentially how Benan feels about Latin America, “though in a good way,” as he explained backstage. What lent further authenticity to Benan’s characters was the casting — the designer hired his jet-setters off the street, much like the Colombian mariachi who serenaded the models on the court with his guitar.

Kris Van Assche: Add Kris Van Assche’s name to the long list of denim devotees this season. Youthful and loosely tailored suits were his main statement in lustrous fabrics in jeanlike shades.

The show started out awkwardly. The Belgian designer decided to speed the fraying process and slice open the knees of his mottled denim pants and shorts. It came off as an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction.

Things improved rapidly with a series of cool aviator blousons lengthened into car coats and summer parkas. Shirts were the other main story, with traditional stripes and checks spliced into crisp camp shirts.

For those who prefer to wear the denim trend sparingly, Van Assche offered clever accessories, including stonewashed belts, denim backpacks piped in white and two-tone blue suede shoes.

Cerruti: Cerruti’s spring collection marked a departure for creative director Aldo Maria Camillo, who took the brand in a more casual direction with outfits inspired by a road trip from Palm Springs to Los Angeles.

He channeled basketball gear with long vests trimmed with contrasting bands and paired with baggy Bermuda shorts. The latter were layered over cropped pants and topped with patchwork printed silk shirts and mismatched jackets, in a somewhat clumsy take on the urban-meets-polished aesthetic championed by Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci.

While the outfits likely had a familiar air for Chicago Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler, attending his first fashion show, they may throw customers who cherish the label for its rich Italian fabric heritage and classic style. It’s one thing to veer off the beaten path, but another to throw out your road map.

PARISSPRING 2015

MEN’S COLLECTIONS

Berluti Y-3

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Umit Benan

Kris Van Assche

Cerruti

WWD.COM7WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

Loewe: Jonathan Anderson’s first design effort for Loewe brought a youthful air into the Spanish leather goods company. The designer dusted off the house’s accessories, crafting its signature Amazona bag from Oro suede leather in a larger format and introducing a range of new calf leather trolleys in oxblood, tan, smoke and navy with archival graphic seams.

As for the ready-to-wear, his unisex approach to fashion could be seen in the asymmetrically cut cotton shirts and body-hugging knitted tops. The designer also proposed a languid two-button suit, a first for the leather goods maker.

Acne: Turn off that Seventies show: The Fifties are the favored design decade of Jonny Johansson, creative director of Stockholm-based Acne. His enthusiasm shone through in his crisp, roomy clothes for spring: Harrington jackets, camp shirts and backyard khakis with skateboard influences that kept them from being retro.

Sacai: Having turned garments inside out for her last collection, Sacai designer Chitose Abe set about splicing and overlaying them for her spring lineup. A bomber jacket came with a ribbed black knit body, while a plaid shirt featured a waistband lifted from a tracksuit bottom and stitched on upside down.

Jean Paul Gaultier: His ’n’ hers matching outfits, anyone? The Jean Paul Gaultier couple will be sporting near-identical looks next spring, as the men’s lineup contained several items that also appeared in the French designer’s resort collection for women.

Case in point: a black bomber jacket with a cheeky hieroglyphic print in which the female figures are pictured wearing cone-shaped brassieres, which was paired with black trousers with a similar Egyptian-inspired pattern etched out in silver studs.

A.P.C.: The collection included sharp high-waist fitted jeans; tight short-sleeve shirts, and classic sailor T-shirts in a muted palette with lots of denim. Codesigner Louis Wong also presented his Louis W. by A.P.C. capsule of beautifully cut bomber jackets in materials including supersoft suede.

Kenzo Maison Martin Margiela

Thom Browne

Loewe Acne A.P.C. Jean Paul

Gaultier

Junya Watanabe

Sacai

FOR MORE REVIEWS AND IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/runway.

8 WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

By SAMANTHA CONTI

LONDON — Shanghai Tang is revving its engines in prepara-tion for its 20th-anniversary celebrations in October. A major runway event is in the works, new collections set to launch and there are plans to push fur-ther into Europe.

On Oct. 24 in Shanghai, the brand plans to unveil China Fashion Chic, a large-scale runway event that aims to el-evate top homegrown talent — in addition to its own. As part of the event, Tang has asked three designers — Masha Ma, Wang Peiyi and Tang’s women’s designer Joseph Li — to de-velop capsule collections that blend their aesthetics with the Shanghai Tang DNA.

“One of the main challenges for the fashion industry in China is the lack of public relations platform there — or in the East. We do not yet have a critical mass of designers, so they all have to go to London, Paris or Milan to show,” said Raphaël le Masne de Chermont, the brand’s executive chairman, in an interview. “What we want to do is create the basis of what could be a platform for tomorrow,” he told WWD.

There are also plans to build on October’s event, and create the China Fashion Chic awards ceremony, fashion academy and young designers’ competition — and eventually to take the event to cities such as Milan, Paris and London.

Le Masne de Chermont said it’s also the right time

for Shanghai Tang, which was founded by David Tang and is owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont, to turn up the volume in Europe.

“A few years ago, we twisted the brand in a more contem-porary way, and now Mainland Chinese are our number-one customers. In the beginning, the brand was geared to-ward travel retail, and toward Westerners traveling in Asia. But that was not scalable. What we have now is scalable. It’s time for us to step up and go

into the big fashion world, time to raise the flag and show the world that we have been grow-ing significantly,” he said.

Over the past two years the brand has opened flagships in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and has more than 45 boutiques across Asia. “In 2015, we will be coming to the West with new concept stores — the first of which will be in London.” He added there are even plans to “slow-ly open up some categories to whole-sale.” He said they would most likely be homeware and accessories.

Later this year, Shanghai Tang will mark its two decades in business in a number of other ways. A limited-edition pair

of sunglasses, a col-laboration with the Australian label AM Eyewear, is in the pipeline. The light-weight glasses, which are based on clas-sic Chinese round frames, have mirror lenses and a strong eyebrow shape. Tang is also planning to launch 10 mandarin-collar jackets in Pop Art colors or Liberty prints, and in mate-rials such as pink velvet and orange leather.

Tang has also col-laborated with the Shanghai-born contemporary artist Jacky Tsai to create an original series of six works in-spired by nature and “reflect-ing the optimism of modern

China,” according to the brand. The works

of art will be sold and also adorn Shanghai Tang merchan-dise, such as cashmere shawls, bangles, lacquer boxes, note-books, clothing and tea sets.

By KELLY WETHERILLE

TOKYO — Sixty years after its founding as a small pearl farming and wholesale company in the western Japanese city of Kobe, Tasaki is attempting to position it-self as a fine-jewelry player with interna-tional ambitions.

“I don’t want people to get the sense that we only sell pearls, and our diamond or gemstone things are just done ad hoc,” said Tasaki president and chief execu-tive officer Toshikazu Tajima.

“Some people see it as [a pearl brand like] Mikimoto,” Tajima said, referencing Tasaki’s older, and argu-ably better-known, rival. “But Tasaki is the only De Beers Group sightholder in Japan, and the quality of our diamonds is extremely high.”

Tajima said the jeweler is looking to expand its international distribution and is scouting a location for its first free-standing store in Paris. He also hinted that Tasaki would likely be announc-ing another “big, surprising collabora-tion” by the end of the year and said the Japanese company hopes to continue its relationship with creative director Thakoon Panichgul, now in his second three-year contract with the brand.

“In order to maintain our current po-sition in the market, we need to be con-stantly releasing new products, and prod-uct design is, of course, a very important part of that,” Tajima said. “For that rea-son, we’re always looking at the work of various creators, and I think we’ll try col-laborations with many different people.” Tasaki has collaboration lines with de-signers such as Melanie Georgacopoulos and Marie-Hélène de Taillac.

Tajima, 61, is steeped in fashion cred-ibility, having worked at a series of brands including Gucci, Fendi and Dior. Over the five years he has spent at Tasaki, he has

worked to transform the brand’s image from that of a pearl seller to that of a fash-ion-forward jewelry house with a distinct-ly Asian point of view. He concluded that only a fashion designer, and not a jewelry designer, would be able to make the type of jewelry he had in mind for Tasaki. That realization brought him to Panichgul.

“I thought we needed to offer designs that, rather than looking nice in a show-case, looked beautiful when someone wears them and moves around,” he said, adding that Panichgul designed some of Tasaki’s best-selling products. Those piec-es include items such as rings or necklac-es with three or more pearls mounted on a gold bar, or items with a conical-shaped diamond affixed to each pearl.

Tajima said the company hopes to continue working with Panichgul for a long time.

“Because Tasaki is a Japanese brand — and this is another reason for choosing Thakoon as creative director — I think we need to have a kind of Oriental deli-cacy in our design, product selection and shop design. If we don’t do that then we’ll be just like Western brands,” he said.

Tajima’s efforts to change Tasaki’s image and reposition it in the market ap-pear to have paid off. Its retail business in Japan alone grew 31 percent year-over-year in the first quarter ended Jan. 31. While Tajima said Japan’s sales-tax hike in April bit into Tasaki’s sales, the company still expects Japan retail sales in the second quarter ended April 30 to grow 38 percent to 4.01 billion yen, or $39.14 million at current exchange.

Between the fiscal years ended Oct. 31, 2011 and Oct. 31, 2013, Tasaki’s annual sales grew from 14.3 billion yen to 16.59 billion yen. At average exchange rates for

the periods in question, they slid from $177.6 million to $176.7 million due to the weakening of the yen.

“A portion of the growth is because of the brand’s increasing pull, but another portion of the growth is due to the expan-sion of the overall market,” Tajima said, citing how the growth of the fine-jewelry and bridal markets in Japan has helped both Tasaki and its competitors.

“On both the design side and the qual-ity side, the competition has become ex-tremely intense,” the executive said.

Ayako Homma, a Tokyo-based re-search analyst with Euromonitor International, said moves such as hir-ing Panichgul have led Tasaki to a wider consumer base.

“Before the new brand strategy was implemented, Tasaki’s main consumers were those over 50. The more contempo-rary designed jewelry selections did not only attract these existing consumers, but also potential younger consumers with their more modern designs,” she said.

Between its retail and wholesale business, Tasaki products are carried at 78 stores in Japan, 31 in Mainland China, eight in Taiwan and six in South Korea. They can also be found at se-lect high-end retailers in the U.S. and Europe. Earlier this year, the company established a subsidiary in France as the first step in a broader international expansion in the West.

Tajima said the company is look-ing for a suitable location to open its first Paris store, but in the meantime, it has opened a shop-in-shop at Le Bon Marché. While he is not focused on dras-tically increasing the brand’s number of overseas outlets, he said he envisions eventually having two major points of sale in Paris, two in London, two in New York, one in Los Angeles and possibly others in locations such as Chicago, Miami, Germany and Italy.

Japan’s Tasaki Grows Beyond Pearls

Shanghai Tang Makes Plans for 20th

’’

’’

’’

What we want to do is create

the basis of what could be a platform for

tomorrow.— RAPHAËL LE MASNE

DE CHERMONT, SHANGHAI TANG

A phone case.

A special-edition look.

Limited-edition sunglasses.

PHOT

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In order to maintain our current position in the market, we need to be constantly releasing

new products.— TOSHIKAZU TAJIMA, TASAKI

WWD.COM9

fits the bill, with roughly $280 million in debt, no permanent ceo and the raging fight for control.

More than 79 million American Apparel shares traded hands over the last three trading sessions as the stock shot up to 97 cents from 53 cents. What’s not clear is how much of many of those shares were bought by Standard and whether the investor was able to transfer them to Charney before a special committee of the company’s board established the poison pill in the wee hours Saturday morning.

The company said, “The rights plan is de-signed to limit the ability of any person or group, including Dov Charney, to seize control of the company without appropriately com-pensating all American Apparel stockholders.”

The plan doesn’t kick in until someone acquires 15 percent of the company — or in the case of Charney who already owns more than that, when he acquires an additional 1 percent of the firm.

The poison pill affixes a right to each share to buy one-ten-thousandth of a share of preferred stock for $2.75, making it prohibitively expensive to stage a hostile takeover.

American Apparel’s statement detailing the plan dove into the legal nitty-gritty of the situation — a signal that sooner or later a judge might have to wade in to sort it all out.

The company said Charney would not “beneficially own” stock held by Standard simply because the two have a “letter agree-ment.” However, the firm said Charney would trigger the stockholder rights plan if he ex-ecuted the deal with Standard.

If the unusual stock power play does go through, it won’t come cheap.

At current prices, 10 percent of the com-

pany would cost nearly $17 million and the five-year loan to Charney bears interest of 10 percent annually, although that interest could be paid in stock. The loan is backed up by the rest of the founder’s stake in the company.

By all accounts, American Apparel isn’t a business to its founder as much as it is a cause and a passion.

Charney is widely regarded as an am-bitious and savvy marketer who’s worked — and played — extremely hard while building the U.S. T-shirt maker into a dis-tinctive brand.

American Apparel’s sex-infused market-ing was crafted by Charney and is, at least in part, a reflection of his own lifestyle. The former ceo has been sued repeatedly for sexual harassment.

In firing him, the board alleged that Charney’s reputation made it difficult for the

company to borrow money, that he bore some respon-sibility for blog posts de-faming a former employee and that he signed off on significant severance pack-ages for former employees to shield himself from per-sonal liability.

Charney is contesting his termination in arbitration and is said to be seeking $23 million to $25 million for un-fair dismissal.

The affair has pushed the founder into the role of activist shareholder.

He is now on the outside looking in and has said in regulatory filings that he might “consider, formulate, discuss and seek to cause [American Apparel] to implement vari-ous plans or proposals intended to enhance the value of his current or future invest-ment…enhance stockholder value or enhance the value of the [company’s] assets, including plans or proposals that may involve extraor-dinary matters.”

WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

By ARNOLD J. KARR

THE DIGITALS ARE COMING.Levi’s, Ralph Lauren and

Wrangler were among the apparel brands retaining a place on Brand Keys’ ranking of the most “patriot-ic” brands as the nation approaches the 238th anniversary of its found-ing, but this year’s top 25 list includ-ed first-time appearances from the worlds of computers, e-commerce and search engines.

After failing to crack the ranks of the top 25 last year, Apple, Amazon and Google all made the top 10, with Apple finishing in sixth place with a pa-triotism rating of 90 percent. Amazon and Google weren’t far behind, ranked at eighth (88 per-cent) and 10th (86 percent). Facebook made its first appear-ance in 16th place with a 79 percent rating and eBay its inaugural showing at 22nd place with a 73 percent grade.

Brand Keys asked 4,680 Americans aged 16 to 65 to evaluate brands on a series of charac-teristics. In evalu-ating the patriotic standing of brands, respondents were advised to use the five branches of the U.S. armed forc-es as the ideal of 100 percent.

Jeep, first produced during and specifically for World War II, again claimed the top spot in the survey with a rating of 98 percent, followed by Levi Strauss & Co.’s Levi’s brand, second at 97 percent, up from third last year when it rated 95 percent.

Next among fashion and retail brands was Ralph Lauren, which moved to fifth from seventh place a year ago with the same 91 percent mark. Wrangler and the New York Yankees tied for 18th place with 77

percent evaluations.Because of ties in percentage

rankings, 50 brands made the 25 slots on the list.

Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, noted that the survey reflects perception of the “emotional core” of brands rather than countries of origin.

“You would have virtually no American names if patriotism was de-fined by the countries in which brands are produced,” he told WWD. “The

truth is that consum-ers have come to un-derstand that this is a global economy.”

While offshore production didn’t weigh against ap-parel brands, New Balance’s “Made in America” sourc-ing structure was among the factors helping it retain the number-nine posi-tion it held last year, Passikoff noted.

Among brick-and-mortar re-tailers, Wal-Mart finished highest (seventh place with 89 percent, up from 15th place at 81 percent last year), followed by L.L. Bean (15th place at 80 percent ver-sus 14th place at 82 percent) and Sears (23rd place at 72 percent versus 16th

place at 80 percent). Passikoff was impressed but

not surprised by the strong first-time rankings of the brands associ-ated with computers, smartphones and e-commerce. Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and eBay all ap-peared on last year’s survey, but none cracked the top 25.

“From desktops to laptops and now extending to tablets and mobile devices, there’s been a major shift in access and usage,” Passikoff said. “These devices and Web sites are becoming part and parcel of the economy.”

Dov Charney, Board Struggle For American Apparel Control

Cavalli Continues Investor Search

{Continued from page one}

MILAN — The road to a sale of the Roberto Cavalli company might be longer and more winding than the designer anticipated, but sources in Milan say the brand is still looking for an investor and that discussions are ongo-ing — although the list of suitors is narrowing.

After Permira, Bahrain-based Investcorp has also taken a step back, in disaccord over the price tag, according to media reports.

Contacted on Friday, the Cavalli company had no comment.

As reported, Investcorp, a former Gucci owner, as well as Qatar Holding had been rumored to be looking at Cavalli, follow-ing speculation of a slowdown or perhaps a halt of negotiations with private equity fund

Permira, which have not yet led to a deal. Sources said the discussions have hit a num-ber of stumbling blocks — mainly the valua-tion of the fashion house.

The price tag also was an issue in August 2009, when Cavalli suddenly abandoned plans to sell a 30 percent stake in his business to Italian private equity firm Clessidra SGR SpA after lengthy discussions.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg speculated that a group of investors led by Swiss watch-maker Franck Muller had been eyeing the Italian firm, but the deal has not yet unfolded.

In terms of assessment, Permira is said to have valued Cavalli at about 450 million euros, or $612.1 million. — LUISA ZARGANI

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RANK

1 Jeep

2 Levi’s

3 Coca-Cola

4 Colgate, Disney

Wrigley’s, Zippo

5 Ralph Lauren, Ford

Harley-Davidson

6 Apple, Gillette

7 Wal-Mart, Hershey’s

8 Amazon

9 New Balance

10 Google, AT&T

PATRIOTIC BRANDS Brands with the highest ratings for “patriotic” values, according to Brand Keys’ annual survey.

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PARIS — French lingerie compa-ny Maison Lejaby has nominated Ivana Nonnis, a former chief ex-ecutive officer of La Perla North America, to the newly created po-sition of U.S. manager, effective this month.

The house that has been work-ing with agents in the country so far will now have a Brooklyn-based subsidiar y in -stead. “The U.S. market represents a big potential for us,” Maison Lejaby ceo Alain Prost told WWD. “We want some-one who dedicates her energy, activi-ties and talent to Maison Lejaby.”

Nonnis was ceo of La Perla North America from 2006 to 2008. After La Perla, she opened her own showroom where she represented several brands, including the Dutch lingerie brand Marlies Dekkers. She had a con-

tract as their manager for North America from 2009 until 2013.

Nonnis will be responsible for developing Maison Lejaby’s dis-tribution network in the country. “We could consider expanding

with department stores and via franchises down the road,” Prost said. The house’s main line and its Elixir line for big-ger cup sizes are currently avail-able in about 100 multibrand stores in the country, while its luxury label , Maison Lejaby Couture, is sold exclusively at Barneys New York.

The U.S. mar-ket could repre-sent about 10 per-

cent of the house’s business in the next five years, Prost said. The company generates a total turnover of about 30 million euros, or about $40.9 million at current exchange. — L.G.

INNERWEAR

Ivana Nonnis Tapped at Lejaby

Levi’s Among ‘Patriotic’ Brands

By LAURE GUILBAULT

PARIS — Nina Ricci’s creative director Peter Copping and Véronique Nichanian, the artistic director of Hermès men’s universe, are among judges for the International Woolmark Prize’s Europe regional awards, to be held July 8 at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

Besides Copping, the other women’s wear judges are Anita Barr, group fashion buying director at Harvey Nichols, and Emmanuelle Alt, editor in chief of Vogue Paris.

Sarah Andelman cofounder, buyer and creative director of Colette in Paris; Tim Blanks, editor at large of Style.com, and James Sleaford, fashion editor in chief at GQ France, join Nichanian on the men’s jury.

In women’s wear, the finalists are Jean-Paul Lespagnard, Zdenka Imreczeová, Anne Sofie Madsen, Étienne Deroeux, Augustin Teboul, Arthur Arbesser, Elsien Gringhuis

Rabaneda, Nihan Peker and 1205. In men’s wear, the finalists are Cédric

Jacquemyn, Pavel Ivancic, Asger Juel Larsen, Melinda Gloss, Vladimir Karaleev, Camo, Hyun Yeu, Etxeberria, Serdar Uzuntas and Agi & Sam.

The 2014-15 competition marks the first time there will be one overall winner for women’s wear and one for men’s wear. Last year’s Europe regional winner was British knitwear brand Sibling.

Five regional competitions will be held in the U.S., Asia, Australia, Europe and India and the Middle East to select 10 women’s and men’s finalists who will each receive 50,000 Australian dollars, or $46,251 at current ex-change, toward their next collection, as well as an invitation to participate in the interna-tional final.

The five men’s wear finalists are to con-vene at London Collections: Men in January, and the five women’s wear finalists in Beijing in March.

Woolmark Names Europe Judges

47.2MAMERICAN APPAREL SHARES

OWNED BY DOV CHARNEY.

Ivana Nonnis

10 WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

ON THURSDAY night, Andrew Wiggins walked out of the Barclays Center in New York the NBA’s number-one draft pick. Though he was strongly favored to be picked first by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the day was emotionally fraught for the 19-year-old.

Earlier that afternoon, Wiggins was in his room at the Westin New York Times Square getting pumped to a Drake song that seemed to all but assure the turn of events later that evening: “Draft day, A. Wiggins/f--k that other side b---h we stay winnin,’” the song went.

For the big day, the Canadian-born Wiggins enlisted the help of stylist Brandon Williams and L.A.-based tailor Waraire Boswell, who has created custom suits for the likes of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Amar’e Stoudemire. The two of them worked for weeks on Wiggins’ look.

“Number one or number two, what we do know is he’ll be the best dressed,” Boswell promised the young athlete. “Let’s take him to the level of the LeBrons and the Boshes of the world,” Williams added. “When skeptics say he’s not NBA-ready, well, he’s going to look like it.”

Wiggins stands 6-foot-8, an advantage on the court, but a challenge in the wardrobe department. But Boswell, a former William Morris talent agent, is used to it. Himself 6-foot-8, he began his career 13 years ago precisely to address the lack of sartorial options for men his size, and out of the gate landed his first client, Blake Griffin, who was the

number-one draft pick in 2009. After that, Bosh, Stoudemire and James became clients. For Wiggins, he custom-created a look that includes a white rose embroidered blazer with a black satin shawl lapel.

“Today, our goal is to make everyone remember that Mr. Wiggins isn’t just a basketball player, he’s the NBA’s next fashion icon,” he said.

In his hotel room, Wiggins stood in nothing but a bath towel. First up were the pants, in black wool. Then, his suede loafers from Mezlan. Boswell then helped Wiggins button up his custom white shirt while Williams assisted with a tuxedo jacket.

“I wanted to set him apart from the past and other drafts,” Boswell said. “Generally, on draft day, all of these guys will have these suits from a handful of suit clothiers or have their local tailors do that for them — we wanted him to look like he’s already been there, done that.”

To complete the look, Williams chose a custom bow tie and gold floral brooch from Pocket Square Clothing in L.A., an Audemars Piguet watch with custom diamonds by Jason of Beverly Hills, and black glasses from Boswell’s recent collaboration with Garrett Leight.

“It’s all about the fine details,” he said. After carefully placing both diamond

studs in his ears, Wiggins caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror for the first time. Wiggins seems to keep as much of a poker face in real life as he

does when he’s playing, but then, he cracked, if just for a second, and smiled.

“You feel good?” Boswell asked.Wiggins replied with a big grin. “I was

told to always dress like you’re going somewhere better,” he said.

At 7:30 p.m., Wiggins was in his seat at Barclays. Mobs of fans shouted his name from the bleachers. The cameras were zoomed in on him. The pressure seemed to be mounting, but he looked stoic: posture straight, eyes focused, diamonds glistening.

When his name was finally called, he was caught off guard, then finally, elated.

He hugged his mother, Marita Wiggins, the former Olympic sprinter,

and took the stage wearing the Cavaliers’ wine-colored hat.

“It feels great and a dream come true,” he told WWD after he had walked off-stage. “It is a moment me and my family have been waiting for, so I am very excited. My emotions were what I expected, but I had no real expectation of how the day would go. I tried not to put too many outcomes in my mind, just take it all in as it happened.” His mother, who had stood beside him the entire time, was beaming.

“I can’t wait to get my first check to treat out my dad, mom, siblings and friends,” the new Cavalier said.

— DAVID YI

He Got Game

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Andrew Wiggins in his hotel room.

Waraire Boswell

with Wiggins.

Brandon Williams with

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Wiggins at the Barclays Center.

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WWD.COM11WWD MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014

STYLE POINTS: Some of the edgiest designers in men’s wear gathered at the Hôtel Particulier in the Montmartre district of Paris on Saturday night to fete the collaboration between Russell Westbrook and Barneys New York.

Marcelo Burlon, Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School, Brandon Svarc and Bahzad Trinos of Naked & Famous and Gemo Wong of Nike’s Brand Jordan were among those who joined Barneys chief executive officer Mark Lee at the crowded party.

The Westbrook XO Barneys New York line of sportswear and accessories, due to hit the retailer’s stores in August, includes apparel from Jordan, Marcelo Burlon County of Milan and Naked & Famous, as well as accessories from Want Les Essentiels, Selima Optique, Del Toro and Globe-Trotter.

“We think he has unique style,” said Lee. “He changes his clothes every day and he never repeats, so he has to be savvy about a lot of brands.”

Westbrook, wearing a Jordan anorak, T-shirt and sweatpants, took over the Barneys New York dedicated men’s Instagram channel @Barneysman on Saturday to document his trip to Paris, though prior to the evening’s events, his photos featured mainly rain, and more rain.

“The weather’s been changing,” the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard said with a smile. Westbrook confirmed he never wears the same outfit twice, adding that he donates his used clothing. “I go to Goodwill, I go to friends, people in need, my brother, family — whoever needs it, I get it over to them and let them use it,” he said.

The basketball player described the ongoing collaboration with Barneys as “a dream come true” and said he was looking forward to expanding it in future seasons. “This is the start of a Westbrook brand,” he said.

For Wong, design director of energy products at Brand Jordan, the collaboration has opened a lot of doors.

“It’s new in fabric, fit and style, so overall, it’s new. Price points are new for us — it’s a lot higher than we traditionally have gone. The distribution, definitely — we’ve never been in Barneys. We’ve always seen Barneys as a pinnacle retail expression for us,” he said, adding that athletes were the new trendsetters.

“Our consumer more and more often is looking at athletes as the new muse, as the new style icons, especially now. You see individuals like Russell, like LeBron [James], who are setting themselves apart, being more individuals and being different. So I think that this is just the start of a new beginning,” Wong predicted.

Svarc said Naked & Famous also explored new territory with the collaboration. The brand normally uses raw denim but introduced a rinse wash for the line.

“I’m the most excited about the denim jacket that we’re doing, which is going to be like a color-blocked denim jacket with a ribbed collar in a gray Japanese stretch denim,” said Svarc. “Maybe he has some hard-core fans that are going to buy it just for his name. I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and see.”

— JOELLE DIDERICH

BRINGING THEIR ‘A’ GAME: The screams of excited fans greeted the arrival of a guest outside the venue of the Dior Homme show in Paris on Saturday. Was it Ansel Elgort, the rising star of films like “Divergent” and “The Fault in Our Stars”? Or perhaps Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi? The celebrity turned out to be Taiwanese actor and singer Vic Chou, looking dapper in a pin-striped Dior suit with a sprig of lily of the valley embroidered above the breast pocket. Speaking through an interpreter, the member of boy band F4 said it was his first visit to Paris, but he was used to similar fan reactions on his travels.

As temperatures rose inside the Tennis Club in the west of Paris, he was joined in the front row by guests including Karl Lagerfeld, Candice Swanepoel, Isabeli Fontana, Caroline de Maigret, Pierre Niney, Haider Ackermann and Dao Ming.

Miguel Ángel Muñoz was happy to talk about his upcoming film “What About Love,” in which he plays a daredevil documentary filmmaker who goes on an ill-fated European road trip with his American girlfriend. The film also stars Andy Garcia, Sharon Stone, Iain Glen and Marielle Jaffe, and is set for release in 2015.

The Spanish actor and singer, who will also be seen in horror film “ABCs of Death 2,” said Hollywood has been good to him. “They are really focused on Latin actors. Now I think is a really good opportunity for us to cross the border and go there for work,” he remarked.

Lambert Wilson, fresh off his stint as master of ceremonies at the Cannes Film Festival, was gearing up for his last two performances in “The King and I” at the Théâtre du Châtelet,

which has earned him rave reviews.

“I’ve done a lot of musical comedies, as a matter of fact. I was trained in England,” he said. “For me, it’s a perfectly normal thing to sing and dance, so I was very excited to do this huge production that has never been put on in France.” — J.D.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS: Is the front row still the front row if there is someone sitting in front of you?

At the Saint Laurent men’s show in Paris on Sunday,

guests including Lenny Kravitz and Franz Ferdinand front man Alex Kapranos found themselves peering over the heads of young guests who camped on the floor on the edge of the runway.

“How to get everybody in — there’s a lot of very keen people,” Kapranos mused good-naturedly. Franz Ferdinand had played the Solidays festival on the outskirts of Paris the night before, and the singer was looking forward to headlining Fuji Rock in Japan on July 25.

“It’s an incredible setting. Japanese audiences are amazing and, you know, it’s just a really well-curated festival. There’s always a great lineup and a good vibe,” he said.

In the meantime, Kapranos will be following the World Cup during his travels. Asked who he is backing to

win, Kapranos jokingly replied: “Scotland — the eternal optimist. But also of course my family roots lie in Greece as well, and they’re through to this round, so there’s a chance that they could still win.”

In addition to the heavy contingent of teens, the show drew regulars including Kering chairman and ceo François-Henri Pinault — without his wife Salma Hayek — as well as Yves Saint Laurent’s former business partner, Pierre Bergé, and muse Betty Catroux.

Jamie Bochert said she was heading to London shortly to shoot a video for her song “Sleep” with director Marie Schuller from SHOWstudio, to be styled by Amanda Harlech. “I’m really excited about that,” she confided. — J.D.

TAKING A TRIP: For spring 2015, Band of Outsiders founder Scott Sternberg was initially inspired by his fall capsule collaboration with Scottish heritage brand Mackintosh, but in usual Band of Outsiders fashion, decided to take the story one step further. “Thinking about heritage got me imagining this as a 1964 barbecue dad who took mushrooms.”

The 26 looks embody the brand’s core Americana preppy aesthetic plus trippy tongue-in-cheek details such as floating argyle diamonds woven into a navy cashmere sweater or a shirt placket made with patchwork plaids that mimicked a tie. The classic rubberized coat was given a smattering of allover grommets, a pop of red, a nylon dégradé gingham print and even an inside-out version. In a nod to his California home, Sternberg also turned a reductive surf print into a sailboat motif used on a

Mackintosh, a sweat suit and a poplin shirt and shots. The mash-ups between fabrics and prints created an overall effect that was again quirky and inventive yet wearable.

— MARCY MEDINA

MARZOTTO TRIAL DEFERRED: Matteo Marzotto’s tax trial was deferred to Nov. 28 by judge Lucio Nardi at Milan’s courthouse on Friday during the first hearing.

According to a legal source, Nardi is soon expected to move and preside at another courthouse in the Italian city of Pavia, so he postponed the Marzotto trial until late in the year to avoid leaving as it progressed.

This is the second delay for the trial, which was first affected in March when a strike of Italian lawyers prevented it from beginning.

The allegations involve the Marzotto family’s association with the sale of Valentino Fashion Group to private equity fund Permira in May 2007 for more than 782 million euros, or $1 billion.

— LUISA ZARGANI

KORS TAPS LAFAY FOR ASIA: Stéphane Lafay will join Michael Kors as president of Asia, a new post. Lafay’s appointment is effective July 28, and he will report to

John D. Idol, chairman and ceo of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd.

“This is a pivotal moment for the brand as we continue to invest and work to build a strategic road map for the Asia region,” said Idol.

“Stéphane has a long history of building luxury businesses in Asia. His skills and experience will be a tremendous asset for us going forward.”

Most recently, Lafay was with Tiffany & Co. for five years, where he was senior vice president , Asia-Pacific and Japan.

— LISA LOCKWOOD

FASHION SCOOPS

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Russell Westbrook and Mark Lee

Ansel Elgort and Violetta Komyshan

A spring look from Band of Outsiders.

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REAL TIME: Marc by Marc Jacobs’ fall campaign — the first since Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley came on board — is making a strong statement with a cast of real people and a social media twist.

Marc Jacobs and stylist Katie Grand opted to use Instagram for models, and so, for a week in April, they asked those interested to submit photos of themselves by including the hashtag #CastMeMarc.

“It seemed like a great idea to me, as casting through Instagram seemed cool, current and strong,” Jacobs said. “We wanted the ads to shout with youth and energy…to be fresh and reclaim the spirit that the collection had when we first conceived of it — to be another collection, not a second line.”

There were 70,000 entries, and working with casting director Anita Bitton, the company whittled them down to 50, who were then directly messaged. Some 30 finalists from around the world, including South Korea, Russia and Australia, were flown to New York; nine made the

final cut and were photographed by David Sims in early May.

“David Sims portraits, Peter Miles layouts, the credibility of the cast and the approach to casting the ads transmit a current social lifestyle that doesn’t play into other clichés.…And totally feels like our company — a cast of colorful and dynamic characters,” Jacobs said.

The campaign will break in the August issue of Teen Vogue. It will be supported by behind-the-scenes videos of the casting and shoot on marcjacobs.com.

— MARC KARIMZADEH

“We are able to buy a deep volume of product, increasing our economies of scale while cutting our margins, so that we can pass the savings on to our customers,” Chang said.

The company’s seemingly razor-thin margins have led many to speculate about how its styles are produced. The re-tailer, which does not own any of its own factories, has come under fire in the past for work-ing conditions at the plants that make its goods. Most re-cently, it has been criticized for not signing the union-driven Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, one of two retail agreements enacted after more than 1,100 work-ers died in the collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory building in Bangladesh last year.

More than 160 companies, mainly from Europe, have signed on to the accord, which, among other things, requires safety inspections at the coun-try’s garment factories. Many other major U.S. retailers, in-cluding Gap Inc., Macy’s Inc. and Target Corp., have alterna-tively joined the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.

Forever 21 has opted to address the issue through its own policies.

“Since 2007, Forever 21 has developed a vendor agreement, requiring that manufactur-ing facilities with which we do business adhere to the highest level of safety and human rights standards,” Chang said when asked why Forever 21 has not signed the Accord. “We have a strict vetting process when we first start business with new vendors, and this includes vis-its to, and review of, the facto-ries and the workforce.”

Forever 21 is something of a lightning rod and has been sued repeatedly by competing brands for alleged trademark violations. And in January, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the com-pany for exposing employees

to safety hazards at its stores in Paramus, N.J., and Manhattan, including obstructed exit routes and fluorescent lights

with no covers. But the company has contin-

ued to grow.Chang is focused on keeping

that expansion going and indi-cated that more F21 Red stores are likely coming down the pike and that the retailer “would be releasing more information in the coming months.”

The new concept could prove vital to the retailer’s expansion, said Jeff Van Sinderen, senior analyst at B. Riley & Co.

“Three years is an aggressive expansion, especially with the environment we’re in today,” Van Sinderen said. “I don’t think they get there with comping [in-creasing sales at stores open a year or more] only. They’ll

have to add a lot more stores, and maybe they’re looking at F21 Red for that. It’s feasible but will require very aggressive ac-tion and same-store sales to be steadily positive.”

The privately held company does not publicly release same-store sales figures or financial data, but has clearly been taking market share and now has 469 doors in the U.S. and another 131 internationally.

Chang launched the retailer in 1984 with a 900-square-foot space on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles under the name Fashion 21. That first store logged sales of $700,000 by year’s end and led to more doors. Renamed Forever 21, the company now operates 469

doors in the U.S. and another 131 in international markets, in-cluding Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Latin America, the Philippines and the U.K.

“Consumers are more in-formed and choosing more care-fully than ever before. To sur-vive in this business, you must constantly evolve,” Chang said. “We listen to our customers and implement change immediately to better serve them.”

The ceo said F21 Red is a re-sponse to customer demand.

“We noticed that many of our customers were asking for a wider selection of our basics and staple items, and felt that the time was right to offer deep-er inventory of options,” he said.

The concept speaks volumes about the current health of the sector, according to Van Sinderen.

“We’re in an environment that’s very challenging to appar-el and certainly for junior and contemporary,” Van Sinderen said. “Frankly, there is a con-sumer that is getting squeezed right now by a higher cost of liv-ing, a higher cost of food…and arguably, a higher cost of health care. They need merchandise that’s accessible, especially when it comes to basics.”

Indeed, it’s been a challeng-ing time for juniors retailers, which have struggled with dwin-dling sales due to online retail-ing behemoths and brands that employ aggressive omnichannel marketing strategies, including targeting consumers through online and mobile efforts.

“I don’t think that the health of the [junior apparel busi-ness] is great,” said Pierce at Ascendiant Capital Markets. “Even though April seems bet-ter, I’m reluctant to extrapolate April too far forward.”

Pierce and Van Sinderen said there is a dearth of compelling merchandise and macro trends driving sales in the junior and contemporary market.

But despite the chilly market conditions, Forever 21’s busi-ness continues to grow hotter.

“Forever 21 is still the leader in lower-price-point fast fash-ion,” Van Sinderen said. “H&M has more of a European flavor and what I would call ‘modern basics,’ and Zara is operating at a higher price point.”

With such a small group of such retailers in the market, the sector seems potentially poised for new players. But Chang is determined to fill any gaps in the sector before someone else does.

“Where there is demand, there is room for more players,” Chang said. “We focus on iden-tifying the room in the market-place and, when plausible, fill-ing it, as quickly as possible.”

Forever 21 Sets Ambitious Growth Plan

A Marc by Marc Jacobs ad photographed by David Sims.

’’’’

We are able to buy a deep volume of product, increasing our

economies of scale while cutting our margins, so that we can pass the savings on to our customers.

— DON CHANG, FOREVER 21

MEMO PAD

{Continued from page one}

Customers line up for the F21 Red store opening.

Analysts have questioned how Forever 21 would make its margins with prices as low as $7.80 for denim and $1.80 for tank tops (below).

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