WSJ: Dress Me, Kate! Modern Modesty à la Middleton

WALL STREET JOURNAL | RACHEL DODES

To draw inspiration for their fall collections unveiled this week, American fashion designers closed their eyes and thought of England.

In particular, many of them seemed to be thinking of Kate Middleton, the fiancée of Prince William. At the end of last year, just as designers were generating their ideas, Prince William proposed to his longtime girlfriend, generating a barrage of news on her sartorial decisions. Now, her brand of modern modesty—ladylike clothes that are also sexy and streamlined—is showing up as a fall theme at New York Fashion Week.

Other British-inspired styles on the runways included broad-brimmed hats at Tommy Hilfiger, the tiny headpieces known as fascinators at Marc Jacobs, and a surfeit of demure, pleated, calf-grazing skirts practically everywhere. "I think there's a little bit of royal envy going on here," said Robert Burke, president of Robert Burke Associates, a New York-based luxury-goods consulting firm.

On Tuesday, Vera Wang's show paid tribute to Victorian women with long, chiffon, knife-pleated skirts and high, gathered necklines, some accessorized with detachable fox-fur hoods and leather gloves. Models emerged from iron gates that resembled those of Buckingham Palace and walked to the soundtrack of "Atonement," a book-turned-film set in England between the wars.

The collection was meant to evoke "the grace, romance and effortless style of iconic American women who fascinated the English aristocracy of the 1930s," such as Wallis Simpson and Emerald Cunard, Ms. Wang said in the show's notes.

The focus on less revealing looks comes as designers are noticing an uptick in business, particularly at the high end. Women are showing a willingness to splurge on items with longevity. From a commercial perspective, Ms. Middleton's aesthetic is desirable, "because what she wears is...stylish, slightly conservative and classic," Mr. Burke said.

Designer Rachel Roy, known for her polished styles, unveiled a global-chic collection on Tuesday morning that took viewers to London by way of Guatemala. Ms. Roy showed her talents at mixing prints and lamé and added a chic capsule collection of eight trench coats and trench-coat-inspired looks that the designer said are "part menswear, but the wrapping is so feminine, so flattering, so pulled together."

Neiman Marcus's fashion director, Ken Downing, called the collection "ladylike chic with a bit of wanderlust."

Ms. Roy, who designed the gray frock worn by Michelle Obama to the State of the Union Address last month, said that she finds Ms. Middleton's style to be a breath of fresh air. "I think the effortless ease, the quiet, confident glamour she is bringing is so modern," she said. The blue dress that Ms. Middleton wore when she and the prince announced their engagement "was very age-appropriate but showed there was a fresh energy there," said Ms. Roy, whose fall collection contained a ladylike silk dress in a shade the designer called "blueberry."

Another designer who seemed to be channeling Ms. Middleton as a muse was Peter Som, who closed his show with a sexy-yet-modest royal blue sequin dress that would look smashing on the future royal.

Marc Jacobs's collection, shown on Monday evening at the Lexington Avenue Armory, was another homage to ladylike clothes. There was a mod series of polka-dot dresses and tops—some with prints, others with dot-shaped scales that resembled hanging chads. A series of Victorian-esque dresses featured high collars and ruffles at the neck. There wasn't a look in the collection that couldn't be worn to high tea at Claridge's in Mayfair—even if it was tea with Twiggy in 1967.

Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind the popular Rodarte label, evoked a windswept prairie for their fall 2011 collection on Tuesday, which featured music by Pink Floyd. Long, sweeping dresses with high collars and calf-length coats created a scene in which an interwar intellectual like Virginia Woolf would have felt right at home.

And there are few who stand to benefit from Kate-mania more than Victoria Beckham, the British pop star-turned-designer who showed a collection of calf-skimming pleated dresses on Sunday in bright hues like saffron. After her show, Ms. Beckham said that Ms. Middleton has asked to see some samples.

"Kate Middleton is having a lot of influence on this whole Town and Country vibe, especially with all the pleated skirts with a kilt look," said Neiman's Mr. Downing. "I am calling it a 'Kilty Pleasure.' "

—Christina Binkley contributed to this article.

WSJ: Coats, Cowls Warm Up the Runways

WALL STREET JOURNAL | ELIZABETH HOLMES

Having weathered a particularly harsh winter along with the masses, New York Fashion Week designers have made outerwear a dominant trend on the runway.

Carolina Herrera, the luxury designer known for her red-carpet gowns, began her show Monday with a dark gray wool coat accented by a deep purple velvet belt.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins behind The Row, said the recent snowstorms inspired them to include a puffy silver jacket and puffer ski pants in their collection.

Designers are hoping that customers this year will be more willing to shell out for expensive items like outerwear, which can come with higher margins, as people grow tired of what's already in their closet. Luxury customers severely cut back their spending in 2008 when economic turmoil took hold. They delayed big-ticket or seemingly flashy purchases in 2009 as well, when conspicuous consumption became taboo.

"I have to buy a new coat this year," said Ron Frasch, Saks Inc.'s SKS +0.47%president and chief merchandising officer after Ms. Herrera's show on Monday morning. "You have to, because they're so great."

To ease the potential pain of a big-ticket purchase like a coat, the designers made the pieces versatile. Many garments on the runway could be worn as a part of a suit or as a standalone jacket.

"The designers are using outerwear as a layering piece," Mr. Frasch said. "They maybe look like a jacket to a suit, but they're also sufficient to wear in the early fall and this time of year."

A red wool sleeveless coat at Derek Lam could be worn either on its own or over a long-sleeved top, as could a striking raspberry motorcycle jacket from Tracy Reese.

Ms. Reese added fur stoles to her eveningwear and sent several long statement coats down the runway, garments she called "storm coats."

"We've had such a brutal winter. We need protection, but it has to be beautiful protection," Ms. Reese said backstage before her show. "Silhouettes that are kind of enveloping, I love the idea of that."

Elise Overland had an obvious emphasis on the elements, holding her presentation on an ice rink Saturday evening. Jason Wu began his show with a flannel coat, while Rebecca Minkoff opened with a shearling jacket.

The outerwear pieces came in a range of colors, from muted neutrals to vibrant brights. Many of the pieces offered face-framing features, such as an exaggerated cowl neck or a scarf.

Capes offered a new take on transitional dressing. Ms. Herrera showed a gray caplet with a matching trouser. A hooded wool olive cape at Max Azria looked as if it was a hybrid shawl.

Donna Karan included two capes in her DKNY show Sunday afternoon, which at first glance looked like a blazer hanging over the models' shoulders.

"The average winter coat is no longer acceptable," said Robert Burke, founder of the luxury retail consultancy Robert Burke Associates. "Now you have to have the fashion winter coat."

The Olsen twins hit on another prevalent trend of the season: fur. Using the animated film "Fantastic Mr. Fox" as a jumping off point, The Row fall collection featured luxurious fox fur coats and statement-making fur hats. A blue fox coat was paired with leather and then sewn to suggest a traditional puffer jacket.

"The fabric is so stunning to touch and to wear, and to look at," Mary-Kate Olsen said.

—Elva Ramirez contributed to this article.

WWD: Mark Lee Seen as Man to Bring New Era to Barneys

WWD | LISA LOCKWOOD

One of the most-watched acts in fashion is beginning to play out: Mark Lee's reinvention of Barneys New York.

The highly regarded Lee has been Barneys New York's chief executive officer for only four months yet already has made sweeping changes in the retailer's senior fashion ranks and overhauled its creative leadership. On Friday, the retailer tapped a new vice president and fashion director, Amanda Brooks, former creative director of Tuleh and a Vogue contributor. And more changes are said to be on the horizon.

The dawn of the new Lee Era at Barneys is under way — an iconic retailer that over-expanded, lost its way and is bleeding red ink — now headed by a young, seasoned, methodical executive whose track record includes successful stints as ceo of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as senior positions at Giorgio Armani and Jil Sander. Sources believe every aspect of the company's operations are being closely examined, with the goal of returning the company — whose losses reportedly approached $60 million last year — to profitability for an eventual sale. Its volume reportedly hovers between $675 million and $700 million.

Industry observers believe Lee's main priorities should be:

• Close unproductive units such as those in Dallas and Las Vegas.

• Place more emphasis on "commercial" merchandise and better execution overall.

• Put a greater investment in the store's e-commerce strategy and social-networking initiatives.

• Create a new image campaign touting Barneys' distinctiveness and sophistication.

• Bring more in-store excitement and create more compelling visual displays.

• Freshen the merchandise mix and add more femininity and color, as well as a much-needed paint job at the Madison Avenue flagship.

A major signal the retailer is headed in a new direction occurred when Lee tapped Dennis Freedman as the store's creative director. Most recently creative director of W magazine, Freedman is known for pushing aesthetic boundaries and for his close ties to prominent photographers. He succeeds Simon Doonan, who was named creative ambassador at large. For the past 25 years, Doonan, the quip-a-minute, flamboyant Brit, has been the public face of the store as well as the man behind Barneys' showstopping windows, serving up a blend of kitsch and pop culture that have ranged from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Madonna and Tammy Faye Bakker. Doonan is believed to be on board with the change.

The tectonic shift in Doonan's role occurred two months after Lee replaced the store's top women's merchant, Judy Collinson, and installed his former Gucci colleague Daniella Vitale as chief merchant and executive vice president overseeing all of women's and barneys.com. Julie Gilhart, the store's longtime fashion director who nurtured many up-and-coming designers, also exited and was succeeded by Brooks, who most recently was director of fashion at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and is also the author of a book, "I Love Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style."

"He [Lee] is the first person who's taken over that store who isn't afraid to lose everybody," said one industry source.

Vitale's arrival has stirred some angst in the fashion world, as designers worry Barneys will cut back on its support of young talent in favor of more established, commercial collections. But numerous vendors, analysts and industry observers believe Barneys needs to do just that in order to broaden its appeal — especially in markets outside New York and Los Angeles. As one source joked, "They're too New York- and L.A.-centric, even for New York and L.A."

Shifting its fashion focus may prove a tricky proposition, though, since the store built its reputation on its designer discoveries and quirky, edgy and artisanal merchandise. Going more mainstream would put it in head-to-head competition with Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.

"Mark [Lee] will keep the DNA of Barneys and will change the methodology of how the store is run. It's a different era and a different time. You can't run it the same way as 2006 or 2007, or even the Nineties. He's bringing in some people with a lot of experience," said one vendor, who requested anonymity. Another vendor noted, "He's the first one who comes with a back pocket of all the right people. This is the one man who can compile an A-list team."

Barneys needs one. It's been a bumpy ride for Istithmar World, the investment arm of the state-controlled holding company Dubai World investment fund, which bought Barneys in 2007 from Jones Apparel Group Inc. for $942 million, and has since pumped millions into the stores. The retailer today is worth significantly less since the recession and the consumer slowdown in luxury spending. Last year's losses were attributed to sluggish sales and interest payments stemming largely from debt, which includes about $500 million long term. Even without a ceo, Barneys opened flagships in Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz., and rolled out more Co-ops, which specialize in contemporary merchandise, moves that were plotted by former ceo Howard Socol.

The fact that Barneys has been able to survive despite the recession and a lack of leadership at the top clearly indicates the inherent strength of the retailer. "Barneys, on the whole, has had a pretty major impact on the industry," said Arnold Aronson, managing director of retail strategies at Kurt Salmon Associates. "Its top-of-mind awareness is much bigger than its volume."

Bonnie Pressman — a 15-year Barneys veteran and former wife of Gene Pressman, grandson of company founder Barney Pressman — now has her own consulting firm, BLP Consulting Inc., and believes Lee has the wherewithal to restore Barneys' leadership position.

"With any new management, there's always going to be a shake-up," said Pressman, who earlier in her career was executive vice president, general merchandise manager, women's ready-to-wear and accessories at Barneys. "Mark took the position to better Barneys' future. He didn't need to do this job. It's a great opportunity to turn it around. Yes, it needs improvement. It needs some fresh blood. I've known Mark for a long time [from his days at Armani]. He really knew the DNA of the store and what the Pressman family was doing when the store was growing. Out of anyone out there, he's the right guy."

Pressman believes one of Lee's major strengths is the fact that he's worked with the top retailers around the world while at Armani, YSL and Gucci.

"Imagine what he knows. What he brings to the table could be the best of the best. He's seen it all being on that side of the business. He understands the merchants and understands designers. That's what you need," said Pressman. "In the past, there have been a lot of ‘suits' running the place."

Some may criticize Lee and Vitale for being "one-dimensional," since they only know the wholesale side of the business, but Pressman dismisses that concern. "Daniella worked with us. She knew the standards the Pressman family wanted," said Pressman.

Socol, who departed in 2008, came from an entirely different background, said Pressman, and was more operations driven. During his seven-year tenure under both Jones and Istithmar ownership, Socol oversaw an aggressive expansion of the chain to 38 U.S. stores, including seven flagships. Management was determined to open stores, grow volume and get a return on its investment. Among the stores that opened during his tenure were flagships in Dallas, Las Vegas and Boston.

Socol led the regional Burdines department store chain until 1997 and joined Barneys in 2001 at the recommendation of Allen I. Questrom, whom he succeeded as ceo and who led Barneys out of bankruptcy. During his tenure, Socol disagreed sharply with Istithmar over strategies, and particularly opposed overseas expansion. According to sources, one of the reasons Socol resigned was because he was reluctant to report to David Jackson, ceo of Istithmar.

"It wasn't about creativity. He did a good job at the back end, operationwise. [But] opening the other flagship stores around the country was not a wise thing," said Pressman, pointing out that the expansion mirrored what the chain did in the Nineties, which eventually drove it into bankruptcy. "Do we have to repeat the errors multiple times?"

It is widely believed Barneys New York is bolstered mainly by its three flagships in New York, Beverly Hills and Chicago, and dragged down by newer stores opened in Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston and Scottsdale.

Consultant Robert Burke of Robert Burke Associates believes Barneys needs to retain its existing customer base while attracting new ones. "It needs a broader reach," he said. He believes the store can still champion the underdogs and support emerging brands "but you can't build a business on that."

"You need to look at the brand assortments and the allocation of space," said Burke. "It needs some dusting off. As with any mature business, it got set in its ways. The business has changed dramatically. The customer today is more discerning and more willing to mix and match price points than ever before."

Burke believes Vitale, who was most recently Gucci's president of the Americas after positions with Giorgio Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo, will be a strong asset to the business. "She's a very smart merchant. She understands product and certainly understands the business." Burke, as others, stressed that one of Vitale's attributes is that she's interacted with every top retailer throughout her career. "She has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. She knows the best practices. She'll approach it in a very unique way."

Most observers believe that Barneys can still be the go-to store for emerging designers and should maintain its sense of discovery and experimentation. It also needs to work harder to distinguish itself from Bergdorf, which it has been looking more and more like.

"Yes, it can still be the champion of the underdogs," said Kim Vernon, a marketing consultant. "Between Saks and Bergdorf Goodman, all have been jockeying for underdogs more than ever. Barneys will continue to be supportive of emerging brands."

She said the retailer can change the merchandise mix and still find ways to remain special. "They've got a big merchandising team that's been there. I think they can maintain being Barneys but can move it toward what more customers want," said Vernon. "My clients tell me he [Mark Lee] is intent on keeping the uniqueness and specialness of Barneys intact."

Barneys' flagships have always had a distinctive look. Never overflowing with merchandise, the stores have always maintained a spare, art-gallery look. [See box below.] The current merchandise mix ranges from The Row, Derek Lam and 3.1 Phillip Lim to Jil Sander, Lanvin, Thakoon and Rodarte. Co-op vendors include J Brand, Rag & Bone, Diane von Furstenberg, Theory, Rogan and Trovata.

In a telephone interview, Gene Pressman, former co-ceo, creative director and head of merchandising and marketing for Barneys, — who recently was spotted having lunch with Lee at that media mecca Michael's but has no involvement in the business — didn't want to talk too much about the new management but offered, "I have confidence in Mark that he will find a bridge between knowing how to make a profit and being very demanding on his merchants to constantly find and develop emerging brands."

Observers believe there's plenty of work to be done to restore Barneys' bottom line, but feel the end result could be an eventual sale.

"Mark is going to revitalize the franchise," said Gary Wassner, ceo of Hilldun Corp., factors for Barneys. "He's a fashion person with a European perspective. Nobody knows what Istithmar's long-term commitment to Barneys is. Do they want to keep it for the next 10 years? I don't know. Other players have expressed interest. Ron Burkle would love it," said Wassner. "There's a lot of value in the Barneys name. I don't know why anyone couldn't do well with the company, even if they didn't overpay."

Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. bought about 15 percent of Barneys' senior term loan in late 2009, along with roughly 60 percent of the retailer's subordinated loan. It's unclear what the unpredictable, low-profile billionaire — who has a mixed track record with investing in the fashion world with holdings that include Sean John, Scoop, the jeweler Stephen Webster and a small stake in American Apparel — might do with Barneys if he were able to buy it. Nor is Burkle the only predator lurking: Perry Capital swooped in before him and bought up a large chunk of Barneys' senior debt.

As for the retailer's financial health, Wassner said that he's been very pleased with the way Barneys has been dealing with its financial commitments. "They're paying on time. On the button," he added. Wassner said that recently, Barneys' merchandise didn't look all that different from Bergdorf's. "They've allowed Bergdorf Goodman to take from them relationships that were so strong in the past," he said, noting several younger lines, such as Alexander Wang, Band of Outsiders, Gilded Age and Vena Cava, are now carried at both stores. He noted that it will take time to instill changes in Barneys' merchandise mix, since spring buys have already been committed. "The buys in the next market will be quite a different buy. Some lines will be dropped, others will be added," he said. "Barneys still has a much edgier list of younger designers, but the question is: What will it be next season? I've heard that the smaller collections will be limited, and younger designers may be dropped from the list. How they buy for fall will determine the direction going forward. When I see the fall orders, then I'll have a clear sense," said Wassner.

Wassner doesn't think Barneys needs to change its focus or become more accessible in price points. "They have Co-op for that. That's been successful for them. They just have to make better decisions and know who their customer really is."

The Co-op, which celebrated 25 years in business last year, is a profitable operation and accounts for 10 to 15 percent of Barneys' total sales. Its best-performing stores are in Manhattan, where there are three freestanding locations; in California, where there are four, and within certain Barneys' flagships, including Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills. While several Co-ops are slated to close next year — in the Houston Galleria in January and the Westchester Mall in White Plains, N.Y. by March — the plan is to continue to open more Co-ops.

To be sure, one of Lee's main objectives should be to bring back its sizzle, which the company used to possess in spades. Barneys hasn't kept up its creative efforts the last two years, due to both the economy and a lack of leadership at the top, said market sources. Karl Hermanns, executive vice president of merchandise planning, marketing, e-commerce and operations, exited in the fall. Charlotte Blechman, former vice president of public retailers at Gucci, has been tapped as Barneys' senior vice president of marketing and communications, reporting to Lee.

"The new ceo needs to bring back the magic that existed around Barneys," said Marc Gobe, ceo of Emotional Branding. "It was the hottest and hippest place to go. It was your first choice for fashion, innovation and style. They've become one of the pack now. I would immediately start to build a community online. They need to find their social voice. The brand needs to be talked about. In the old days, people used to talk about ‘I bought this at Barneys,' or someone would ask ‘Where did you buy it?' and it was Barneys."

WWD: Accessories Propel Luxury's Rise

WWD | MARC KARIMZADEH & KATYA FOREMAN

From handbags to shoes to watches, accessories are generating the power that is driving luxury’s surge.

It’s a global trend — from the U.S. to emerging markets such as China, Brazil, India and the Middle East. When the final tally is made, the sales growth of luxury accessories in 2010 is expected to be 16 percent, compared with 8 percent for luxury apparel, according to a new worldwide study from Bain & Co., a strategic consulting firm. By comparison, sales of luxury accessories in 2009 contracted

1 percent versus 2008, with luxury apparel sales dipping 10 percent.

Customers are increasingly sophisticated, cherry-picking across categories, brands and channels for quality, style or value, the report said, with men showing the same spending patterns as women on leather goods.

Despite persistent high unemployment in many countries, concerns about European debt and a still-wobbly global economy, stock values are up this year, holiday shopping indicators for high-end goods have been positive and, in a period when product adaptability and value are essential, accessories are particularly appealing because they are a versatile, fast way for consumers to freshen what’s in their closets.

Pete Nordstrom, president of merchandising at Nordstrom Inc., said shoes and accessories have been “the strongest category for us in the last several years, before things got difficult, when things got difficult and now” as retail recovers.

“There is a lot of value in accessories and shoes,” Nordstrom added. “If someone buys a designer handbag, they can use it several times a week. If you bought a designer apparel outfit, you may wear it a few times a year. You get more use and that is a part of it.”

Karen Katz, president and ceo of Neiman Marcus Group, also cited the strength of shoes and handbags in reporting this month that NMG’s income tripled for the quarter ending Oct. 30. And the rest of the industry has echoed those results.

Luxury group PPR recorded a 12.9 percent rise in third-quarter sales that was propelled by demand for designer handbags, especially in emerging markets. Hermès International has forecast a record year, pointing to items such as silk scarves, leather bags and watches. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Coach, Bulgari and Tod’s SpA all reported significant gains in accessories, while Mulberry group plc reported profits more than tripled in the six months to Sept. 30 and said the wholesale order book for spring was at least 91 percent higher than last year.

To be sure, a sudden crisis would undermine the trend, but that doesn’t appear to be imminent.

Executives such as Sidney Toledano, president and ceo of Christian Dior, and Philippe Pascal, president of LVMH’s watch and jewelry group, have said sales of luxury timepieces are strong and they expect the growth will carry over into next year.

Since the beginning of the year, Louis Vuitton has seen double-digit gains in accessories worldwide. Bestsellers include scarves, such as the house’s cashmere Leo stole, small leather goods and men’s and women’s sunglasses.

Boosted by tourist flows, notably Chinese customers, Gucci in the third quarter saw strong demand for classic handbag styles and novelties such as the Gucci 1973, especially in Western Europe, where overall sales for the brand rose 27.7 percent in the third quarter, with France, Italy and the U.K. all posting solid gains. As the brand’s core business, leather goods represent well over 50 percent of total Gucci revenues, generating in excess of 1 billion euros in sales, or $1.3 billion at current exchange.

“We have been very pleased,” said Cody Kondo, group senior vice president of shoes, handbags and jewelry at Saks Fifth Avenue. “Shoes and handbags have been very well received by our customers. In light of the good run we have had in the stock market over the last 60 or 90 days, customers have a strong appetite for them again.

“They still want value,” Kondo said. “That feeling of recession has not totally gone away, so it’s not all pre-2008. The customer is still looking for a strong price-value relationship. A year ago, into spring, there was a trend in timeless and classic pieces. We have seen some of the more statement fashion pieces now selling quite well. We have seen a nice increase in the jewelry category.”

At Tory Burch, top sellers in recent weeks have been the Reva and Eddie ballet flats; the hiking-inspired Halima, Lyle and Howard boots, and small leather goods like clutches and bags in all sizes.

“Accessories are an entry point into a brand,” Tory Burch president Brigitte Kleine said. “They are often the first thing women buy because they are the easiest way to update your wardrobe, from a leather handbag to a shoe you can wear year-round.

“People are more conscious about how and what they are buying,” she added. “ They are looking for products with value and longevity. As opposed to buying a whole new wardrobe every season, they’ll update with accessories.”

Lisa Montague, ceo of the Spanish leather goods brand Loewe, which is owned by LVMH, said the label this year has seen a higher quality of sales, with buying patterns shifting up more to the top end of price ranges.

“That could be because the customer is feeling more confident,” she said. “Certainly, for our brand, we’ve returned to being true to what we’re good at [luxury leather goods], and that is resonating well with the consumer.”

Although Loewe has seen high growth rates in China, Montague said Japan is still proving a challenging market. Bestsellers include the brand’s lightweight Nappa line and its iconic Amazona bag collection. The entire Amazona family takes around 30 percent of the house’s bag sales, Montague said.

“We have seen a tremendous rebound in accessories, with shoes being the strongest of any fashion category, followed by handbags,” said Robert Burke, founder, president and ceo of the Robert Burke Associates consultancy. “The consumer is realizing it’s the easiest way to update their wardrobe, and consumers who have been forced to be more creative in their purchases realize they can shop [for apparel] in the contemporary category, or in more mass stores like H&M or Zara, and then splurge on a signature shoe, handbag or a piece of statement jewelry.

“There is also the aspirational consumer who will buy contemporary or more broadly distributed [ready-to-wear], and then save up for that signature shoe,” Burke added. “Runway designers have given shoes so much attention that the category almost has a life of its own.”

David Wolfe, creative director of trend forecasting firm the Doneger Group, said it is natural for accessories to lead the charge in retail’s recovery.

“Shoes and handbags represent what consumers think of as a better investment than a garment because they are going to get more use out of it,” Wolfe said. “It also eases their guilt from buying luxury brands. They think that by shopping accessories, they are justifying returning to their evil shopping ways.”

After steady double-digit growth in accessories sales over the past six years, Selfridges in London this year has seen its largest increase for the category yet — a 30 to 40 percent climb in sales year-over-year.

Sebastian Manes, accessories director at Selfridges, said the category is the store’s largest division.

“Women’s wear is up over last year, but won’t have the same increase as accessories,” said Manes, citing Mulberry’s Alexa bag, Louis Vuitton’s Speedy and Chanel’s Mademoiselle bags, among other bestsellers. “The increase we’ve seen this year is phenomenal.”

Ditto at Harvey Nichols. Pointing to a rise in volume over the past few seasons for scarves and jewelry, Helena Sotiriou, accessories buyer at Harvey Nichols, London, said the store this season has seen a resurgence of demand for the “must-have” handbag, with long waiting lists for bags by the likes of Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang.

Harvey Nichols has experienced a 45 percent sales uptick in the category. Among the bestsellers are Proenza Schouler’s PS1 satchel, Alexander Wang’s Coco bag, Alexander McQueen’s box clutches and Stella McCartney’s runway Court shoe.

“This season, customers are willing to spend and invest in their wardrobe as long as they perceive it to be value for money — price by wear,” Sotiriou said.

Catherine Newey, director of accessories at Printemps in Paris, said luxury has had the strongest growth, particularly luxury leather goods, jewelry and timepieces. Accessories account for more than 30 percent of the store’s sales.

“Clothing is experiencing growth, but the real dynamism is coming from accessories,” Newey said. “Every brand has focused on developing accessories” because they allow consumers to follow trends without having to change their wardrobes. “Accessories have become more and more directional,” she said.

How will brands maintain the momentum?

“So many of the luxury brands bastardized their integrity when they were overexpanding and catering to the aspirational market, and that is the one that has now dried up,” said Wolfe of the Doneger Group. “The brands now have to reassure their customers that they still have the quality, integrity and authenticity.”

WSJ: The Little Season That Could

WALL STREET JOURNAL | MEENAL MISTRY

The fashion season called resort has had a few lives. For a good part of this century, it was everything the word connotes, which is to say, leisurely maillots and caftans to fill the steamer trunks of wealthy women sailing off for winter holidays. In more recent decades, it served as a sort of retail caulk with tried-and-true basics filling in the cracks on shop floors between fall sales and spring arrivals. But it’s the latest incarnation that the fashion industry can’t stop talking about. Like Clark Kent after a visit to a phone booth, resort has gone from mild-mannered and meekly helpful to a seasonal superpower on which luxury labels depend for strong retail sales and even a dash of prestige. It’s a colorful irony that a season inspired by leisure time has become the hardest-working collection in the business.

“Most of the collections [in the late ’80s and early ’90s] were not terribly fashion-oriented,” Saks Fifth Avenue president Ron Frasch recalls. “Many times the designer didn’t even do them. It was the team. They tended to be things that had performed in the prior season but in different fabrics.”

These days, however, the most “wearable” collection bridges the two main runway seasons and can account for up to 70 and sometimes 80 percent of women’s designer-apparel sales. “Resort has become an independent fashion season that will oftentimes rival a spring or fall,” says luxury consultant Robert Burke.

Coupled with a shifting identity, resort—also known as cruise and pre-spring—has found itself with a handful of monikers along the way. “Resort?” says Stella  McCart­ney. “How unsexy is that word? It feels so dated. We call it spring.” Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen has another suggestion: “They should call it November delivery. These are not really clothes that go to a resort.” Michael Kors has raised the white flag of surrender. “I’ve given up on renaming it,” he says. “We’ll call it the little season that could.”

Conceived to be refreshing and commercial, resort tends to be more wearable than runway collections, without so many of the “Who would wear that?” moments. But this distinctly retail bent meant the clothes were largely ignored by fashion magazines. You can credit Karl Lagerfeld with leading the charge on turning the tide. Last May, the Chanel creative director set his resort 2011 show against the fabulous backdrop of Saint Tropez’s harbor. Models arrived by speedboat as the sun was setting. Famous and beautiful friends of the house like Vanessa Paradis, Leigh Lezark and Diane Kruger were flown in for the occasion.

This was actually Lagerfeld’s 11th resort spectacular. His first, in 2000, was staged at Paris nightclub Régine. “Karl was visionary. He was the first one to perceive the growing importance of the cruise collection,” says Chanel’s president of fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky. Although transporting a group of international journalists and the rest of your chic posse everywhere from Venice to Miami is not a cheap proposition, Pavlovsky adds: “Chanel is very attached to the way we show this collection.”

In the past few years, it seems that every designer became hyperaware of resort’s particular advantage of a selling period that can stretch from late October until June, encompassing high-volume holiday-shopping periods, and is marked down at the same time as spring runway clothes (resort has the longest window before being marked down, most commonly November to May at full price). It’s only logical to make the most of it. Also joining Chanel were Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior with runway presentations that couldn’t be ignored. In 2006, Style.com added resort coverage to its database of fall and spring runway reviews.

Nowadays, not every label does an extravaganza, but there’s still great care taken with the presentation. Most European designers fly in to meet and greet, like Stefano Pilati, who staged Yves Saint Laurent’s resort show this year at the French consulate in New York. McCartney showed hers at a downtown gallery over margaritas and vegetarian hors d’oeuvres; in attendance were A-list friends like Gwyneth Paltrow and Naomi Watts. Meanwhile, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz has chosen to work his considerable charm by personally narrating multiple minishows for small groups of editors and retailers.

The younger guard has followed suit, even though adding another collection to a small team’s production cycle is daunting. Los Angeles–based designer Juan Carlos Obando did his first resort collection this year. “I was extremely concerned because resort happens right when you’re trying to produce the fall show and it has to be delivered right when you start producing the spring collection,” he says. The gamble paid off. Barneys ordered double what they had from his fall 2010 show. Michelle Obama favorite Jason Wu has done a show for the past two seasons. “Why shouldn’t it be [as important]?” Wu says. “The numbers are just as great as the main seasons.” Actually better. Wu reports that he sells 60 percent resort to 40 percent runway. This season, Wu took the collection to Paris to show to European stores and ended up adding 30 new accounts.

It all adds up to the fact that designers are making these clothes a high creative priority—but within the confines of the original customer-friendly intention of the season. It’s a combination that results in a sort of perfect fashion storm. “It’s more of a realistic collection,” says Laura Vinroot Poole, owner of Capitol boutique in Charlotte, N.C., who has consistently channeled her budget heavily into resort. “They’re just beautiful clothes, rather than the sort of idea that’s been gone over and over with stylists.”

But in today’s flat fashion world of online shopping, perhaps the season’s biggest asset is simply that it’s yet another delivery of clothes. “[Resort] really supports our customers’ desire for newness,” says Net-a-Porter’s vice president of marketing and sales, Alison Loehnis. Loehnis reports high double-digit growth in the company’s resort sales over the past four years.

Even for bricks-and-mortar businesses, resort’s wide-ranging product that includes outerwear, knits, fur and lightweight early-spring clothes satisfies the current trend of buying clothes for immediate consumption that is especially important post global economic crisis.

And as the industry continues to recover from the doldrums of 2009, customers will increasingly be seeing ad campaigns to support these collections. While many houses—Prada, Bottega Veneta and Donna Karan included—did resort-specific advertising in 2008, the numbers logically dropped off afterward. Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors are the rare brands that have been consistent in this arena. De la Renta’s Bolen says, “I would say for us, it’s coming very soon.” Considering that the company sells more units of resort than of any of its four deliveries, it’s likely very, very soon. As Kors sums up, “This is when people are in stores. Treating [resort] as a stepchild in any way whether it’s advertising, design or even quantity is foolish.”

WWD: Julie Macklowe as Fashion Backer

WWD | EVAN CLARK

NEW YORK — Julie Macklowe has moved beyond the red carpet to the boardroom.

The hedge fund ex-pat and semireluctant socialite has returned to her family’s garmento roots, so to speak, and embarked on a new career as a fashion backer with a hands-on approach.

Online jewelry startup BaubleBar, her first investment, launches Thursday and marks the start of phase two of her fashion career. Macklowe has a board seat and is helping the company, founded by two recent Harvard Business School graduates, get off the ground. Accel Partners, a venture capital firm, is also investing in BaubleBar, although the size of the infusion has not been disclosed.

Macklowe is working on another startup she plans to run and hinted that “there are at least two apparel companies I’m looking at,” although she favors the fatter gross margins in the cosmetics, accessories and handbag sectors.

Macklowe, née Lerner, is something of a rarity in fashion. The granddaughter of a polyester king is well connected in New York’s social and fashion circles and is a familiar face on the party circuit. She counts Jason Wu as a friend and accompanied Calvin Klein’s Francisco Costa to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund event last month. But she is also fluent in the language of business, having spent 12 years in finance, which culminated in a $250 million Millennium Management-backed hedge fund launched under her own name in early 2009 and shuttered in October.

Now she’s taking her own money and using her contacts and the strategic and management skills she picked up in the private equity world to invest in the changing fashion landscape.

Macklowe said the current crop of young designers are just starting to spread their wings, like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren in the Eighties. Many of these brands are looking for cash to expand, and seeking management expertise to take them to the next level.

“You’re going to see some really cool designers who make it big,” she predicted over tea at the Four Seasons in New York recently.

At first glance, it would be easy to underestimate Macklowe as more of a consumer of designer apparel than serious investor in brands. At 32, she is fit, blond, ready to smile and, for better or worse, sartorially adventurous. She’s just as likely to wear a Balenciaga blazer as leather pants for meetings, and strays to whatever strikes her fancy on the way to the numerous red carpets she walks down.

“She’s not afraid to take a fashion risk,” said Wu, describing her style as “very feminine.” Wu and Macklowe met through mutual friends and have no business relationship.

“Usually when we go out, she’s the one that orders the whiskey and I’m the one that orders the Champagne,” he said. “She’s the gutsy one, yet she’s wearing six-inch heels. It sort of balances out her personality. She’s just a lot of fun.”

But she’s also very direct and, in conversation, can talk as knowledgeably about the high unemployment rate as she can about Coco Chanel’s impact on how women dress.

Although she could easily spend her days on the party circuit, Macklowe is almost an antisocialite. “I’m doing things that are important to me,” she said. “I’m not running to go to every party.” She’s involved with New Yorkers for Children and The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

“I don’t know what it means honestly, I don’t know who coined ‘socialite,’” she said. “It’s really a bizarre term if you think about it. I don’t know. What is a socialite?”

In many ways, she’s an example of a new species of fashion investor.

“Where it used to be traditional bankers or hedge funds that were interested in investing, we’re now seeing people that are directly connected, whether it be angel investors or others,” said Robert Burke Jr., president and chief executive officer of Robert Burke Associates, who counts Macklowe as a former client and a friend. “It’s all more opportunity for the designer.”

Burke said Macklowe has the business acumen to follow through and help grow the companies in which she invests. “The biggest challenge today is that investors for maybe ego reasons, for self-promotion, invest in fashion and then realize that it’s a much more complex business,” he said. “It’s a sexy business to invest in. It’s not always such a sexy business to maintain and grow."

The fashion, business and consumer stars are going to have to align if Macklowe is going to back the next big name or get in on the next hot trend.

“You could be speaking with one of these companies for years,” she said. “It might just not be a time when they need money. And you need luck.”

So far, Macklowe has been pretty good at making her own luck. In just three years, she earned two bachelors degrees from the University of Virginia and a better-than-3.9 grade point average.

Jeffrey Walker, former ceo of J.P. Morgan Partners, hired her out of school in 2000 to work at what was then Chase Capital Partners. “She was unique because she was willing to take a risk,” he said, noting that Macklowe challenged hedge fund pioneer Julian Robertson when he came to speak at one of her classes.

“Here’s someone who was 20, who was going toe-to-toe, and Julian thought she was great because of that,” Walker said.

“It’s very easy to sit in one place,” Macklowe said. At Chase she shuttled between Seoul and Hong Kong weekly and squeezed in naps between meetings as she, at times, logged 22-hour workdays helping to structure leveraged buyouts.

“It’s very uncomfortable to put yourself in a place where you know no one on the other side of the world,” she said. “And I think it makes you a better investor and judge of businesses and character and people to put yourself in an environment where you are not necessarily comfortable.”

In 2002, she moved to New York and started working as an analyst at Metropolitan Capital Advisors.

“She was a moneymaker,” said Karen Finerman, president of Metropolitan, where Macklowe focused on retail. “She just seemed to have a combination of an interest and an aptitude for that space. She has a good sense of risk management, when it’s not working, when to get out. That’s very important.”

A colleague set her up on a blind date with Billy Macklowe, son of Manhattan real estate giant Harry Macklowe. The two have been together ever since.

Yet while she may have married well, she didn’t settle into an easy life. She joined investment firm SAC in 2006 and her profile in the fashion world grew as she invested in the retail and consumer market. She was eager to explore every new brand and retail concept in the sector, regularly making the rounds of conferences and openings to gain an investing edge.

“She’s a very savvy investor,” said Joe Gromek, president and ceo of The Warnaco Group Inc. “She does her homework. She has fun following the business and she appreciates the fashion side of it. She can see how a company is performing.”

But Macklowe yearned for a more hands-on approach.

“I wanted to feel passion about what I was doing and really work with companies in a more active role, which is hard to do while you’re buying and selling stocks,” she said, noting markets are being driven by investor psychology. “There’s a lot of super-irrational moves in the short term because of the sentiment and people. After everyone’s come out of such a hard time, no one knows exactly what to think of anything.”

Stepping back from the markets also afforded Macklowe more time with her three-year-old daughter.

“Nothing to me is better than taking Zoe to drop-off in the morning and watching the three-year-olds with their oversize backpacks running down the hall, excited to get to class,” she said.

Macklowe’s introduction to the fashion business began when she was near her daughter’s age.

Her great grandfather, Frank Lerner, came to New York from Russia in the early part of the last century and worked in the garment district.

On days when school was out, his son, Harold, was enlisted to help him carry his sewing machine to factories, according to Macklowe’s uncle, Michael Lerner, former chairman of Marisa Christina Inc.

But Harold nonetheless got a feel for the business and after World War II took the T-shirt firm his father developed and turned it into the women’s sportswear brand Fire Islander, which specialized in double-knit polyester in the Seventies and Eighties. At its peak the company had a very respectable volume of about $75 million and factories in what is now DUMBO in Brooklyn and in Bayonne, N.J.

“Some of my earliest memories are of walking the floors with people sewing and patternmaking,” Macklowe remembered fondly.

“I don’t know if it’s in the blood,” her uncle said. “But she’s always been fashion conscious. Hopefully some of that springs from her interaction with our designers.”

WWD: Footwear News Person of the Year: Christian Louboutin

WWD | ELISE ANNISS

He is unstoppable.

Even in a year when high-end retail struggled to recover, Christian Louboutin’s signature glamour was the force to be reckoned with. His unique grasp of luxury consumers of all ages was never more obvious than in 2010. While other designers were forced to cut staff and reduce their retail footprints, Louboutin expanded his red-soled empire across the globe.

The Footwear News Person of the Year raised the bar at a critical time in the luxury category, and the efforts have clearly paid off.

“Never has a red sole meant so much,” said Robert Burke, head of New York-based consulting firm Robert Burke Associates.

“It’s been Louboutin’s year for a couple of years now,” added Ron Frasch, Saks Fifth Avenue president and chief merchandising officer. “He’s become the king of the category.”

The designer himself admits that 2010 marked an important year of transition, when the brand went truly global with store expansion and new distribution. “The reality is that I now have a COO who is really organizing everything, and that definitely makes a difference,” Louboutin told FN. “But at the end of the day, it’s because the shoes are selling.”

In the last 11 months, the designer opened 12 stores in cities including Beirut, Dallas, Dubai, Jeddah, Madrid and Tokyo. According to COO and GM Alexis Mourot, the company saw double-digit growth this year, and retail sales exceeded $250 million for the year ending August 2010.

Despite his super-stardom, Louboutin remains humble, unconcerned about money and the trappings of fame. “I do what I do because I love it. I’m not doing it to make money,” said the designer over a breakfast of buttered crumpets and English Breakfast tea in London last month. “It has ended up being a [successful] company, and I’m not going to say it isn’t pleasant to make a living from your work, but my goal has always been to design pretty shoes and to see them on people who like them.”

No one likes Louboutin more than the luxury retailers who have cashed in on his fame. Even during the recession’s darkest days, the success of the brand left them thirsting for more of it.

“Christian’s red soles are a stroke of genius and the icing on the most delicious gateaux,” said Jonathan Joselove, SVP and GMM at Neiman Marcus. “His talent and his shoes have delighted us for years. Most important, his shoes have thrilled our customers, season after season.”

At Saks Fifth Avenue last month, 8,000 consumers voted his Maralena shoe the year’s sexiest in a contest sponsored by the department store and FN.

“He stands apart because of his innovation in design and originality with use of materials,” said Tracy Margolies, VP and DMM of women’s footwear for Saks.

While he’s been making some serious noise for the past several years, Louboutin built his business quietly for the first decade. He opened his first flagship Paris store in 1992. Early on, in New York, he showed his shoes above Diane von Furstenberg’s studio on 12th Street, and she has since become a mentor.

“My second career and his first started at the same time,” said von Furstenberg. “Christian is like my younger brother. We talk, we travel together, we have the same partners in places like Russia, we are friends and soul mates and I adore him. He is talented, incredibly smart and curious and also competitive. His success is no accident: He has clarity and is talented and intelligent.”

For his part, Louboutin credits von Furstenberg with helping him develop his brand’s direction. “She’s very specific on shoes,” he said. “She gave me very important advice: She told me I should always have classics. I was always changing the collection and never thought about classics that go back to previous collections. She was the one to say, ‘You have to do classics. You have them, why do you get rid of them?’”

It was with the addition of Louboutin’s second New York store, at 59 Horatio St. in November 2004, that his U.S business really took off. In an interview with FN in 2005, Louboutin said the shop gave him greater exposure to a younger, hipper customer.

The store locations reflect Louboutin’s long-held interest in far-flung places. As a boy in France, he would pick up brochures and books from a nearby travel agency and plan imaginary trips. Now, his genuine enthusiasm for people and places has made the designer a big hit with his international accounts.

“He always manages to take time to explore, is very familiar with parts of China and Indonesia and has made great friends in these places,” said Peter Harris, president of Pedder Group.

“The fact that he has fun shows up in his shoes,” said Erin Mullaney, buying director at Browns in London. “There’s a sense of playfulness in the collection. Also, unlike some other designers, he is happy to be the face of the brand and enjoys it.”

But you won’t find Louboutin clamoring for the spotlight.

“The type of celebrity I am — if you can call it celebrity — is perfectly easy [to live with],” he said. “When people refer to your name, it is totally different [than recognizing me]. I would really have a hard time having the kind of celebrity that actors do, where people are stopping you all the time. It’s not about me; it’s about the shoes.”

That mindset has only increased his appeal in Hollywood.

“There is no one like him,” said Gwyneth Paltrow. “His shoes are playful, sexy and full of joy.”

And though he doesn’t go out of his way to court the famous, Louboutin considers his popularity to be extremely rewarding. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that with all the choices in the world, celebrities still choose my shoes,” he said. “Shoes are objects of desire. I’m not going to throw tons of shoes at someone so that they’ll wear them. [The desire] has to come from the person.”

So what does the future hold for the designer? On that topic he is non-committal: “There may be a moment when I get fed up and want to try something else, which I can completely conceive. My impulses are very important to me. I never say no forever, but I never think that a yes is forever either.”

WSJ: In Bloom: Miu Miu Comes of Age

WALL STREET JOURNAL | CHRISTINA PASSARIELLO

Miu Miu, the little sister to Italian fashion house Prada, has grown up.

After living in Prada's shadow for years, the label is finding that its moves to carve out an independent identity have paid off, catapulting Miu Miu into the top league of Europe's fashion scene. Sales at Miu Miu, which unveils its spring/summer 2011 collection Wednesday in its largest venue yet, have more than doubled in the past four years.

Prada designer Miuccia Prada founded the label, which takes its name from her nickname, in 1993. Four years ago, Miu Miu decamped from Milan to Paris to stage its biannual fashion show, creating a new showcase for its distinct style. Its frills and glitz presented a sharp contrast with Prada's minimalism.

"It's feminine and sexy but modern too," wrote Lorraine Candy, editor-in-chief of Elle fashion magazine's U.K. edition, which together with three other fashion magazines put the same Miu Miu look—a dress with flowers on the straps and a bow across the front—on their August cover pages.

Miu Miu's revamp is important to the future of Prada SpA, which owns shoe brands Car Shoe and Church's in addition to Miu Miu and Prada. Prada's owners—Ms. Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli, who is chief executive—hope to list Prada on the stock market in the coming years. Analysts say the group would make a more compelling investment if it didn't rely only on the Prada label for nearly all of its sales growth. Of the company's $1.3 billion in first-half sales, $220 million was generated by Miu Miu, which grew 40% during the period.

For three decades, many fashion houses have created less-expensive versions of their main collections as a way to expand their businesses. Giorgio Armani launched Emporio Armani and Armani Collezioni for consumers who couldn't afford the high price tags of his main line. Dolce & Gabbana created D&G as a younger and edgier variation of the original brand. Just Cavalli is the younger sibling of the Roberto Cavalli brand.

Prada has tried to do something different with Miu Miu. Though the brand is designed by Ms. Prada, the company's executives have gone to great lengths to fight the perception that Miu Miu is simply a more wearable and affordable spin-off of its bigger sister brand.

Miu Miu's inaugural Paris runway show in 2006 featured clothes in expensive fabrics and elaborate techniques, such as hand-painted brocades and printed silks. Provocatively flirty skirts replaced the simple shift dresses and dowdy sweaters that Ms. Prada had previously designed for Miu Miu. For the brand's debut Paris show, Ms. Prada brought tailors with her from Italy to Paris to put the final touches on the ensembles. Trendier than Prada, the label is popular among celebrities, such as Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley.

While Miu Miu still generally costs less than the Prada label, in recent years, the company has pushed Miu Miu's prices high. A pair of cream and black patent pumps sell for $650, compared with $550 for Prada's classic black heels.

"Miu Miu and Prada do not cannibalize each other. They are friendly competitors," said Prada Chief Operating Officer Sebastian Suhl in a recent interview. When a Miu Miu store opens near a Prada store, Prada's sales don't suffer, Mr. Suhl said.

Robert Burke, a luxury-goods industry consultant, says that Miu Miu's recent success has also been helped by a change in consumers' dressing habits. Years ago, when consumers dressed head-to-toe in one designer label, cheaper, secondary lines allowed consumers who couldn't afford a top designer line to still buy into a designer's look. "Today people don't shop that way. They are just as happy to shop across different categories and brands," Mr. Burke says.

Miu Miu has also revamped its Milan flagship store in damask and rich colors—a change from a more minimalist concrete look—and has redecorated a network of 75 boutiques around the world.

Mr. Suhl said that he wants Miu Miu to be sold only in U.S. department stores that will give the brand its own in-store boutique, rather than putting it out on the floor with other brands. It is rolling out more in-store boutiques in U.S. department stores. It has long had its own boutique at Bergdorf Goodman and plans to open one at Bloomingdale's this month. Next year, Miu Miu will have 20 such "shop-in-shops" in U.S. department stores, displaying a full array of clothing, shoes and bags.

WWD: Masstige Gains Power

WWD | MILES SOCHA

PARIS — The idea that expensive, designer fashions are the most desirable seems so last-millennium.

More and more marquee designers are applying their creativity to lower-priced apparel on a temporary or full-time basis, with Karl Lagerfeld the latest to join the masstige movement.

“Fendi and Chanel are so established, you cannot compete with them,” said Lagerfeld, who last month unveiled plans to shift the focus of his signature ready-to-wear line to access-pricing — and online selling — starting next fall. “You can’t dance at three parties the same evening.”

And in Lagerfeld’s estimation, the masstige party — which he really got going in 2004 when he teamed up with Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M on a one-time collaboration — is the one to be at today.

“I think it’s the only modern way to do it,” Lagerfeld told WWD. “We live in the age of jeans.

“It’s funny for a person who has money to buy something inexpensive and it’s great for a person with not so much money to be able to get something by a designer,” he continued. “It’s the new snobbism.”

Designers, executives and other observers agreed, saying the democratization of design, weakened spending power and shifting consumer preferences are giving lower-priced “designer” fashions a higher industry profile — and a bright future.

“It’s no secret that the designer and high-end market has become crowded in this economy, and people are looking at new ways of doing business,” said Robert Burke, head of the New York-based Robert Burke Associates consulting firm. “The old rules of defining the consumer and defining the price point — and the idea that you can play in only one category — are passé.”

Indeed, designer-led projects in lower-price categories continue to multiply, from Olivier Theyskens’ new contemporary range for Theory and Stella McCartney’s just-revealed partnership with PPR’s La Redoute on an affordable children’s wear collection to Lanvin’s forthcoming one-off line — from evening dresses to lipstick — for H&M.

What’s most intriguing are designers shifting permanently downstream, as Jil Sander did last year when she joined Japanese fashion giant Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. and launched her new +J brand for its flagship Uniqlo chain.

“Today, we are in a different phase of fashion history,” Sander said. “I took part in the transformation of fashion from a couture craft into a contemporary industry. We are much better equipped to realize quality on a much larger scale.

“To me, luxury has nothing to do with high prices, but a lot with enlightened taste and the possibility to be in step with your age, to feel at ease in your body, and to project a confident image of yourself,” she continued.

According to Jean-Jacques Picart, a Paris-based industry consultant, big-name designers cannot ignore a strong, worldwide trend toward more eclectic dressing, with lower-priced elements a key ingredient.

“A modern girl doesn’t hesitate today to mix quite expensive clothes and affordable-priced pieces: say, shoes by Christian Louboutin, a skirt by Diane von Furstenberg, a T-shirt from H&M, a vintage handbag and a belt she bought at a market in Istanbul,” he said. “What Karl did with H&M pushed up to the top level of prestige any co-branding between big names and popular names.”

Concetta Lanciaux, principal of Switzerland-based Strategy Luxury Advisors, also ties the rise in masstige — accessibly priced products with some prestige elements — to economic factors, principally a “sharp decrease in standards of living that has hit the mainstream middle class who used to buy entry-level luxury products or second lines.”

Changing tastes play a role, too. “The new generation is much more fashionable than the jeans-and-T-shirt Generation X-ers born after the Seventies that loved Gap — the antidesign, accessible brand,” Lanciaux said. “For those born after the Eighties, looking fashionable in a personal way is cool, and they mix and match styles to achieve a more adult look while adults dress generally younger.”

Lanciaux said celebrity lines, mostly accessibly priced, have “given a new impulse to this trend,” while Gap is morphing into a more design-driven brand, evident in collaborations with young American designers and, coming in November, a capsule collection by Valentino available in Europe only.'

Burke highlighted the popularity of Target’s tie-ups with designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Zac Posen, Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui, Rodarte and Jean Paul Gaultier. Designer names “speak to the consumer” more than a “nameless, faceless masstige brand,” he said.

In a recent report, Bernstein Research analyst Luca Solca asserted that mass retailers like Inditex, parent of the Zara chain, and H&M are changing the apparel industry from the ground up. “Their short design-to-market lead times, compelling fashion content and superior scale are allowing them to gain market share across the world and push traditional apparel retailers aside.…Even high-end designer fashion is feeling the pressure,” Solca wrote.

“The customer is clever,” added Margareta van den Bosch, creative adviser at H&M and the former head of design who launched its annual designer collaborations with Lagerfeld, subsequently teaming up with Viktor & Rolf, Jimmy Choo, Sonia Rykiel and others. “He or she wants the best of all things, and mixes and matches from all different kinds of offerings and brands. It’s something that we encourage: Fashion should be about finding new ways to express yourself, at a reasonable cost.”

Van den Bosch said consumer interest remains high in the retailer’s designer collaborations, helping the fast-fashion giant widen its reach.

“Since we started doing collaborations, we have seen new types of customers that normally did not shop at H&M. For example, Comme des Garçons attracts a different type of customer than Roberto Cavalli,” she said. “And from what we can see, we have also kept them.”

Colette, the ultrahip Paris boutique, has also been a hot spot for launching and popularizing masstige products — an Azzaro range for cataloguer La Redoute being the most recent on the floor last month — amidst the crème de la crème of designer creations.

“Our philosophy is to introduce anything we like, so it can go from a luxury brand to a special mass market collection we would get in advance,” explained Sarah Lerfel, Colette’s creative director and buyer. “For sure it opens our door to many customers who are usually not coming to our boutique, so that’s positive. The downside would be the mess it can generate, but that’s a positive mess, too!”

Lerfel said the accelerating speed of trends, no doubt fuelled by the quick-turn fast-fashion players, means “you always want something new, but with quality and a good price to update your wardrobe fast.”

Christian Lacroix — now focused on stage costumes and industrial design projects since his couture and ready-to-wear house was shuttered last year — said the financial crisis and exaggerated runway styles have undermined the appeal of designer fashions in recent years.

Meanwhile, “real people found their own style tricks and pleasure through eBay, low-priced shops, vintage and secondhand, Internet, flea markets or all these chains such as Zara, H&M etc., which are so clever interpreting runway styles into more edible products,” he said. “That’s why designers are more and more attracted by lower-priced products if they don’t want to lose the connection with their audience.”

In Lacroix’s estimation, there’s an “enormous space for these lesser-priced lines — if they are right and connected with street desires. And this space is stolen from deluxe fields.”

Said the consultant Burke: “If you can offer good design at a great value, you get a customer. It’s that simple.”

Most observers agreed that high-end designers can dabble in masstige without risk, so long as the latter projects are not overexposed or too derivative of their high-end offerings. Burke mentioned Vera Wang as a good example since her Simply Vera Vera Wang line at Kohl’s has not hampered her draw as a go-to, luxury bridal designer, as Chelsea Clinton’s July nuptials attested.

Lanciaux warned that while embracing masstige “would mean slow death for a luxury brand, it becomes particularly interesting for clever designers and marketers capable of offering design, functionality and a decent quality at a low price. In a way, it could replace the income from licenses and secondary lines.”

Alber Elbaz, creative director at Lanvin, said he had initially spurned invitations from H&M to collaborate, but he was ultimately seduced by the “democratic” nature of the project.

“We thought it was a very relevant move. High-street fashion is really becoming stronger and more important,” he said. “We were always doing high fashion and I thought it would be interesting to understand this market.”

“The business requires innovation and evolution,” agreed Andrew Rosen, president and co-ceo of Link Theory Holdings (U.S.) Inc., which just launched the Theyskens’ Theory collection by the former designer of Nina Ricci and Rochas, someone famous for couture-like creations with nosebleed prices. While the new Theory line is hardly mass, and is described as “high contemporary,” it is more democratic.

“I think designers are very forward and innovative thinkers. Clearly their reach can be much more than at the luxury end,” Rosen said. “I don’t think clothes have to be expensive to have value.

“You don’t get to be Jil Sander, Karl [Lagerfeld] or Olivier [Theyskens] if you don’t have a special point of view,” he continued. “And if you have a point of view, it’s relevant at any price or in any category. At the end of the day, I don’t think someone is going to buy an Olivier Theyskens jacket because they can get it for $600. They’re buying it because it’s really special.”

McCartney, who rose to fashion fame as the designer of Chloé, launched her brand as a joint venture with Gucci Group in 2001, and her accessibly priced forays have included a one-time collaboration with H&M in 2005 and her ongoing partnership with Adidas.

“I don’t really believe in elitism for the sake of it,” said McCartney. “I think it’s really important and modern and contemporary if you can make clothes that are affordable and accessible, but with still a great quality attached to them and timelessness.

“I think our brand isn’t snobbish and that’s why we started looking into this early on,” she explained. “It comes very natural to us.…We are a brand that can appeal to many different demographics of people, and so we’re interested in playing on that and testing that and pushing that within the brand.”

While most designer forays into lower-price zones have centered on women’s apparel, observers agree other categories, such as men’s wear, could be further developed.

“There is a strong tendency toward a less frivolous lifestyle. You find people of style on all levels of income: quality and attractiveness wins over snobbism,” noted Sander. “I see many possibilities in my cooperation with Uniqlo. I am very interested in accessories, and I would also consider doing optics, fragrances, homewares and even watches. I guess I would draw the line at jewelry.”

In Lanciaux’s estimation, accessible products with a designer edge will remain “a valuable choice for consumers formerly buying secondary lines and mass” as long as this slow-growth economic cycle lasts.

“But nothing is eternal,” she said. “In a new economic cycle, the same consumers will be buying higher because the aspiration to luxury — of which quality is a key element — is definitively stamped in the DNA of the new generations.”

FINANCIAL TIMES: Fur fervour

FINANCIAL TIMES | LUCIE GREENE

It is the most contentious item of clothing on the catwalk, found on everything from shoes to coats to chain necklaces. Fur is back.

According to the Fur Information Council of America, fur appears in 20 per cent more of the autumn/winter catwalk collections this year than last. At Oscar de la Renta, coats were trimmed with fox; at Lanvin, black cropped jackets were adorned with shaggy fox collars; Carlos Miele showed cropped fox jackets and swing astrakhan (Persian lamb) coats; at Helmut Lang there were grey rabbit gilets; Jean Paul Gaultier introduced black coats with mink; while Fendi had coats, shawls and gilets in fox, mink and shearling.

Torben Nielson, chief executive of Kopenhagen Fur, a Danish fur auction house, says prices of fur have doubled on last year, with mink and Persian lamb in particular selling fast. “China and Russia are exploding: China accounts for more than half our business,” he says. “Half of [the fur] is consumed in China, and half is used by Chinese furriers to produce pieces for luxury brands.”

Celebrities are wearing fur more often, too, irrespective of milder winters or protesters from People for the Equal Treatment of Animals (Peta). Last week, Kate Moss emerged from dinner at The Ivy restaurant in London wearing a shaggy fur gilet; days later Love magazine editor Katie Grand was photographed in a bold white fur piece from Louis Vuitton.

Robert Burke, a New York-based luxury consultant, says the reason for fur’s popularity is its newfound modernity. “It’s no longer about the old fur coat department. Fashion designers are putting their stamp on pieces now.”

And it is not only the established guard who are using fur but also younger designers such as Thakoon and Zac Posen. Thakoon has worked fox, mink and raccoon patches into jackets, Posen striped fox fur into multicoloured coats.

Brix Smith Start, owner of Start London boutiques, believes the ascendance of fur is partly a result of the economy, with consumers wanting investment pieces and “tangible luxury”. It has even emerged on accessories: Manolo Blahnik’s high-heel booties are trimmed in chinchilla; Céline’s satin open-toe mules with rabbit-fur lining; and Louis Vuitton’s chain-link necklaces are interspersed with fur.

Fur’s increased prevalence, however, is still a divisive issue for retailers and consumers alike. That’s why fur associations have been striving to transform its image. Saga furs, a body representing 3,000 breeders in Finland and Norway, has worked with young fashion designers for 10 years, sponsoring shows and providing free samples in order to give fur a fashion edge and reach younger audiences.

“Young people are buying fur now, and they’re more educated about where it comes from,” says Diane Benedetti, vice-president of advertising and promotion at North American Fur Auctions. “We’ve worked with environmental conservationists; the industry is heavily regulated. We’ve also tried to communicate our ethical practices much more. People are embracing fur again because of that. They’re seeing it more for it’s environmental benefits. Buying fur is better than buying a polyester jacket you’ll throw away the next minute, and will take 30 years to biodegrade. It’s the opposite of disposable.”

But many designers, including Miu Miu, Chanel and Nina Ricci, have rejected real fur and tried to create a similar luxurious effect with high-quality faux fur. Sarah Curran, founder and chief executive of retail website My-wardrobe.com, says, “We’ve seen an increase in extremely high-quality faux fur, which has featured heavily in the collections of designers such as Jaeger London, Sportmax, See by Chloé and Love Moschino. Around 35 per cent of our coat buy this season includes faux fur.”

Ed Burstell, buying director at Liberty, in London, concurs. “The quality of faux fur has improved so much,” he says, adding that the store had tripled its buy of faux fur pieces from last autumn. “Before it had the reputation for looking cheap, but now you can hardly tell the difference.”

Burstell notes, however, that there is still resistance among consumers to paying the same price as for the real thing. “People don’t realise that it actually works in reverse with faux fur. The process of making really great faux fur is actually more expensive than buying real fur.”

WSJ: McQueen Moves On to a New Season

WALL STREET JOURNAL | PAUL SONNE

LONDON—As the fashion elite filed into St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday to memorialize British designer Lee Alexander McQueen, the company he left behind is on the brink of making its first crucial trip down the women's catwalk without him.

The late Mr. McQueen, who built his label into one of the world's most daring fashion names, committed suicide last February. Four months ago longtime deputy Sarah Burton took over as creative chief of the London-based Alexander McQueen label, a small but symbolic part of PPR SA's Gucci Group.

Now, as Ms. Burton gears up to unveil her first full women's wear collection in Paris on Oct. 5, the label faces a tough question: What does it mean to be Alexander McQueen without Alexander McQueen?

The strategic challenge highlights a longstanding problem in the fashion industry, where it's difficult to replace high-profile designers who become indivisible from their eponymous brands.

Mr. McQueen's shows were highly produced feats of shock and awe. In an address during the service on Monday, fashion columnist Suzy Menkes called his trademark 2009 armadillo shoes "some of the most chillingly misogynist footwear we have ever seen on the runway." His 1995 collection, "Highland Rape," which featured strutting nudity and ripped Tartan dresses, symbolized what he called the rape of Scotland by the British.

"I had no doubt, and nor did he, that he was an artist who just happened to work with clothing," said Ms. Menkes. "Above all, we all understood that Lee's work was deeply personal."

Gucci Group must now make the label stand on its own, apart from the personality that made it. Whether that means continuing the tradition of such scandalous designs is unclear.

"The creation of modern beautifully crafted clothes was at the heart of Lee's vision. I intend to stay true to his legacy," Ms. Burton said in a statement released by Gucci Group in May, her only public comment on the matter.

Having worked under Mr. McQueen for 14 years, most recently as head of design for women's wear, she is well-placed to understand his vision. Like Mr. McQueen, she was born in Britain and trained at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She joined his label before she graduated. But as a chief designer, she remains an unknown quantity. Gucci Group declined to make Ms. Burton available for an interview.

Gucci Group, which acquired a majority stake in Alexander McQueen in 2000, has said it is committed to keeping the McQueen business alive, but the fledgling label has lost money for years, breaking even for the first time in 2007. Ms. Burton has to carve out an artistic vision that is her own, but she also must design clothes that can help lift the business out of its start-up phase.

That could be a strong point for the new chief designer: Much of her job at Alexander McQueen entailed boiling down the designer's catwalk creations into products that would be sellable on store shelves.

One possible avenue for the company is to focus on growing its secondary label, McQ, and developing new and existing licensing contracts for things like perfume and sunglasses.

When it comes to his appeal on the runway, "I don't think anyone will be able to keep up with McQueen," said fashion consultant Robert Burke, president and CEO of Robert Burke Associates. "I think it would probably be best to not try to compete with that." But he added: "Keeping consistency with the brand is really important. Any kind of major departure would not be good."

Though the McQueen label has received recognition and publicity in the wake of Mr. McQueen's death, Antoine Belge, a luxury-goods analyst at HSBC, said the company should be wary of trying to grow the brand into a huge phenomenon.

"Gucci Group should try to make it a bit more sizable whilst maintaining its 'niche' positioning," Mr. Belge said. "This is never easy for a brand to do this, since it will require it to launch products accessible to a broader audience without alienating the core clientele."

Some labels have successfully replaced icons. One example is Calvin Klein: After the designer sold his fashion empire to private-equity firm Phillips-Van Heusen PVH -1.18%in 2003, his longtime protégé Francisco Costa took over creative duties and has received significant acclaim.

But it has often been more difficult. Gianni Versace SpA, for instance, suffered for years after its founder was murdered in Miami, until Donatella Versace managed to replace her brother as a guiding artistic force behind the label.

WWD: Lincoln Center Gets an 'A'

WWD | ROSEMARY FEITELBERG & MARC KARIMZADEH

New York Fashion Week’s move to Lincoln Center earned generally favorable marks from designers and retailers, although the packed schedule and its hither-and-yon schedule drew complaints from many buyers.

“Lincoln Center was a triumph,” said Carolina Herrera. “The way it was constructed, the entrance, and the outside gardens, it was all fantastic.”

Mark Badgley said, “It just felt like New York. It was good for fashion, good for designers and good for the city. I know the first time is always a novelty but all the people we invited — socialites, celebrities and industry — they were really into it.”

Isaac Mizrahi was another fan of the uptown digs. “There was something elegant about it and I think it was a little more organized than Bryant Park. Also, somehow it felt less anxiety-provoking by not being in the center of town.”

Pleased as he was, the designer is not committing to a second consecutive season just yet. “I may show there again next season, but I can’t be sure because I like to change things a little from time to time,” he said. “I would definitely show there again in the future.”

Lela Rose was also at ease with how everything worked out for her Sept. 12 show and to have fashion showcased in a hub for the arts. However, she did hear “a few grumblings about the GPS system for seating, but I suspect all kinks will be worked out by next season.”

Prabal Gurung was also high on the location’s cultural significance. “The magnitude of the place itself, the buildings, what it represents historically…you don’t feel it until you go there,” Gurung said. “It’s a perfect home for fashion. There was this incredible energy. It was easy to navigate and to find, traveling back and forth was easier also. There weren’t any crazy traffic jams. I think it worked out perfectly.”

While the new check-in system for guests was lauded by many, some thought the check-in desks, screens to direct people to the right venue, and little white printouts with seating information were reminiscent of airport terminals — environments usually lesser known for high-fashion statements.

“It’s like being on Jet Blue,” Marjorie Gubelmann said. “I love it.”

Robert Burke said he started the show season feeling “very skeptical,” but thought the set-up was “well organized,” especially the check-in system. In addition, the layout resulted in “less riffraff looking on than usual,” he said.

Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director of Neiman Marcus, pointed to the mall’s outdoor plaza as a welcome extra. “There is some room to maneuver and breathe, and gather yourself and your team,” he said. “Now, if we could only get the schedule to be less uptown, downtown…it would be very helpful if there is an attempt to schedule blocks of shows in one part of the town. Think of how much more ecologically correct we would be.”

It was a common complaint about store buyers, who felt they spent a large part of the week in taxis or Town Cars shuttling from one end of Manhattan to the other. “I thought Lincoln Center worked,” said Nicole Fischelis, group vice president and fashion director of Macy’s Inc. “What didn’t work is that there are still too many collections all over the city.”

Barbara Atkins, vice president and creative director of Holt Renfrew, was even more vocal. “The venue felt very spacious, but it wasn’t very convenient for buyers. We’re all over the city, running to see showrooms in between shows. It seems that fewer designers were showing at Lincoln Center. Most were downtown. The travel was very difficult. It felt like a trade show.”

Overall, though, buyers were pleased with the new locale, as summed up by Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo, who gave it a two thumbs-up. “If I had four, five or six hands, the thumbs would all go up,” she said. “It’s efficient. We underestimate how when things are well organized, it relieves stress. Fashion week is stressful enough.”

WSJ: An Established Designer With the Eye of an Upstart

WALL STREET JOURNAL | CHRISTINA BINKLEY

Among the fashion deities and style editors seated at the Thakoon show this week was a besuited gentleman dressed more for the United Nations than New York Fashion Week: Piriya Khempon, the consul-general of Thailand.

"He is like an icon" in Thailand, said Mr. Khempon of designer Thakoon Panichgul. The diplomat appeared in the sea of fashionistas because, he said, Mr. Panichgul could be a diplomatic and economic boost to the country where he was born.

That might sound like a tall order for a 35-year-old designer who is most widely known for the red-and-black dress worn by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. But Mr. Panichgul is proving to be a rare sort of designer—one with enough business savvy to have hired a sales staff even before pattern-makers and seamstresses when he started his label six years ago.

For a season or two after his burst of Obama-related fame, Mr. Panichgul seemed to use Mrs. Obama as his muse, and his collections appeared aimed at one high-profile customer who wears a lot of nice dresses.

This week in New York, though, the designer went in an entirely different direction. Opening looks in the collection were white, and tailored—including a stunning double-breasted suit. White was Mr. Panichgul's response to the camel colors being so heavily promoted for fall. "I've been sick of camel for the past year," he said in his studio a few weeks before this show. His dog Stevie, a tiny Yorkie-Chihuahua mix, was yapping around his ankles.

The collection moved on to sexier looks and juxtaposed girlish white cotton eyelet with vampy hook-and-eye enclosures that in some cases ran the length of the garment. That's the sort of thing that has earned the Thakoon label critical praise—its familiar and flattering silhouettes sparked up by unexpected or daring finishing details.

"I'm not an artist, I'm a designer," said Mr. Panichgul. "Designers are supposed to look at culture and solve problems."

These days, Mr. Panichgul is competing for adoration with newer, younger designers such as Prabal Gurung and Joseph Altuzarra. At a time when retailers are chasing the newest thing every season, he is neither the latest flavor nor the famous-as-Kleenex likes of Ralph Lauren or Michael Kors.

Mr. Panichgul works from a studio in New York's SoHo neighborhood, with offices cut out for him and his chief executive, Maria Tomei Borromeo. It's so crowded that when a summer intern arrived on her first day this year, Ms. Borromeo said, she looked around and exclaimed, "This is it?"

That's a step up from the meatpacking district garage from which Mr. Panichgul sold his first collection in 2004—10 garments that he made without telling his family for fear they would disapprove of his new career.

"I went to business school because my mom wanted me to take a scholarship. I didn't want to do business, but I was good at it," he said. His mother, a seamstress, brought him and his brother Kritsada from Thailand to Omaha, Neb., as boys. "Asian parents want their kids to be doctors. You feel that pressure," said Mr. Panichgul, who said he is very close to his mother and brother.

Fashion was his hobby. He adored European minimalist designers Helmut Lang and Jil Sander. School was awkward. "I always felt like a mutt. I was born in Thailand, grew up in Bangkok, moved to Omaha at the age of 11 and had to deal with the friends thing—all that."

After graduating from Boston University, he worked a stint in editorial at Harper's Bazaar, where he says he met Chicago boutique owner Ikram Goldman and others who helped him learn the ropes of fashion. He lived frugally and saved money. "Someone told me I lived like a monk," he said. His mother found out he'd quit his job to launch a line when she called Harper's Bazaar two months later and learned he was no longer employed there.

"It was kind of surprising for me and my mom," says Kritsada Panichgul, a food photographer who has worked with celebrity chef and cookbook author Rocco DiSpirito. "I should have known. When we were kids, we would go to the newsstands and he knew exactly when the new [fashion magazine] issues came out. He would get really excited."

Thakoon Panichgul, who said his mother is shy about her English and prefers not to speak with the press, noted that she swallowed her worries about her son's ability to support himself and has been "very supportive." (As usual, his very pleased mother was at this week's show, bowing shyly as she met guests.)

Mr. Panichgul was completely inexperienced that first year. "He didn't know the prices" of his own collection, said Ms. Borromeo, who joined him that season at Ms. Goldman's prompting.

In those early days, Ms. Borromeo said, Mr. Panichgul "would give me his chair and he would sit on an overturned garbage can."

Robert Burke, then an executive with Bergdorf Goodman's, remembered sitting at a folding card table to write up a small order with the first-season designer. "There are a very few designers who you look at and just know they're going somewhere." Mr. Burke called Thakoon well-priced for the luxury segment, with dresses in the $800 range—well under the $1,200 and up that many designers charge.

Ms. Borromeo declined to cite the company's annual revenues, but said this spring's sales were up 63% over last spring. A secondary line was launched last fall called "Thakoon +", which they refer to in the office as "Addition." Addition reaches a broader audience, with prices that run $195 to $1,000, compared with prices starting at $295 and rising to the sky at the main Thakoon line.

"He's a fresh, young, established, seasoned designer, and only today could you use those adjectives altogether," said Mr. Burke, who is now a fashion-business consultant.

NEW YORK TIMES: Introducing Jack Wills

NEW YORK TIMES | KATIE WEISMAN

Most Americans have not heard of Jack Wills, but that is something the British sportswear retailer intends to change.

Pete Williams, the London-based brand’s chief executive and co-founder, opened shops on the resort islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket this summer, and a 4,500-square-foot, or 420-square-meter, store is slated to debut in Boston early next month.

With the U.S. economy still teetering, it would seem like a dicey time for a foreign brand to tackle the U.S. retail market. But for a company like Jack Wills, “which has a very specific approach to a college-age clientele,” the timing should be just fine, says Robert Burke, founder of the luxury and fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates in New York.

“The profile of the customer in these locations fits our brand, which is up market, premium and niche,” Mr. Williams says. “The brand story is all about life while at university, so Boston clearly works as a college town, and the resort towns are where our customer goes on holiday in the summer.”

Mr. Burke notes brands that tightly control their image and their collections, like Ralph Lauren — and Jack Wills — still are seeing sales gains.

For autumn, Jack Wills is stocking women’s wear like tweed riding jackets starting at $379, soft cotton Henley shirts and gathered skirts, while the men’s line ranges from flannel shirts starting at $69 to Fair Isle and fisherman sweaters. It also has home accessories, eyewear, fragrances and limited-edition items like an equestrian jacket selling at $449.

The Wills strategy of opening wholly owned stores also offers “an element of exclusivity,” Mr. Burke says. “If Jack Wills were to be a mall store, it would be much less appealing.” Besides, he adds, the down economy probably means the brand has been able to get the best locations with the lowest rents.

Rose Marie Bravo, the former Burberry executive who is advising the brand, says: “How can they take such a risk? They have a proven success record and have made money doing it this way.”

Last year, turnover at Jack Wills nearly doubled to £42 million, or about $65 million, and 2010 revenues are expected to reach £65 million.

The U.S. expansion has been fueled, in part, by the 2007 purchase of a minority stake in the company by the British private equity firm Inflexion. The investment, an undisclosed sum, also helped introduce the Aubin & Wills collection for customers who “graduate” from Jack Wills and brought Pete Saunders, the former chairman and chief executive at The Body Shop, on board as chairman.

Ms. Bravo describes the Jack Wills strategy as “beguiling and being contrary to all retail and branding principles we have gotten accustomed to.”

Rather than traditional advertising or marketing, the company uses social media to get the word out and has a group of international brand ambassadors it calls “Seasonnaires.”

The team, first deployed at the tony French ski resort of Val D’Isère in 2005, stages special events and gives out free items — like the plastic sunglasses with Jack Wills logos on their fluorescent pink or green arms that were so popular in Martha’s Vineyard this past summer — in exchange for customer information.

Olly Finding, Jack Wills’s international marketing manager, says the Seasonnaires have played a key role in establishing Jack Wills in the right U.S. audience. “When those students get our news via e-mail during the school year, they’ll remember us,” he says.

Rachel Romanowky is one of the Seasonnaires recruited during a 2009 Jack Wills tour at Trinity College in Connecticut, where the 23-year-old is a senior majoring in studio art.

“Trinity is known for being a preppy school, so if students saw the pink and blue Land Rover driving around, passing out free underwear, it immediately piqued interest,” she says.

There are the inevitable comparisons to Abercrombie & Fitch, something the Jack Wills executives loathe — and some industry experts dispute.

“My colleague describes an Abercrombie & Fitch store as ‘teenage angst all bottled up.’ It shows you all the things you aspire to and immediately tells you what you are not,” says Manfred Abraham, the strategy director for the London branding consultancy Interbrand. “Jack Wills is not like that. It invites you to join in the fun.”

BLOOMBERG: At Fashion Week Hemlines Are Up and Down, Just Like Markets

BLOOMBERG | KATYA KAZAKINA

It used to be so simple at fashion shows. When stocks were soaring, skirts rose with them to mini length. When the markets headed down, hemlines dropped to more modest levels.

This year, it’s not so straightforward. Three days into New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, luxury retail consultant Robert Burke was scratching his head trying to find anycorrelation between the runway’s different styles and the economy.

“Hemlines are all over the place, very much like the stock market,” Burke, president of Robert Burke Associates in New York, said in an interview.

In the past month, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped from 1121.06 on Aug. 10 to 1047.22 on Aug. 26, climbing back to 1109.55 on Sept. 10 for its biggest two-week gain since June. The 97 designers presenting Spring 2011 collections this week feature similar ups and downs -- with everything from micro-mini skirts to floor-swooping maxi pieces made with transparent organza and chiffon.

“We are living in a universe where there’s no hemline edict,”Fern Mallis, a fashion industry consultant, said in an interview. “The old adage doesn’t apply any longer.”

Mallis was referring to a maxim known as the “hemline index,” a 1920s theory attributed to the economist George Taylor that suggested a correlation between hemlines and economic growth.

This time around, BCBG Max Azria had some dresses so short that they could have passed for tunics, and others that reached the ankle, clinging to the models’ long-limbed bodies like fancy nightgowns. Meanwhile, designer Prabal Gurungdropped his hemlines below the knee and, on occasion, even below mid-calf.

Higher Hems

In the 20th century, dresses crept up for the first time around 1915, during World War I, said Daniel James Cole, a fashion historian. Around the same time, the U.S. economy expanded for 44 months, starting in December 1914, according to theNational Bureau of Economic Research.

“The hem went up to mid-calf,” said Cole, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “That was radical, because the hemline of the 19th century was to the shoe.”

The prosperous “roaring twenties” saw the emergence of flappers, who provoked anger by bobbing their hair, smoking in public and wearing knee-length dresses.

The stock market’s crash of 1929 was a defining moment for the economy and skirt heights, Cole said. Both plummeted, with hemlines below mid-calf. The S&P Index dropped 86 percent from Sept. 6, 1929, through July 8, 1932, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

Knee-Length

A decade later, on the eve of the World War II, the U.S. economy entered an 80-month expansion which lasted through February 1945, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. During this time, knee-length skirts became ubiquitous, though the trend “had more to do with conserving fabric for the war effort than with the economy,” Cole said.

As a reaction against wartime’s austerity and fabric rations,Christian Dior’s first fashion collection in 1947 offered luxurious silhouettes with full skirts reaching below mid-calf.

“The hemlines dropped by 10 inches,” said Cole. The S&P fell 28 percent between May 29, 1946, and May 19, 1947.

During the 1960s, the U.S. economy grew for 106 months, making it the second-longest expansion between 1857 and today, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Hemlines reached their highest.

Twiggy Miniskirts

By 1966, miniskirts became a must in women’s wardrobes. British designer Mary Quant and teenage model Twiggy helped popularize the style.

“In 1966, you had to wear a skirt that was at the knee or higher, or you’d look ruefully out of fashion,” Cole said.

With the S&P dropping 36 percent from Nov. 29, 1968, to May 26, 1970, hemlines moved back to modesty. On March 13, 1970, Life magazine addressed the style transition with a cover story, “The Great Hemline Hassle.” On Aug. 21, 1970, the publication announced, “The Midi Muscles In.”

A clear correlation started breaking down during the 1980s, with designers offering a greater range of styles and lengths.

“It used to be that short was in and long was out. If you wore long, you’d be embarrassed,” Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, Inc. in Port Washington, New York, said in an interview. “Now you can wear long, you can wear short. You can wear your pajamas to work and no one would care.”

Maxi Return

Yet, even now an occasional correlation can be spotted, Cole said. Last summer, after the S&P fell 57 percent between October 2007 and March 2009, he noticed floor-length sleeveless dresses appearing on the streets of New York.

“There’s a whole generation of young women who’ve never worn a maxi skirt in their lives,” he said.

For her Friday show, Nicole Miller abandoned her signature figure-hugging dresses in favor of a flowing, layered look that incorporated several hemlines within a single outfit.

“I was just trying to move away from the tight and short,” said Miller, in an interview after the presentation. “There’s no subliminal message there.”

The Guli collection designed by Gulnara Karimova, a daughter of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, included ethnic Uzbek fabrics, patterns and embellishments applied to floor-length dresses. Toward the end of the event, a group of models strutted out in traditional striped Uzbek robes. Untraditionally, the robes were untied, revealing bodices -- and no skirts at all.

WWD: Defining the New Luxury

WWD | MILES SOCHA

Luxury for all? Not like it used to be.

So-called aspirational customers — who helped lift the luxury category to unprecedented heights during the boom years — seem to be sitting on the sidelines in the postrecession period: still aspiring, but spending less.

“The concept of luxury has restricted again,” said Concetta Lanciaux, principal of Switzerland-based Strategy Luxury Advisors, describing a shift in consumer priorities favoring heritage luxury brands or — at the other extreme — masstige retailers. It makes business more challenging for players in the middle and products that “look like luxury but it’s not luxury.” For example, designers’ second brands are “not doing as well as before [People] prefer to buy less, but a little bit higher,” she explained.

“There are consumers that overreached, and during the recession they had to go back to a more appropriate spending habit,” agreed Michael Burke, chief executive officer at Fendi in Rome, noting that was particularly the case in the American market, hard hit by the financial crisis. “The market has become more polarized: either it’s entry price or true luxury….The middle has hollowed out.

“You either have to be resolutely upscale, or you’re battling it out on prices,” he continued. “[Luxury goods] is not a democratic product category.”

Pam Danziger, president of the Stevens, Pa.-based research firm Unity Marketing, said scores of American consumers who reached beyond their means into the luxury sphere during the boom years pre-2008 have since simply “dropped out” because of the recession.

Danziger estimates consumers with household incomes in excess of $250,000 — the top 2 percent in the U.S. — spend three to four times more on luxury goods than the next affluent tier, those in the $100,000-to-$250,000 range.

What’s more, given a choice between buying the “best of the best” or “better and occasional best,” the richest consumers preferred the latter option in her most recent research.

Based on a survey of some 1,200 affluent consumers in the U.S., conducted last month, Danziger is predicting “cautious behavior” even among elite consumers whose “pent-up demand” for luxury goods led to a spree early in the year that is unlikely to continue.

Lanciaux also foresees a tougher second half, noting European luxury brands were buoyed in the first two quarters by a “huge restocking,” plus a rise in the value of the U.S. dollar against the euro that has since eased.

To be sure, luxury has come roaring back compared with the doldrums of 2009, with most European firms posting strong double-digit sales gains in the first two quarters of 2010 (albeit against low comparisons the year before).

While there are detractors, many executives, consultants and analysts agree the change in fortunes is largely thanks to elite consumers — and emerging markets — rather than a broader buying public.

In a recent report, Bernstein Research analyst Luca Solca said “overseas markets will represent the future driver of luxury growth in the medium and long term. Although the two largest luxury markets — the United States and Japan — make up the majority of current overseas luxury demand, we expect the growing importance of emerging markets to become increasingly pronounced as these markets mature.

“This should bring overseas luxury markets to 66 percent of total demand by destination (versus Europe at 34 percent) in 2020, with emerging markets representing nearly one half of the total overseas portion,” Solca wrote.

Coach’s 34.1 percent bump in fourth-quarter income, reported Tuesday, was also deemed encouraging, suggesting the “ ‘affordable luxury segment’ is also well oriented,” according to a research note by HSBC analyst Antoine Belge.

“We are not saying that everything is rosy for luxury in the U.S., but brands which engage the luxury (or affordable luxury) consumer with products offering clear ‘perceived value’ should continue to do well in our view, even in a jobless recovery phase,” he wrote.

Guy Salter, deputy chairman of Walpole, the association that represents British luxury goods firms, argued the recent rebound in sales in luxury is “not only due to the very wealthy shopper but to other consumers as well. The luxury goods houses have come out with more accessibly priced lines, and the brands that have positioned themselves in the ‘affordable luxury’ space have done well. Links of London, for example, has had very strong results, and all sorts of brands are doing well in that space. I think affordable luxury as a category is maturing.”

Salter noted the crisis forced consumers to change the way they shop. “I think they will continue to buy classic products from high-end brands because they feel they are getting value for money in the long term,” he said. “What they have dropped is the irrational shopping — having to have a certain number of shoes each season or a certain bag because it’s so ‘in.’ The frothiness has been stripped away. To that point, the affordable luxury brands — like Coach — have played the value card by offering classic, well-made products at affordable prices.”

Fendi’s Burke pointed out that fortunes in luxury goods are closely correlated to the stock market, suggesting the core customers are those with financial assets. “We all do very well with that core, elite segment,” he explained, noting the Roman firm’s business remained buoyant through the recession in Europe and Japan, and that furs in the 50,000-to-100,000-euro, or $66,000-to-$132,000, range continue to sell strongly. Meanwhile, the brand’s most expensive leather goods, the Peekaboo range, continue to garner the longest waiting lists. “In luxury, we shouldn’t be in the instant-gratification business,” he said.

Burke noted that Italy remains the one market in the world where the aspirational business has not diminished, thanks to wealthy parents who continue to indulge their adult children with high-end leather goods and fashions, even through the 2009 downturn. “We’re taking market share in Italy,” he noted.

Robert Polet, president and ceo of Gucci Group, said “impulse buying” of luxury goods, seen during the boom years, has decreased. Meanwhile, appreciation for higher-quality, timeless and discreet products has risen, giving a competitive advantage to “reference” luxury brands, he said.

In disclosing first-half results last week, PPR chairman and ceo François-Henri Pinault echoed the sentiment, saying Gucci Group would move away from logos, “adjusting to this new perception of luxury, which is more subtle, more sophisticated.”

“The whole trend we are seeing — from fashion through to beauty — is antimass, antifaux, antibling,” said Marigay McKee, fashion and beauty director at Harrods. “What customers are looking for is heritage, provenance — and embellishment.”

The landmark London department store said recent bestsellers include 10,000 pound, or $15,825, embellished Balmain jackets and 1,400 pound, or $2,215, Balmain jeans. She said fragrance and beauty sales are tracking in a similar way, with Tom Ford, Creed and Bond No. 9 fragrances — all with price points of 150 to 200 pounds, or $237 to $315 — driving fragrance sales. She said customers on the whole are looking for outright luxury and/or unusual ingredients that make a product unique — signals for a healthy trend of trading up.

“The trigger point is always desirability,” said Gucci Group’s Polet. “People aspire to belong to the world of a brand.”

But how many today can afford the admission price?

“There were more aspirational customers prerecession than there are now,” said Robert Burke, head of the New York-based Robert Burke & Associates consulting firm. In his view, sharply priced handbags, shoes and clothes were beneficiaries of the downturn — particularly from contemporary and designer second lines — and will continue to be so.

However, aspirational customers will still save up to buy iconic luxury products, especially from blue-chip brands such as Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton. “I see heritage brands only getting stronger and more desirable to the aspirational customer,” the consultant Burke said. “Consumers are more discerning and more selective in what they buy. I don’t see the market switching right back to where it was.”

During the economic crisis, even well-heeled customers accustomed to designer labels experimented with mixing price points. “I think there’s more opportunity launching contemporary and below price points than launching designer right now,” said Burke. In that vein, he noted the success of American labels such as 3.1 Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang, priced under traditional designer brands.

Lucian James, founder of strategic consultancy Agenda Inc., based in New York and Paris, said luxury was not only impacted by the economic crisis, but a “crisis of meaning” as well.

“Consumers spent some time away from luxury products, and the spell was — to some extent — broken,” he explained. “The recession was a time when consumers really connected to discount and fast-fashion brands and found them surprisingly good.”

To win shoppers back in the postcrisis period, luxury brands “need to create more powerful messages, not just evoke aspirational lifestyles and expect consumers to be seduced….They need to explore ways that they can connect the brand to emerging consumer lifestyles and emerging consumer moods,” James said.

He noted the clientele for luxury today is less tied to income levels than to which brands consumers choose to adorn themselves with, counterfeit or otherwise. “People don’t reach up en masse to luxury brands. They go to the ones that are meaningful for them,” he said.

According to Danziger, the postrecession period creates opportunities for premium brands, and will compel luxury players to put “luxe back into luxury,” the theme and title of her next book.

Luxury players “need to recognize that people are being cautious and figure out ways of bringing additional values to premium brands,” she said. “If we look at the luxury department stores, they have asked their vendors to offer lower opening price points.”

Even affluent men now brag about bargains they scored in Danziger’s focus groups, a first. “That’s the next level of shopping: Being the smarter shopper, finding the better deal and bragging about it,” she said.

In Lanciaux’s view, luxury players will have to adapt to changing spending patterns in mature markets like Europe and Japan, where travel, technological products, art and entertaining are attracting more discretionary dollars. “Luxury brands need to cautiously but surely enter these new territories more tied into cultural lifestyle if they want to continue to grow,” she said. “In addition, they may eliminate licenses that dilute their brands.”

The consultant James suggested Europe’s luxury players lessen their dependence on the “old grammar” of luxury and look beyond heritage. In Japan, meanwhile, brands should look for ways to “connect to a nervous economic culture where security is more important than status.”

Meanwhile, emerging markets like China offer chances for masstige or aspirational brands, positioned at the opening price points for luxury, to write a new luxury grammar. James noted that Coach, for example, recently opened a store in Shanghai and invited young artists to customize bags, leveraging Chinese culture to tap into new generations of high-end consumers. The vodka brand Absolut also successfully introduced a premium product that taps into the Chinese mentality.

Brands such as Nike and Puma, which are perceived as premium but “not weighed down by outdated codes of luxury” also have an advantage in the fast-growing region, James noted.

WWD: Reason No. 1: Luxe Lust

WWD | FN STAFF

During the height of the recession, retail pundits declared that the days of the $800 shoe were over. How wrong they were.

Led by Christian Louboutin, who posted double-digit increases last year, many of the luxury shoe stars have continued to shine, from the red carpet to the oval office.

“I don’t think shoes have ever been as dramatic or as extreme as they are now,” said Robert Burke, former fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman and founder of the consulting firm bearing his name.

And even as more ready-to-wear designers dive in to the footwear game, shoppers continue to gravitate to the footwear specialists. In a recent survey conducted by the Luxury Institute, Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for designer shoes, while Jimmy Choo came in fifth on an extensive brand list spanning Giorgio Armani to Versace.

“It’s like consuming candy when you were a little kid,” said Milton Pedraza, the Luxury Institute’s CEO. “These are beautiful, attention-getting shoes that make you feel really special and great.”

WWD: As Luxe Would Have It: The High-End Market Rebound

WWD | JEAN E. PALMIERI

For a long time, luxury labels were above it all. Brands aimed at the most affluent sliver of the market were simply immune to recession, they had long maintained. So it caused a minor stir this spring when Kiton, the renowned Neapolitan tailored-clothing company, introduced a lower-priced line called CIPA 1960 at Bergdorf Goodman Men.

Everything remains relative. Although CIPA is pronounced “cheap-a,” the new collection is anything but. It includes beautifully tailored suits for $5,500, stitched entirely by hand, but made with fine archival wool or linen fabrics instead of Kiton’s usual cashmere blend. This helps shave about 30 percent off the typical $8,000 price of a classic Kiton suit—a meaningful saving for the upscale shopper still skittish after the Wall Street meltdown of fall 2008. And if the economic crisis has taught luxury marketers and retailers one lesson, it’s this: The old notion that they are recession proof is a myth.

Leaders in the luxury field are quickly adapting to a seismic shift in the market, one that affects not just pricing, but also consumer attitudes, shopping patterns and the very definition of luxury. As Gregory Furman, founder and chairman of the Luxury Marketing Council, puts it, “The luxury shopper has changed and will continue to be changed as never before.”

Ron Frasch, vice chairman and chief merchant of Saks Fifth Avenue, sees opportunity for those who respond to this rapidly evolving consumer. The Great Recession, he says, was a “wake-up call that significantly changed what we do. And perhaps it was long overdue.”

The shake-up stems in part from a significant decline in the size of the core luxury market. According to the 2009 World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini, the world’s population of high-net-worth individuals—defined as those with investable assets of more than $1 million—shrank 14.9 percent to 8.6 million people in 2008, as their combined wealth fell 19.5 percent to $32.8 trillion. The ultrahigh-net-worth population—individuals with assets of $30 million or more—saw an even steeper decline of 24.6 percent.

And the market didn’t improve in 2009. According to the global consulting firm Bain & Co., last year was the worst ever for the global luxury goods business, with sales falling 8 percent—albeit from a very lofty perch.

Lately, there have been hints of a rebound. Sales began to regain some strength by holiday 2009, and Bain forecasts a 4 percent increase for 2010. “We’re seeing now that consumers are going back into stores,” says Claudia D’Arpizio, lead author of the Bain study.

Cara David, senior vice president of corporate marketing and integrated media for American Express Publishing Corp., also reports a “modest resurgence” in the luxury sector. “We’re seeing a little slack in the guilt and angst over purchasing luxury products,” David says. According to Amex Publishing, 45 percent of affluent consumers now say they feel guilty buying luxury goods, down from 54 percent last year, and David says this attitude adjustment will have an estimated $28 billion net impact on the luxury market, or a gain of 6 to 8 percent.

But even if luxury has begun to bounce back, the profound shift in the consumer mind-set is expected to endure. Jim Brennan, a principal at McKinsey & Co., predicts an ongoing emphasis on value and values that could last five to 10 years. Consumers will buy fewer pieces at lower prices, he says, and they will favor products they consider iconic or authentic. Brennan notes that luxury shoppers have returned to buying jewelry, watches and other “statement pieces that can be handed down to their kids.” Apparel has not rebounded as quickly.

But America’s luxury retailers have already set out to change that.

Saks is “resetting our ways,” says Frasch, “particularly in tailored clothing, dress shirts and shoes.” While offering more goods at opening price points, the store is creating exclusive products and brands to distinguish itself from the competition. “We’ve enhanced our good, better, best model,” Frasch explains. “In the past, our assortment of ‘good’ was OK; our ‘better’ offering, brands like Corneliani and Canali, was respectable, and we had a fine ‘best’ offering, with Zegna, Brioni, Armani and Kiton. But our ‘good’ model has really grown.”

The core suit price is now around $1,500, down from $1,700 in 2008, as Saks lures new customers with younger silhouettes and lower prices from brands such as Michael Kors, Hugo Boss, Z Zegna, Versace, Calvin Klein and Burberry. The retailer has also scored with its new Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s Collection, a comprehensive assortment of modern classic men’s wear with sharp prices. Suit separates, for example, retail at $695 for jackets and $195 for pants.

As Frasch tells it, the men’s luxury shopper is “looking for a quality product at a fair value, not low price.” He cites the “tremendous resurgence of made-to-measure” as evidence the customer is willing to pay a premium for products with clear intrinsic value. Frasch sees potential in luxury sportswear, as well. “As bad as last year was, we had a good year with Brunello Cucinelli, which can never be called volume pricing,” he says.

Russ Patrick, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of men’s wear at Neiman Marcus, acknowledges the luxury retailer “took a hit” during the recession. “So we worked to get our inventories in line,” he says. “With less open-to-buy, there was less room for error, so we had to be spot on. It required us to be better editors.”

“We worked closely with our important vendors to adjust costs on specific ranges of fabrics so we could retail a portion of their suit offering under the $2,000 price point,” said Patrick. “In addition, we introduced two lines, Z Zegna and Caruso, this year, which offer a full collection of suits under $1,500.”

The strategy is paying off: Sales have improved across all categories as shoppers respond to fresh offerings. Still, the Neiman’s customer will continue to be “more mindful about shopping,” Patrick says. “So we have to remain focused on product, challenge our vendors for newness and give him things so he can continue to update his wardrobe.”

One of the ongoing challenges in the luxury field is the aspirational consumer, who has pulled back, according to Pam Danziger, president and founder of Unity Marketing. Danziger defines this segment as households with income of $100,000 to $249,900—23 million households in the U.S., compared with only 2.5 million with incomes of more than $250,000. “The buoyancy in the luxury market prior to the recession was due to aspirational shoppers trading up,” she says. “But now, they’re simply not participating.”

As Danziger sees it, future luxury-market growth will depend upon attracting “ultra-affluent consumers” who “will demand higher quality and more value in luxury purchases.

They also demand more information. Although the affluent consumer remains willing to pay a premium for quality, he now insists on knowing why a product costs what it costs—a phenomenon that Furman, of the Luxury Marketing Council, calls “connoisseurship.” According to Furman, 90 percent of luxury shoppers started out in the middle class. Luxury brands, he says, must “not assume they understand the underlying value of a product.”

That gives an edge to brands that convey “craft and heritage,” says Robert Burke of Robert Burke Associates, citing classic clothing labels such as Kiton, Brioni and Zegna. “The consumer is happy to invest in long-term pieces, but they’re not spending frivolously,” he says. Nor are they spending at the same rate as they did in the past. “It doesn’t feel or sound right today to buy 14 custom suits,” Burke says. “They’re buying luxury in a quieter way.”

Bergdorf Goodman has responded by bringing in key classifications at a “more gentle price point,” says Margaret Spaniolo, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of men’s. “There were men who took a couple of seasons off, but we felt our customer still wanted the brands that we carry in our store,” she says. That desire for luxe brands minus the sticker shock prompted Bergdorf to bring in Kiton’s CIPA 1960 suit collection and other accessible offerings.

“It worked,” Spaniolo says. “We saw the customer come back in shopping.” But not in the same way he did in the past. “The consumer psyche has changed,” she explains. “All of us used to just buy what we liked without thinking about it. Now we think about what we’re spending. If this didn’t wake us all up, I don’t know what it’ll take.”

Tom Kalenderian, executive vice president and general merchandise manager of men’s at Barneys New York, says shoppers have acquired a “more measured” perspective—and more price consciousness. “We’ve consistently dropped tailored clothing prices 5, 10, 15 percent,” Kalenderian says. “We’re selling more value, and that isn’t going away. The customer is supersmart, and our clients know which manufacturers failed to rise to the challenge.”

What the new luxury consumer really wants is “a variety of price points,” according to Bob Mitchell, co-president of the Mitchells Family of Stores, headquartered in Westport, Conn. “He still wants luxury, but he wants to mix in some other pieces, primarily in sportswear.” The Mitchells have paid increased attention to what they call “approachable” pieces, such as cashmere sweaters for $300 to $400, or denim-friendly sport coats and shirts. At the same time, luxury brands that have “repositioned their suit prices are getting traction,” says Mitchell. That includes Brioni, which came in under $5,000, and Zegna, with some basic models for $1,995 or less. Canali offered $1,495 suits, down from $1,900. “That kind of choice had vacated the market before,” Mitchell says.

Robert Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of Ermenegildo Zegna’s North American business, says, “Broadening the assortment of suits helped the business.” The brand also has seen an uptick in its sportswear sales, along with shirts and ties—smaller-ticket items that can “freshen a wardrobe,” Ackerman says.

Mitchell, meanwhile, sees the spreading of price points as an opportunity for additional sales. “There’s potential for us to get more closet share,” he says. “They’re buying Cucinelli, but they’re also picking up a $195 sweater they can play golf in.

“We drank our own Kool-Aid,” Mitchell adds. “Even in the [luxury] heyday, they bought other stuff, they just bought it elsewhere. We’re better merchants today, having that breadth.”

WWD: Stores Lure Back Luxury Male Shopper

WWD | EMILIE MARSH & JEAN SCHEIDNES

Welcome back, department stores.

Luxury retailers say they have experienced a strong start to 2010 and expect continued improvement in the second half of the year, buoyed in part by men returning to stores, as well as inventory control and focus on gross margin. Men’s buyers are heading to Pitti Uomo in Florence next week, followed by the Milan and Paris men’s ready-to-wear shows, in search of enticing product at fair prices.

“We feel that confidence has returned and that men are back in the store at full force,” said Kevin Harter, Bloomingdale’s vice president of men’s fashion direction. “The biggest surprise is how strong the tailored business is. Men are definitely dressing up, and they are coming to Bloomingdale’s to update their suits and accessories that go with them, such as ties, shirts, etc.”

In the U.K., Selfridges’ business has been “consistently strong” this year with contemporary fashion and edgy designer labels such as Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga leading the way, according to David Walker-Smith, director of men’s wear and beauty. “We expect the second half of the year to also be robust,” he said, adding that good management of inventories has been key to the store’s ongoing success.

Although their recovery has trailed that of brands’ own stores, department stores across the globe have reported increased sales for the year to date.

At Liberty of London, “sales have been on fire this year” with total first-quarter sales up 30 percent and men’s wear performing “even stronger” than overall sales, according to buying director Ed Burstell. “As we have been able to increase market share this past year, we are aggressively looking to grow men’s wear this fall, with the budget increased by 15 to 20 percent.” The size of the men’s wear department will also increase by 20 percent.

Chastened by the recession, department stores have made top-to-bottom adjustments to stimulate sales and improve margins: tighter-edited collections, careful assortments of brands, balanced price ranges, more employee training, locally targeted marketing, in-store events, revamped men’s spaces, enhanced loyalty programs, exclusive product (especially private label collections) and perhaps, above all, inventory discipline.

Harvey Nichols “experienced strong double-digit growth” in men’s wear sales for the first half on significantly reduced inventory levels, said Richard Johnson, men’s wear buying manager. “Our more contemporary designer collections and casual sportswear collections have seen the most rapid growth. This has allowed us to keep sale periods short and focus customer attention on full-price product. It is of the utmost importance that we retain the integrity of the products we offer and premium position of brands whom we partner with,” said Johnson.

At the same time, luxury brands have grown increasingly dependent on their own stores, eroding the dominance of the wholesale business. In the latest quarter for Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., for example, retail sales jumped 31.4 percent, while wholesale declined 2.6 percent. The trend will likely continue, as the company has deep cash reserves to spend and has identified international retail and e-commerce initiatives as top priorities for investment.

As a brand grows more international, the balance of distribution shifts even more toward freestanding stores. China, for example, simply does not have department store networks for wholesale distribution that the U.S. has, so brands looking to expand rapidly there must open stores.

Calvin Klein Inc., which operated 67 CK Calvin Klein stores worldwide at the end of 2009, plans to ramp up to 151 by the end of 2012, and about 60 of those will be in China alone.

“The freestanding stores are really important because they present the lifestyle and they’re a branding platform,” said Tom Murry, chief executive officer of Calvin Klein.

Luxury consumers sometimes want to see the largest possible assortment from a brand, said Robert Burke of the fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates.

“Also, because of all the inventory reductions and economic instability, sometimes department stores had played it very safe. And what we’ve found is safe product is not motivating the customer to spend….People who had a strong store presence realized during the last two years that they could control their own stores, but they couldn’t control the department stores.”

Indeed, brands have not quite forgiven retailers for the great discounting panic of 2008.“We will be more selective in the future, proceed with more caution and control and put limitations where necessary,” said Pier Luigi Loro Piana, ceo and deputy chairman of Loro Piana. “That said, we don’t want to lose the sense of competition department stores offer. They play a key role in determining how your merchandise fares compared to others.” With wholesale comprising 20 percent of sales, Loro Piana eked out a 1 percent sales increase in 2009.

For their part, department stores say they don’t discourage vendors from opening stores, which add credibility to the brand, ultimately benefiting everyone who carries it.

Besides, if brands are out to reduce their dependence on retailers, the feeling is mutual, since department stores are aggressively ramping up their private label businesses that afford them maximum control over the margins, the flow of goods and the floor space. As they head to Pitti Uomo next week, one of their top priorities will be to find manufacturing partners for their private labels.

“Our men’s collection has pretty quickly become our largest brand,” said Ron Frasch, Saks Fifth Avenue president and chief merchandising officer. “We have very, very aggressive plans for it, and we’re investing aggressively in it from all angles — store staff, brand management, product development, real estate, visual, marketing, every aspect. And we think it has a big number attached to it, with a very high margin.”

Private label has also gained a foothold in Europe, with department stores looking to invest in their own brand names, which more often than not predate that of the labels they carry.

“Historically, private label’s share of the market has increased over time, especially during recession, and almost a quarter of all consumer goods sales in the U.S. are private label,” said Umberto Angeloni, citing Harvard Business School professor John Quelch. Angeloni co-owns Caruso, which manufactures tailored clothing for such brands as Dior Homme, Lanvin, and Ralph Lauren, as well as a handful of private label brands. “I view the exercise as that of building a retail brand…a brand that they can totally control and thus will never betray them or compete unfairly. Stores realize that sometimes their most valuable asset is their own name.”

To wit, Harvey Nichols said it would launch private label product in selected core categories later this year.

And Paris-based Printemps is gearing up to introduce a cashmere collection for both men and women, priced between 95 and 120 euros, or $114 to $144 at current exchange, under its own banner in September.

“We are positioning the collection at a very affordable price point while maintaining a premium quality and style quotient,” said Tancrède de Lalun, general merchandising manager for men’s and women’s apparel.

Liberty is taking the strategy a step further, with plans to wholesale a contemporary men’s line it created with licensee Slowear Group, banking on the cachet of the retailer’s own heritage. The 200-piece line, which marks Liberty’s first licensing pact, will bow in Milan for next spring, and sales in six years should reach 30 million euros, or $38.6 million, Liberty said.

“It’s a clear margin-building strategy where we can control the product so it does not conflict with anything else we carry,” Burstell said, adding the store’s 135-year history and heritage provided the ideal background.

Brands with perceived heritage continue to enjoy a competitive advantage, and playing up history — in the form of origin myths, legacy stories, reverence for forefathers, founding dates and artifacts — is now front and center of many marketing strategies. Retailers are embracing the trend as well.

From a merchandising standpoint, “I see stores being much more edited and selective. That’s a fine line, because you want to take a specific point of view but you also want to have a breadth of product and especially unique and high-positioned product,” said Burke.

Despite tensions with brands that also have retail strategies, Burke added, “It’s important to be able to grow the department store business, because there’s a customer who doesn’t want to shop in a specialty store, particularly a men’s customer who wants a one-stop-shopping situation.”

Brands and retailers still have plenty of common ground. All parties want to provide distinctive product that will inspire consumers to buy. While no one wants to relive the nightmarish overstocks of the recession, vendors say it’s time for stores to loosen the purse strings a little.

“We’re not seeing this recovery as much in Europe as in Asia and the U.S., but what I’d like to see [in the healthier regions] is more aggressive purchasing. They were so cautious and gun-shy during the downturn. Now I’d like to see more confidence in the recovery,” said Calvin Klein’s Murry.

Indeed, buyers said they had to “chase inventory” for most of the spring. But that doesn’t mean they’re about to abandon their newfound discipline.

“The budgets are up, and we’re feeling confident but cautious,” said Frasch of Saks. “I don’t want the inventory to outpace the sales growth. We learned we could improve our margins significantly with targeted investments and very disciplined inventory management. We’re not going to walk away from that.”

Alluring product offerings go hand in hand with alluring environments and, to that end, many stores have revamped their men’s spaces to lure shoppers in.

Barneys New York, which has identified men’s contemporary sportswear as a category with significant growth potential, last month revamped the fourth floor of its flagship to seize the opportunity. Le Bon Marché is making room for Balthazar, its men’s department, to devote more space to high-end tailored brands and shoes. The LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned department store on Paris’ Left Bank will unveil a revamped 44,000-square-foot men’s wear space in September.

“Men’s wear is a growth sector for the store,” said Le Bon Marché deputy ceo Bruno Villeneuve. “We intend to go higher end.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Keith, president of Joyce, said men’s wear will find a new home in the brand’s Canton Road store in Hong Kong in August.

“We are seeing an increased level of confidence from our male customers. They are responding to new brands and key trend items well,” said Keith.

By managing inventory levels and chasing early deliveries, inventory is down 35 percent from last year, and it has delayed season-end discounting by nearly a month. Exceptional levels of service, such as home-shopping visits, tailoring services and personal orders for top clients, have also helped to entice shoppers.

“We have been caught short a little by the strength of customer reaction to certain key items [that] in certain cases we have had to do multiple reorders on. We now have male customers putting down deposits on fall 2010 runway,” said Keith.

Vendors complain that when buyers scramble for inventory too late in the season, everyone loses.

Polo Ralph Lauren told analysts that with production mostly offshore involving requisite lead times, it might be difficult for suppliers to react as quickly as some stores would like. Roger Farah, Polo’s president and chief operating officer, said, “Retailers will need to learn what is realistic and what is not.”

FINANCIAL TIMES: A sartorial strategy for growth

FINANCIAL TIMES | VANESSA FRIEDMAN

There is no question that football can sell fashion – Louis Vuitton’s current heritage campaign, featuring legends Zinedine Zidane, Pelé and Diego Maradona playing table football in a Madrid bar, was chosen, according to the company, specifically because of the “universality” of the sport’s appeal. But can fashion sell football?

For the first time, Fifa, the sport’s governing body, is betting yes. This year it has licensed its imagery, including mascots and logos, to be transformed into a clothing brand, courtesy of Singapore-based Global Brands Group. In turn, the company, which also owns the rights to create and distribute products from the PGA golf tour, has licensed its products to 19 territories round the world – including the US, football’s most fan-challenged region. The theory is: if the sartorial strategy works there, it will work everywhere.

Janon Costley, chief executive of Total Apparel Group (Tag), the company charged with making this happen in the US, believes that consumerism could be the answer. “During the period around every World Cup, Fifa has huge sales – during the last one they did $2bn in merchandise globally – which then dwindles to basically zero over the next three years,” he says. “It became clear to Fifa that they needed to come up with a new form of outreach to consumers. When Global Brands approached them with the idea of creating a clothing brand, they decided it could be the answer.”

So, while Nike (sponsor of nine teams, including the US and Brazil) and Adidas (sponsor of 12 teams) project huge sales during South Africa’s event, Fifa is hoping that by entering the lifestyle market, it will not only keep interest alive between tournaments but may actually increase its audience in the US.

This is especially important in the US, where, Don Jones, Tag’s chairman, points out, there is the most room for expansion.

“The potential market is huge,” agrees Mike Principe, managing director of Blue Entertainment Sports Television (Best), an equity investor in Tag. He says there are now 18m registered football players in the US, a number that includes children playing in soccer leagues as well as adult weekend teams and official teams. Yet somehow all those players have never cohered into an identifiable and dedicated consumer fan base.

Of course, there have been previous efforts to turn football into a mainstream sport in the world’s biggest market. The US hosted the World Cup in 1994 and, five years later, when the US football team beat China in the finals of the women’s World Cup, pundits predicted that this would provide the breakthrough.

Even more famously, in 2007, David Beckham moved to Los Angeles to play for LA Galaxy and opened a football academy, saying “soccer is huge all around the world except in America, and that’s where I want to make a difference”. But earlier this year sponsor AEG closed Beckham’s California soccer academy.

Why do the backers of the Fifa clothing brand think they can succeed where others have failed?

Don Jones, Tag’s chairman, says the problem in the past was that the sport failed to cement its place in mainstream US culture. “Now, sport and fashion and entertainment are interchangeable, and you have to strategise with that in mind. Clothes put the sport squarely in front of people who might not see it any other way,” he says.

Mr Costley adds that “if you buy the product, you participate in the sport in some way, so the garment itself becomes an educational platform”.

The hypothesis works like this: a customer in search of a cool T-shirt sees one with, say, a cartoonish player on the front, or a faded, “aged” looking logo; he buys it and by wearing it, becomes both a walking advertisement for the sport and, perhaps, someone who starts kicking a ball around; he might then join a league, or at least turn on ESPN soccer, and football will then, like baseball or American football, become part of their identity.

But despite Tag’s bullishness, not everyone is convinced. According to Robert Burke, founder of Robert Burke Associates, a strategic brand consultancy, a clothing brand is unlikely to achieve what a World Cup, celebrities and sport stars have not. “As with any licensing deal, the success is gauged by the size of the audience,” he says.

“The Fifa brand could be interesting, with cool designs, but it would be very small compared to the American sports of football, basketball and [ice] hockey. With regards to the product helping influence the America interest in soccer, it is a long shot. The problem is that America. . . has not embraced soccer. I don’t think a fashion product will do the trick.”

Andrew Sacks, head of Agency Sacks, a luxury branding firm, agrees. “It’s hard to believe that audiences – American or in football-loving nations – will respond to merchandise from a league,” he says. “Passions are aligned with teams, not with corporations and bureaucracies. The only exception that I can think of may be Nascar, which is a movement in itself and is made up of individuals. In team sports, the team sells.”

Tag’s products have been specially selected to appeal to the US market – both men and women – with the company’s executives working with GBG’s design team in the Netherlands. Simon Hawkins, general manager of the Fifa Football Business Unit for GBG, says: “The collections have been engineered to garner an emotional connection with the consumer through the power and history of the Fifa brand.”

To wit: for the first time, former World Cup mascots have been used on current products, with many chosen to appeal to the US demographic. For example, “Juanito” from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, is featured to appeal to the large number of Mexican-Americans.

There is also a separate “heritage” line that focuses on Fifa’s founding in 1904 on the Rue St Honoré in Paris, with the address embossed on the shirts not unlike the way Loewe, the Spanish luxury brand, has embossed its address on wallets, and Yves Saint Laurent has on clutches. “Before, football was seen as a European sport,” says Mr Costley. “And it was presented that way. We are trying to transform that perception.”

Still, the history of such forays into the garment world is that they have not been enormously successful. As Jeff Bliss, a former marketer at New Balance, the running shoe brand, and co-founder of consultancy Brand Ideology, pointed out in Sports Business Journal: “Fan passion follows teams and players – they do not get excited about a governing body.”

Yet Tag says that to worry about the meaning of Fifa is to miss the point, which is that whatever a consumer’s relationship with the governing body, the designs stand on their own. “Soccer isn’t just a game,” says Mr Principe. “It’s a fashion statement.” That’s the goal anyway.