WWDSTYLE

MILANDESIGNWEEK

A preview of the festivities from April 11 to 17 and the

50th anniversary of the Salone del Mobile home goods fair.

The Flamboyant table, designed by Alessandro Dubini for Skitsch, has three circular colored glass panels that can be moved around, creating a kaleidoscope effect. It’s one of many innovative products being introduced at the Salone del Mobile show next week. For more on the week, the Salone and classic home designs, see pages 2 to 11.

DenIM:A&F shoots for $7.5 billion in

sales by 2015. Page S12

WWDSTYLE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011S2

milan design week

Heading for HomeFashion houses continue to find success with their home collections and exposure in hotel projects. By Luisa Zargani

Two messages are emerging as fashion designers prepare for design week in milan april 12 to 17: Do your homework, and take a trip.

whatever the design direction, the need for fashion houses expanding their home collections to invest in research, production and distribution has never been more critical, considering the state of world economies and political cli-mates. as in apparel fashion, rising markets like China, south america, russia, india and the middle east are giving established brands more opportuni-ties to succeed.

Further, designing for hotels, ex-tended-stay venues and private resi-dences has been a profitable outlet for fashion houses over the past de-cade, and continues to provide op-portunities to communicate a brand’s lifestyle message and increase inter-national visibility.

“The name of a brand in itself is not enough, you need quality,” con-tended alberto Vignatelli, founder and owner of Club House italia, which has been producing and dis-tributing home collections for Fendi under license for 23 years. “There’s a lot of improvisation out there, but if there is a serious, high-quality offer, the home business is on an upswing. Last year was positive for fashion’s luxury brands and for furniture as well. our sales grew 30 percent in 2010 and, already this year, we’ve seen a 20 percent increase.”

Fendi will unveil its capitonné sofas, and leather and steel coffee tables at the salone del mobile fair-grounds, where it regularly shows its collections.

in addition, the company is fur-nishing 12 luxury apartments on China’s Hainan island resort by the end of 2011. “The island is emerging as the Florida of China,” Vignatelli remarked.

“Hotels allow us to verify what works, to put everything into focus and to help us create and experi-ment,” said rosita missoni, in charge of home goods at the family firm.

in a licensing agreement with the Belgian rezidor Hotel group, missoni opened its first hotel in edinburgh in 2009, and its second venue is scheduled to open on may 25 in Kuwait City. a resort in oman follows between the end of 2012 and early 2013, and a project is also tak-ing shape in antalya, Turkey.

The hotel in Kuwait, located in a new 18-story building shaped as a treble clef, comprises 250 rooms, 30 suites, three restaurants, a ball-room, a pool adorned with a mosaic of missoni’s iconic colorful stripes, and a cactus and palm garden overlooking the Persian gulf.

among the main design elements: local serena stone; a palette revolving around gold, which segues from the location’s sunny weather and expansive desert, and azure, from the sea, and colorful fringes on the windows in lieu of curtains.

Versace, whose second Palazzo Versace resort in Dubai is scheduled to open in march 2012 in collaboration with australian property developer sunland group Ltd., is also expanding its home collection. “There is an increased new de-mand and we are boosting our production to meet this request,” said chief execu-tive officer gian giacomo Ferraris. Versace, which makes more than 60 percent of its home line in house, also provides furnishings for private residences, most recently decorating tower apartments in manila.

The home collection is designed by Donatella Versace, who this year will intro-duce the Herald armchair inspired by her fashion line. it features bright colors,

like lacquered red patent, and a golden metal band, reminiscent of the asym-metric cuts of the dresses. additionally, the house’s grid console uses Versace’s iconic greek frieze motif as the key structure of the piece.

giorgio armani opened his hotel in april 2010 in Dubai’s soaring Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building. The 160-room hotel, for which almost no expense was spared, boasts eight restaurants, a spa and three retail outlets, and is furnished

with armani Casa linens, fabrics, cus-tom furniture and even armani Privé toiletries in the bathrooms.

The project, a joint venture be-tween giorgio armani spa and emaar Properties, is the first in a planned collection of hotels, resorts and resi-dences to be unveiled in key cities around the world by the partnership, including milan, which is up next.

Describing the line he is showing next week, armani said, “as in previ-ous seasons, armani/Casa is all about the pursuit of symmetry and harmo-ny, and achieving a synthesis that ex-presses warmth and well-being. The collection is made up of disciplined shapes, linear but soft, that convey substance, security and elegance.”

etro also produces its home collec-tion in house and directly distributes it.

“we like to be in control of quality, distribution and prices points, exactly as with our fashion collections,” said Jacopo etro, creative director of the label’s textile, accessories and home department.

The company is expanding its home business, looking at China and the middle east this year. while etro has built its reputation in this cat-egory with its textiles, the company plans to step up brand extension and produce sofas, armchairs, chairs and beds to be showcased at the salone del mobile next year.

“Last year was positive and 2011 kicked off with gains in our home line, but given the uncertainties connected to politics and the economy, it’s dif-ficult to make forecasts,” said etro, adding that wholesale volume of the home line is 15 million euros, or $21.1 million at current exchange, about 5 percent of total wholesale revenues.

while the company is keen to pro-vide interior decoration services, as it did with the radisson royal Hotel moscow (the historical Hotel Ukraina) last year, etro does not be-lieve in associating his family name with a hotel, unlike missoni, Versace, armani, Bulgari and many others.

“i think it’s strange for a luxury company [to appear on hotels]. Hotels must be managed a certain way and

i’m not sure this could work in the long run for a luxury brand,” he said. Blumarine’s home collection also reflects designer anna molinari’s fashion

style, with a furniture line, licensed to Como-based idea due and introduced last year, embellished with the designer’s animal prints in pink, green and beige, the micro butterfly or floral patterns.

in particular, for the anna armchair, to be showcased this year, fabrics are treated with transparent resin. “For a home collection, prints work well if they re-flect the identity of the brand,” said Jean-marc russenberger, in charge of licenses at Blumarine’s parent company Blufin. The home division accounted last year for 16 percent of licensed sales, which totaled 75 million euros, or $99 million at aver-age exchange, and showed an 11 percent gain compared to the previous year.

“Branding is important and helps lead expansion abroad, such as in the middle and Far east,” he said. “we are very satisfied with the home line — it’s been showing a continuous growth.”

A Blumarine chair.Bed linens from Missoni.

A table from Armani/Casa.

A chair by Etro.

Versace chairs.

s A Fendi sectional couch.

WWDSTYLE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011S4

milan design week

“Kartell Loves Milano,” and the com-pany is out to show just how much.

It launched a pro-gram by that name and has spurred a range of personalities — designers, photog-raphers, chefs and so-cialites — to try their hand at designing objects for the home. Besides encourag-ing edgy design, the undertaking pays homage to Milan, its home city and key to its success.

“Kartell loves Milano is a fun project that caps a worldwide communications initiative started last December and dedicated to Milan, home to design and to our company,” said Claudio Luti, Kartell’s chief executive officer.

The company unit-ed creative minds tied in some way to Milan, and asked them to liberally reinterpret a classic Kartell piece. The three most popu-lar objects chosen for makeovers were the Louis Ghost chair, the Bubble armchair and the gnome-shaped cof-fee tables.

Participants from the fashion flock in-clude Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Angela Missoni, Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2, Moschino’s Rossella Jardini, Rebecca Moses and Jacopo Etro.

Star chefs Carlo Cracco and Davide Oldani, photographer Fabrizio Ferri and interior designers Patricia Urquiola, Pietro Lissoni, Alessandro Mendini, Tokujin Yoshioka and others also jumped in.

The one-of-a-kind pieces will be un-veiled on April 12 in Kartell’s Milan flagship, when the designers will be on hand, and will later be auctioned off in sup-port of the Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, a research foundation active in the scientific and medical fields.— AlessAndrA IlArI

Kartell’s Key to

The City

WWD: Why is Hermès expanding in home?Hélène Dubrule: Hermès has always had a “homey” spirit. This is, of course, because it is a family-run house but also because it has always had a close relationship with the home métier. Since the Twenties and Thirties, Hermès’ “suggestion brochures” proposed objects that complemented our clients’ lifestyles at home: decorative objects, office tools, throws and covers, even lamps and furniture.

In the past 30 years, Hermès has actively developed tableware collections with a unique style as well as “art de vivre” collections. In 1987, the Pippa furniture collection, created by Rena Dumas, ex-pressed the ideas of nomadism and travel that are dear to Hermès. Now our ambition is to offer a complete universe for the home. We already offer a wide range of objects for the home, but we needed to add more structure to our vision. And what gives living space in a home structure is the furniture, above all else. We think Hermès can offer a unique type of furniture, based on its craftsman’s spirit.

First, we wanted to return to the source of our savoir faire in furniture. That’s why we reissued the collection that Hermès produced with Jean-Michel Frank in the Thirties. And now Pierre-Alexis Dumas, our artistic director, wants to produce a contem-porary interpretation of Hermès furniture.

We are also applying our savoir faire to a range of carpets, furnishing fabrics and wallpaper. The idea is that once you have given the space struc-ture, you then need to dress the walls and the floors.

WWD: What kind of a space are architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines creating for the presentation? What were the guidelines from Hermès, if any?H.D.: We wanted to present our world of the home in a surprising and spectacular nomadic house. Pierre-Alexis’ desire was to contrast our collec-tions and the écrin [jewelry case], which will house them. We wanted to make an architectural statement, but at the same time we didn’t want this statement to compete with the collections.

So the concept of a light, nomadic struc-ture emerged — a sort of caravan that could land in Milan and then fly off to another city. It had to be easily assembled and disas-sembled. It had to convey the impression of a home with different living spaces.

Shigeru Ban is the architect of lightness and of ephemeral structures. He and his partner, Jean de Gastines, used very simple materials — cardboard tubes and paper, which can look very cheap — but assembled them in such a way as to give the impression of high craftsmanship.

WWD: How would you describe the brand’s new furniture? What was behind your decision to single out and work with Enzo Mari and Antonio Citterio, and how do they work for Hermès? H.D.: An Hermès object is always about functionality, comfort and timeless elegance — from harnesses and saddles in 1837 to hand-bags and furniture today. You can see the same respect for beauti-ful materials worked by hand, for attention to detail, for the link between tradition and modernity, and for a relationship with time.

Enzo Mari has had a special relationship with Hermès ever since he was the first president of the jury for the Emile Hermès design prize. His work is driven by the idea of the “essence” of a project, the search for the purest lines and the best materials.…Extreme simplicity with the noblest materials is hard to achieve, but the result is profoundly “Hermès.” He designed a simple yet strong desk, a chair with a secret storage compartment and an im-posing table in marble.

With Antonio Citterio, we had long discussions about tradition in furniture. He loves the elegance of Jean-Michel Frank’s collec-tions, and the idea of pieces of furniture designed for a specific use, but he was also inspired by the idea of travel that Rena Dumas had brought to the Pippa collection. His living room furniture establish-

es the link between Hermès’ tradition and its contemporary vision.Certain pieces also caught his eye when he visited our conserva-

toire [archives], such as a saddle support, which gave him the idea for an arm for his armchair and lounge chair. His objects tell stories about Hermès. This collection is also a tribute to the interplay among noble materials, whether they be leather, wood, metal or fabrics.

WWD: How has your relationship with Denis Montel evolved for this home line?H.D.: Denis Montel is the artistic director of RDAI [Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure]. Denis worked with Rena Dumas for 10 years as an architect and designer before taking over as head of the agency. RDAI has designed interior architecture for all Hermès boutiques. We are used to calling our flagships our “maisons.” RDAI has also designed a lot of objects for Hermès, both tableware and furniture, like Pippa. So when we wanted to launch a chair to embody Hermès’ core values as a saddle maker, we decided with Pierre-Alexis to consult Denis, who collaborates with the French designer Eric Benqué.

The brief was very precise: We wanted a trans-versal chair that could be used anywhere in the house with any piece of furniture. We wanted it to be simple, with uphol-stery, either in leather or canvas, that could be removed easily for cleaning. The result is a chair that is quintessentially

Hermès. At the start, they drew some-thing very simple, but then they re-ally studied the comfort of the chair and the relationship between the seat and the body, just as you do with a saddle. I think this chair might well be our signature object.

WWD: What is Dedar’s strength and how will it enhance Hermès products? Is Hermès furniture also made in Italy?H.D.: We knew Hermès could bring something unique to [home fabrics and wallpapers], due to our rich heritage of illustrations printed on silk scarves and accessories and our sense for textile quality for more than 75 years.

We also know that it is a difficult market, in which you have to be an ex-pert in logistics, service and distribu-tion, so we looked for a partner with whom we could really develop this side of things.

[We first met] with the Fabrizio family, with whom we share the same values of quality and sense of family

business. We appreciated their modern approach and expertise. We created a joint venture in which Hermès keeps creation and image control while Dedar brings its expertise in technical development, logistics and distribution.

The majority of our furniture is made in Italy. We choose the very best local savoir faire, and that is why we chose to produce in Italy. We worked with our supplier to make sure that their stan-dards of quality matched our own. Our supplier and our leather research and development artisans pooled their expertise.

WWD: What’s the distribution plan for the collection?H.D.: Our Jean-Michel Frank furniture collections are already displayed in France in our two stores. at Faubourg Saint-Honoré and Rue de Sèvres. and will soon be launched in several Hermès stores around the world, starting in the U.S., then Asia and Europe. The contemporary furniture collections will be available starting in October in those stores. Within two years, around 40 Hermès stores will carry the complete world of “la Maison.”

Our furnishing fabrics and wallpapers will also be distributed in a specialized network of retailers and showrooms.

The price reflects the quality; at Hermès we are used to saying that our products are “costly.” But they are made by true crafts-men, and they last a very long time.

Hermès is going home.The storied French luxury house makes its debut at the Salone

Internazionale del Mobile this year, showcasing its first comprehen-sive home collection. Hermès will introduce a contemporary furniture line, created by its artistic director, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, in collabora-tion with top international designers including Enzo Mari, Antonio Citterio, Denis Montel and Eric Benqué.

The pieces will be available starting this fall in select Hermès stores around the world. The company will also introduce a collection of home fabrics, wallpaper and carpets through a joint venture with Italian textile producer Dedar, available in May.

Hélène Dubrule, managing director Hermès Maison, discusses the brand’s latest product extension.

— luIsA ZArgAnI

A Maison for the Maison

A chair by Enzo Mari for Hermès

Antonio Citterio’s divan for Hermès.

50 yearsyoung.

STZ

Salone Internazionale del MobileEuroluce, International Lighting ExhibitionSaloneUfficio, International Biennial Workspace ExhibitionInternational Furnishing Accessories ExhibitionSaloneSatellite

Milan Fairgrounds, Rho, 12/17.04.2011

Cosmit spa

Foro Buonaparte 65

20121 Milan, Italy

+39 02725941

+39 028911563 fax

www.cosmit.it

e-mail info@cosmit.it

WWDSTYLE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011S6

milan design week

Launch PadMyriad products have been introduced at Salone del Mobile and reached “classic” design status. Here are eight bowing this year whose designers hope they’ll follow that path. By Christine Lee

s Cherry TerraceThe Palmhouse kettle in stainless steel with four

different handle colors is from Cherry Terrace, an up-and-coming Japanese brand made up of young designers.

This kettle, along with several other Cherry Terrace products, will be available for sale exclusively at La Rinascente department stores throughout the week.

s ItalampThis ceiling lamp

comprising pendants in porcelain, leather,

steel, crystal, glass and Swarovski Elements can be combined in

different ways to vary the look.

Thomas HeatherwickA spinning top- inspired chair called “Spun (Coriolis)” comes in bronzed-brass or steel with a black acid finish.

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s AlessiThe Piana folding chair,

made of 100 percent recycled polypropylene, was designed

by British architect David Chipperfield and comes in

six bright colors.

AzucenaThe entre-deux

space divider was created by German

designer Konstantin Grcic, who took

inspiration from the Azucena archives.

CassinaA revisited version of the outdoor

Tokyo chaise lounge, which was intro-duced in 1940 by Charlotte Perriand.

FaraoneJewelry brand

Faraone teamed up with architect

Massimo Iosa Ghini to create this brass LED ceiling lamp.

MarniThe chair’s base

is made of recycled materials, covered in padding

and wrapped in strips of

polyvinyl chloride.

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To mark the 50th anniversary of the Salone del Mobile, the Triennale Design Museum will host an exhibition dedicated to the history of Italian design.

Named “Le fabbriche dei sogni,” or loosely translated, “Dream Factory,” the show will celebrate significant artists, companies and projects that characterized the development and success of this sector.

About 200 iconic design pieces will be presented in a fairy -tale atmosphere referring to the imaginative worlds of Lewis Carroll and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Here’s a dozen of Italian design’s greatest hits. — AlessAndrA TurrA

WWDSTYLE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011S8

milan design week

699 Superleggera 1951Who: Gio Ponti for CassinaWhat: Considered one of Ponti’s three master-pieces (the others include the Pirelli Tower in Milan and the Concattedrale of Taranto, Italy), this clean and minimal chair, consisting of an ash-wood frame and an India cane seat, weighs under four pounds.

Sella 1957Who: Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for ZanottaWhat: The “telephone stool,” designed by the Castiglioni brothers for the living room of their Villa Olmo on Lake Como, represents an homage to Marcel Duchamp’s ready-made art technique. The adjustable leather saddle, taken from a racing bike, sits atop a pink painted steel tube supported by a heavy cast-iron base.

Arco 1962Who: Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for FlosWhat: The epitome of simplicity and functionality, this minimal

floor lamp is made of a combination of three basic geometric shapes: a white Carrara marble rectangular base, a glossy stainless steel arch and a semi-spherical aluminum reflector.

Eclisse 1967Who: Vico Magistretti for ArtemideWhat: Serving as a lamp for table or wall, the painted metal Eclisse can be considered an ode to the sphere. The base is a semisphere and the reflector is a truncated sphere containing a smaller one. They can be rotated indepen-dently around a vertical axis to direct and regulate the light.

Portariviste 1971Who: Giotto Stoppino for KartellWhat: Portariviste is a practical, four-compartment magazine rack that’s carried by a strategic cutout on top that acts as a handle.

Sciangai 1973Who: Jonathan De Pas and Donato D’Urbino for ZanottaWhat: Inspired by the ancient Chinese game “Pick Up Sticks,” the Sciangai coat-stand consists of eight beech wood poles fanning out from a steel joint in the middle. Its practical structure allows it to close when not in use.

Tavolo con ruote 1980Who: Gae Aulenti for FontanaArteWhat: To design this iconic four-wheeled glass table, Italian archi-tect Aulenti took inspira-tion from one of the manufacturing processes at the FontanaArte factory, where the glass plates were moved around on wood boards with wheels.

Cabina dell’Elba 1980Who: Aldo Rossi for MolteniWhat: Rossi conceived the idea for this wardrobe, which resembles a typical beach cabin, during a period spent on Elba Island off the coast of Tuscany.

Miss Sissi 1990Who: Philippe Starck for FlosWhat: The Miss Sissi table lamp, which comes in a wide range of

bold colors, combines a retro shape with the use of an innovative injec-tion-molded polycarbonate.

StarLed Light 2001Who: Alberto Meda and Paolo Rizzatto for LuceplanWhat: Described by the company as “the candle of the third millennium,” StarLed Light is a table lamp featuring LED technology. A gem-inspired prism contains an LED bulb atop a methacrylate base.

Scrigno 2009Who: Fernando and Humberto Campana for EdraWhat: This wood cabinet — which implies “treasure chest” — features two panels that open outward like wings, embellished with laser-cut acrylic and colored mirror fragments.

As Milan’s international Salone del Mobile turns 50 this year, WWD caught up with Carlo Guglielmi, president of Cosmit, the association that organizes the trade show, to take stock of this milestone event.

— luisA ZArgAni

WWD: What makes the Salone stand out and enjoy such long-lasting success?Carlo Guglielmi: The most striking evolution of the Salone took place 10 years ago, when it changed from a business trade show to a moment of analysis and re-flection on design, furniture, lighting and kitchen, seal-ing an increas-ingly stronger con-nection between culture and indus-trial products.

This is not only a trade show but a cultural event. That’s why we’ve also orga-nized cultural exhibits outside of Italy, to bring our image abroad, as we did in New York between November and December with Peter Greenaway’s [revisitation of Leonardo’s] “Last Supper” or the perfor-mance of “Perchance to Dream” by Robert Wilson and Roberto Bolle.

A more cohesive federation with strong and precise views set the path for the Salone’s new course 10 years ago, versus a more casual organization before then. We can still see the results of this turnaround.

WWD: The fashion industry has been looking at the Salone to re-create its open, friendly atmosphere. The Camera della Moda has been involved, and many fashion brands have either been expanding their home col-lections or actively participating at the de-sign week. How do you feel about all this?C.G.: Fashion and interiors are two very different sectors, with a different pres-ence and different ways to communicate. We greet 340,000 people and have 5,700 shows, we count 2,500 exhibitors and draw 6,000 journalists. Fashion shows can ac-commodate 800 guests at the most, who are generally the same every season. What the fashion industry is doing is praisewor-thy…to hold a series of events in the city, so that this is like a festival that reaches out to everyone.

WWD: What special events are organized during the upcoming Salone?C.G.: In Piazza Duomo [the city’s cathe-dral], artists will reinterpret a number of relevant scientific discoveries, and in the central Piazza San Fedele we will create a virtual forest, with sounds and even fog, paying tribute to light, given it’s the year of Euroluce [the Salone’s biennial show dedicated to lighting]. There will also be an exhibition of young designers with Citroën, which will present its new cars on Via Montenapoleone. WWD: How does Cosmit feel about its 50th anniversary? C.G.: We don’t want this to be an edition of self-celebration. We are trying to look at the future, but it will also be a moment to remember Rosario Messina [former influ-ential Cosmit president in the 1999-2008 pe-riod who died suddenly in March], continu-ing to work and to reinterpret his views.

AT THE HALF-CENTURY MARK Greatest Hits s Gnomi 1999Who:

Philippe Starck for Kartell

What: The comical and

unconventional Attila, Napoleon and Saint-Esprit pieces can be

used as both stools and occasional tables. The three gnomes

feature flat, circular hats — a perfect spot to rest that cocktail.

WWDSTYLE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011S10

milan design weekMy Favorite Things

s Rossella Jardini, creative director, Moschino:

“Poltrona Frau’s Vanity Fair chair in red leather, because

it was Franco Moschino’s favorite

design piece.”

s Consuelo Castiglioni, Marni: “Joe Colombo’s white lac-quered chair from 1964,

Model 4801 for Kartell. It’s perfectly clean, elegant in line and its curved wood is a feat of engineering. I live

with two of them.”

s Jacopo Etro: “The Parentesi lamp. The

light! I love lighting design because on a

technological level, it has always been the most

advanced, thanks to the focus on development,

innovation and research. It’s a kind of design

that always looks toward the future. If we also

think about lighting de-sign of the Fifties, Sixties

and Seventies, we can find lamps that are still contemporary, revisited and reedited with actual

technological evolutions.”

Fashion designers reveal their top home design pieces.

Giorgio Armani: “I admire everything that strong-ly transmits a sense of history, like the work of Jean-Michel Frank, a father of Art Deco, who has always impressed me for his modern, mini-mal aesthetics.”

Karl Lagerfeld: “Marc Newson’s hourglass and Studio Job’s paper chandelier — I love those objects because there is a new modernity, post-minimalism without a postmodern spirit.”

Vera Wang: “I have a pair of empire chairs by [Georges] Jacob. They are a pair of Ram’s Head chairs that are extraordinary. You can put them in a modern apartment or in a traditional set-ting. These are the things that become objet.”

Sir Paul Smith: “The paper clip — small, maybe, but a stroke of genius, definitely!”

Pierre Cardin: The Levitron floating globe. “Suspended in the air, it has something power-ful, even if it seems to be fragile.”

Roland Mouret: “One of my favorite pieces of furni-ture in my new store in [London’s] Mayfair is a pair of Jacques Charpentier sofas, reupholstered in beautiful metallic velvet, reminiscent of the chic Parisian interiors of the late Seventies.”

Alberta Ferretti: “The Triennale lamp designed by Angelo Lelli in 1951 for Arredoluce, because its clean and essential design makes it a timeless, everlasting design piece, a work of art.”

Anna Molinari: “I’m particularly fond of Carla Tolomeo’s chair-sculptures, imaginative and exuberant handcrafted creations. Where paint-ers use colors, Tolomeo uses fabrics and prints to create unconventional mixes and combina-tions that, transmitting happiness and posi-tivity, perfectly match my personal aesthetic taste. In particular, the chairs with the back in the shape of a maxi rose reflect my passion for this seductive and feminine flower.”

Brunello Cuccinelli: “I’m fascinated by objects like the Tripolina, created by an anonymous de-signer in the Fifties. This chair is very close to the person and features a structure that is very essential but functional.…The four crossed poles, covered with a rectangular piece of leather or fabric, may resemble the first funda-mental objects used by primitive man.”

Silvia Venturini Fendi: “A small wood and steel kitchen designed by Joe Colombo in the Sixties. It has two burners, some small cup-boards and it is set on wheels. For me, it’s the perfect example of an object that is beautiful and functional at the same time.”

Diego Della Valle: “One of my favorite’s is the Ron Arad Wave staircase. I like how it merges con-ceptual design with technical excellence. It is one of my favorite design pieces because of its clean, linear shape in stainless steel, render-ing it iconic and contemporary.”

Tory Burch: “I have two pieces that I especially love — a Billy Baldwin Parsons table and a hand-painted Karl Springer coffee table. Both pieces are different, but I love that both Baldwin and Springer believed in mixing in-fluences. For Baldwin, it was his mastery of print-on-print and the idea that a room could look beautiful and yet be someplace where you could relax and really live in. Springer had diverse inspirations — China, Africa, Art Deco, Bauhaus — and brought it all together so seamlessly in his designs.”

Elie Tahari: “I love the work of Ico Parisi. I bought a beautiful desk by him at Art Basel in Miami about three years ago and it’s one of my favorite pieces. It has beautiful lines made out of walnut intertwined with bronze elements on the legs and a large oval glass top. I’ve since bought a couple of other pieces of his, includ-ing another small desk that I actually have in my SoHo store.”

s Donatella Versace: “My new iMac…supertechnological, extremely beautiful in terms of design and easy to use.”

s Ennio Capasa: “I really like Thomas Heatherwick’s works because he combines a respect for the

environment with a strong, innovative point of view.”

Frida Giannini, Gucci creative director:

“Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair, one of the

biggest icons of international design.

It’s my favorite be-cause it’s timeless,

stylish and works with any kind of decor.”

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WWDSTYLE wednesday, april 6, 2011S12

denim

NPD: New Styles Boosting Women’s Jeans

By DaviD Moin

after rebounDing in 2010, abercrombie & fitch has become more bullish on the future.

the specialty retailer now sees global sales reaching at least $7.5 billion by 2015, and split roughly even between domestic and foreign operations as it spreads its sexy, youthful, casual appeal worldwide.

a&f has also projected earnings of $4.75 a share for the year, well ahead of Wall Street’s estimate of $3.97 a share.

the heady forecasts, made during the retailer’s investor day con-ference at its Columbus, ohio, headquarters, pushed the stock up 10.8 percent tuesday, or $6.40, to $65.57, its highest level in nearly three years. it was the strongest performing issue among the 170 tracked by WWD, coming on a day when the S&P retail index hit a new 52-week high of 529.47 before ending the day at 526.77, up 1.3 percent.

the 2015 projection represents more than a doubling of the re-tailer’s revenues, which came to $3.47 billion last year. for 2010, the company reported $150.3 million in net income versus $300,000 in 2009, and a 7 percent comp-store sales gain. During the recession, a&f struggled with margins and pricing concerns, remaining stub-bornly nonpromotional but loosening up as the downturn worsened.

the conference focused on overseas growth, where “four-wall” mar-gins are 35 percent versus 20 percent in the u.S. However, a&f’s chair-man and chief executive officer Michael Jeffries stressed, “We are not going to populate the world the way we did the u.S.”

as of the end of last year, the company operated in the u.S. 316 a&f, 181 abercrombie, 502 Hollister and 18 gilly Hicks stores. overseas, there were nine a&f units, four abercrombies, 38 Hollister units and one gilly Hicks.

“our first priority is controlling these brands,” Jeffries said. “We are obsessive about controlling these brands. the experience and the product is the same from city to city. We tend to sell the same things in the same strength in all of our stores. it’s a remarkable thing, but it makes operating our business easier.”

“over the next several years we see a number of key growth driv-ers,” said Jonathan ramsden, a&f’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, who spelled out the expansion plans. among those cited:

■ twenty international abercrombie & fitch flagships will be oper-ating by the end of 2012, including the five already in business. those scheduled to open include one in the alte Post building in Hamburg, and another in the Pedder building in Hong Kong “to pave our way into China,” ramsden said. “We see global sales annualized at $1.25 billion” for the abercrombie & fitch brand, ramsden said.

■ Hollister, a&f’s younger brand inspired by the laid-back, Southern California beach lifestyle, sees another 40 openings overseas, including 30 in europe this year, on top of the 38 as of 2010. the store count, over the long term, will be “in the high one hundreds,” around 185, ramsden said. “We see a $1.5 billion po-tential,” he said. regarding Hollister’s expansion in asia, “it’s too early to put specific numbers on Hollister’s opportunities,” he said. a&f also has designs on expanding into the Southern Hemisphere, though not until 2014. “it’s a whole different kettle of fish when you are in two different climate zones. We’ll have to address it as a whole separate proposition,” Jeffries said.

in other developments cited by executives:■ Direct to consumer sales should reach $1 billion in the next

few years.■ four or five concepts for clearance and factory outlet venues are

being tested.■ there’s a “long-term opportunity for gilly Hicks but it’s too

soon to get specific,” Jeffries said. gilly Hicks sells bras, under-wear, personal care products, sleepwear and at-home products.

■ improved productivity at u.S. stores is seen, as weak units get closed. the retailer expects to achieve 90 percent of 2007’s produc-tivity by 2012 and eventually 100 percent, although no time frame was set.

a nearly 20 percent surge in u.S. jeans sales helped wom-en’s apparel sales expand 2.8 percent in the three months through february, according to market research firm the nPD group.

“the increase is primar-ily due to women buying more pairs of jeans and at higher price points,” said Marshal Cohen, nPD’s chief industry analyst. “and with the influx of new styles this year, women may just need a few more pairs.”

Dollar figures for the three-month period weren’t available for jeans, but women’s appar-el sales hit $26.9 billion. in 2010, women’s jeans sales were up 2.6 percent to $8.64 billion, nPD reported previ-ously, while women’s apparel sales overall rose 2.9 percent to $107.61 billion.

the majority of growth in women’s jeans volume last year was attributable to the explo-sion in jeggings sales, which more than tripled, to $271.3 mil-lion. “as we see new jeans sil-houettes gain in popularity, we may see jeggings’ growth slow,” Cohen said.

a move to higher price points represents a reversal of last year’s pricing trend. Sales of women’s jeans selling for $50 or more de-

clined 6.4 percent to $1.36 billion, and the decline in men’s jeans at those prices was even more severe — down 17.3 percent to $621 million.

upscale jeans for men might have been a tough sell in 2010, but the

same could hardly be said of men’s apparel in general, which grew 3.3 percent to $52.82 billion. Men’s business got even stronger in the three months just covered by nPD, growing 12 percent. Dollar figures weren’t available, but Cohen cited outerwear and fleecewear as out-standing categories, with growth in each exceeding 30 percent.

“based on what we are seeing in the recent market data, the cat-

egories that are going to prosper are those that are a combination of basics and replenishment as well as

some impulse and fashion categories,” the analyst said of the men’s apparel outlook.

in the three months, tailored cloth-ing sales expanded more than 30 percent,

men’s neckwear 26 percent and dress shirts 9.7 percent. “Whether it’s for social

or career reasons, men are displaying a desire to upgrade their wardrobes and use dress-ing up as a vehicle to demon-strate the importance of both,” he said.

Men’s wear was among the first clas-sifications to dip when the recession hit and “one of the last to return, but now it’s coming on strong, primarily due to a high level of pent-up demand,” Cohen said.

� —�A.J.K.

glenn MurPHy’S SaCrifiCeS in 2009 came back to him with interest in 2010.

Murphy, chairman and chief executive officer of gap inc., saw his overall pay package grow 18 percent last year, to $5.9 million from $5 million in 2009. after he voluntarily reduced his salary 15 percent, or $225,000, in 2009, it returned to its regular level of $1.5 million in 2010. and in appreciation of both his stewardship of the San francisco-based firm and his willingness to earn less “given a highly uncertain busi-ness environment,” gap’s compensation committee awarded him a special bonus of $635,000.

although his nonequity incentive plan compensation was cut by slightly more than half to $1.7 million, he was granted $1.8 million in stock awards, versus none the year before. He re-ceived no option awards in 2009 or 2010. other compensation expanded 18 percent to $281,000 from $163,000.

because of fluctuating stock prices and vesting schedules, stock and option awards aren’t nec-essarily realized by the named executive officer, but companies are required to include them in the compensation tables when submitting proxies to the Securities and exchange Commission, as gap did on tuesday.

last year, gap’s profits increased 9.3 percent, to $1.1 billion, while sales rose 3.3 percent, to $14.66 billion, and improved 1 percent on a same-store basis.

in a another SeC filing tuesday, ann inc. reported that Kay Krill registered a 13.4 percent increase in total compensation last year, as her bonus and stock awards followed the company’s earnings trajectory upward.

Krill, president and ceo of the company previously known as anntaylor Stores Corp., earned a total of $10.3 million last year, up from $9.1 million in 2009. Her salary was unchanged at $1.2 million, but her bonus grew 18.9 percent to $5.2 million, from $4.3 million, and the sum of her stock and option awards was up 14.5 percent to $3.9 million, from $3.4 million, despite a 30.4 percent decline in option awards to $1.2 million.

Krill’s “other” compensation dropped to $16,000 from $101,000 in 2009. last year, car service accounted for just under $10,000 of that total, down from $36,000 in 2009, and the reimbursement for taxes in connection with car service, nearly $29,000 in 2009, was waived entirely.

the proxy highlighted the recent improvement in ann’s performance, noting that while its op-erating profit rose 352 percent and its stock price was up 74 percent last year, the total compensa-tion for all “named executive officers, including the ceo,” was up a far more modest 11 percent and the ceo’s total compensation grew 13 percent.

in the fiscal year ended Jan. 29, the company swung to a profit of $73.4 million from a net loss of $18.2 million in 2009, while revenues increased 8.3 percent to $1.98 billion.

� —�ARNOLD�J.�KARR

Gap’s Murphy, Ann’s Krill Get Compensation Hikes

A&F Sees $7.5B In Sales by 2015

Hollister, seen here in New York’s SoHo,

has the potential to be a $1.7 billion brand according to

the company.

Hollister, seen here in New York’s SoHo,

has the potential to be a $1.7 billion brand according to

the company.

Sales of jeggings more than tripled in 2010.

Glenn Murphy