\nWall Street Journal Blogs
\nRoberto Cavalli, Roger Dubuis to Downsize<\/p>\n
Fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz AB aims to offset slowing sales at its mainstream stores with its new online home-textile business, but in a sign of retailers\u2019 caution, the effort started without the usual fanfare of H&M\u2019s launches.
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\nDelayed from its originally planned autumn 2014 launch, H&M Home\u2019s range of pillows, towels, curtains and other home-textile products has been quietly rolled out over the past couple of weeks to customers in Scandinavia, Germany, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands, sold through established catalog and online sales channels. WSJ<\/p>\n
The newly appointed administrators for Ittierre SpA are to take legal action against Roberto Cavalli for his comments regarding the Just Cavalli license and their ability to turn the company around. The administrators, who were appointed last month after Ittierre filed for bankruptcy protection under the Italian equivalent of Chapter 11, stated Saturday they had tasked their lawyers with \u201cprotecting Ittierre SpA regarding industrial, economic and image damages derived from Mr. Roberto Cavalli\u2019s repeated comments in reference to the Just Cavalli license and the activity of the administrators themselves.\u201d On Sunday, Mr. Cavalli dismissed the proceedings as \u201cjust a political matter.\u201d WWD http:\/\/www.wwd.com\/business-news\/ittierre-to-sue-cavalli-2039602?navSection=business-news<\/p>\n
Cie. Financiere Richemont SA will cut as many as 70 Swiss jobs at its money-losing Roger Dubuis unit and press on with a plan to triple the watch brand\u2019s stores through expansion in Asia, Russia and the Middle East. Before its purchase by Richemont last year, Dubuis hired \u201ctoo fast,\u201d the Geneva-based watch brand said today. Chief Executive Officer Matthias Schuler said Dubuis still needs to invest in marketing its watches, which cost an average $43,000, and open stores to become profitable after the job cuts. Dubuis manufactures and distributes luxury watches under its name, and operates as an autonomous maison within Richemont. Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Hit hard by both the slump in jewelry and consolidation at retail, Finlay Enterprises Inc. is exiting its shrinking leased department store business over the \u201cnear term\u201d to focus solely on its freestanding jewelry stores, 40 of which are slated for closure. At the end of January, leased departments accounted for 566 of Finlay\u2019s 674 locations, with the other 108 divided among its Bailey Banks & Biddle, Carlyle and Congress nameplates. However, 140 of the licensed points of sale \u2014 93 in what had been the North and Northwest divisions of Macy\u2019s prior to its recent nationalization and 47 at NRDC Equity Partners\u2019 Lord & Taylor unit \u2014 were scheduled to close last month. Finlay reportedly had negotiated to extend the relationship with L&T after NRDC put Fortunoff up for sale in January. However, Fortunoff, which was to replace Finlay as the operator of fine jewelry departments at L&T, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and is now being liquidated. WWD<\/p>\n
U.K.\u2019s Mosaic Fashions, the owner of brands Karen Millen and Principles, was on the verge of bankruptcy this morning. The retailer\u2019s management are set to place the company in administration with Deloitte, the accountancy firm, Monday. However, under a restructuring plan being worked out with the group\u2019s managers, the bulk of Mosaic\u2019s stores will continue trading. Kaupthing, the Icelandic lender, which is owed \u00a3400 million by Mosaic, will collaborate with the existing management team to seize control of the group immediately and purchase four of Mosaic\u2019s key brands: Karen Millen, Coast, Oasis and Warehouse. London Times<\/p>\n
The mysterious bidder for two Qing dynasty Chinese sculptures sold at an auction last week in Paris of the private collection of Yves Saint Laurent and his personal and business partner, Pierre Berg\u00e9, surfaced Monday, saying it was his patriotic duty to refuse to pay the $40 million winning bid. A Chinese collector and auctioneer, Cai Mingchao, said at a news conference in Beijing he had made the anonymous winning bids for the 18th-century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit. He described himself as a consultant with the Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Program, a nongovernmental group that seeks to bring looted artifacts back to China. The New York Times<\/p>\n
When it comes to shopping, the average American man has it made. At 189.8 pounds and a size 44 regular jacket, he can wear Abercrombie & Fitch, American Apparel or Armani. Department stores, mall retailers and designer boutiques all cater to his physique \u2014 even when it\u2019s saddled with love handles, a sagging chest or a moderate paunch. In menswear, shlubby is accommodated. But the average U.S. woman, who\u2019s 162.9 pounds and wears a size 14, is treated like an anomaly by apparel brands and retailers \u2014 who seem to assume that no one over size 10 follows fashion\u2019s capricious trends. Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wall Street Journal Blogs Roberto Cavalli, Roger Dubuis to Downsize Fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz AB aims to offset slowing sales at its mainstream stores with its new online home-textile business, but in a sign of retailers\u2019 caution, the effort started without the usual fanfare of H&M\u2019s launches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n