Zara Parent Sells Russian Real Estate; Van Crashes Into Chanel, Again – WWD

Selling Stores: Zara parent company Inditex will sell its business in Russia, after shuttering their doors seven months ago.

In a filing with Spanish regulators after market close, Inditex said it has reached an initial agreement with Daher group to take over its stores there.

“Daher group has prominent interests in the retail and real estate industry,” the company said in a statement. “The terms of the transaction, subject to government approval, will enable the preservation of a substantial number of jobs generated by Inditex Group in Russia, as it includes the transfer of most of the lease contracts related to stores.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Before the locations closed at the start of the war in Ukraine, Inditex operated 502 stores in Russia, including 86 Zara doors. It is also the parent company of Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius.

The properties will no longer house Inditex brand stores, it added. “Subject to agreement by the landlords, these premises will accommodate stores of brands owned by the buyer group, unrelated to Inditex. The transaction will mean the termination of Inditex’s operations in the Russian Federation.”

However Inditex said the deal with Daher leaves the door open, if circumstances within Russia change, to reopen stores under a “potential collaboration through a franchise agreement.”

In results reported in September, Inditex hit a historic high with sales soaring 24.5 percent in the first half of 2022, while profits were up 41 percent. Gross margin was up 57.9 percent, marking the strongest first half in seven years, despite the Russia closures.

Prior to closing its operations, Russia accounted for roughly 10 percent of its global sales. The company took a write-down of 216 million euros related to closing stores in the first half of the year.

“Inditex estimates that the provision included in the first half 2022 financial statements sufficiently covers the impact of the termination of the Group’s business activities in the Russian Federation,” the company added. — RHONDA RICHFORD

Chanel Targeted: For the second time in three months, thieves drove a van through the front of a Chanel store near Beverly Hills, California, in a smash-and-grab burglary.

The incident at 125 North Robertson Boulevard was reported at 2:53 a.m. on Tuesday when a Mercedes-Benz van, believed to be stolen, rammed through the front grill and window of the store. An on-site armed security guard confronted the suspects and later notified authorities of the incident, said Det. Bernard Romero of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“Once the suspects saw the guard, they fled the location,” Romero said. “If he hadn’t been there, they would have taken more.”

The suspects left the van behind, which was impounded by the police department, said LAPD Det. Deann Larkin.  

Hours after the burglary, yellow tape surrounded the structure where the store’s front window was heavily damaged. A thick black grill protecting the window was twisted like a pretzel from the impact and shards of glass carpeted the sidewalk and the store floor. A few mannequins lay strewn inside the store, looking as if they had been tossed.  

Men wearing latex gloves were inside the store taking inventory to see what had been stolen.

This is the second time this Chanel store has been targeted by burglars. On July 20, thieves in the early-morning hours drove a van through the same store front. After entering, as many as eight suspects in three vehicles drove away with undisclosed items, according to the LAPD. They still have not been apprehended, police said.

The Chanel store is not technically in Beverly Hills. It is in a neighborhood called the Beverly Grove, which is down the street from the tony enclave.

Ever since the pandemic began, Beverly Hills luxury stores have been a popular target by thieves.

On Aug. 13, in the early-morning hours, thieves drove a black Chevy sedan through the front of the Neiman Marcus store on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, taking off with undisclosed items, potentially handbags, according to the LAPD.

And on March 22, thieves in three cars drove to a jewelry store in Beverly Hills. Six sledge-hammer-wielding burglars smashed the glass windows and display cases of the store, stealing around $5 million in precious gems, designer watches and necklaces in broad daylight, the LAPD said.

A few weeks ago, three men were indicted for the multimillion-dollar heist. — DEBORAH BELGUM

Going Solo: Gucci is following in the footsteps of some fellow luxury players, announcing it will uncouple its men’s and women’s shows.

The luxury house is expected to return to showing menswear designed by creative director Alessandro Michele on the runway as part of Milan Fashion Week, running Jan. 13 to 17.

Gucci president and chief executive officer announced the move Tuesday during the Milano Global Fashion Summit.

“We have stuck to two displays per year but together with Alessandro [Michele] we decided to put a stronger emphasis on menswear, after holding coed shows for several season,” Bizzarri noted.

Incidentally Michele’s breakout show in January 2015 was a men’s parade during which he introduced the Gucci Princetown slippers and bow-tie shirts that would lay the ground for his fashion lexicon and gain him the top creative job at the Kering-owned house.

Although Milan Men’s Fashion Week is more than two months away, Gucci’s return to the calendar is sure to generate buzz and expand the appeal of men’s fashion weeks in Milan, which have recently been gaining traction after a few years of slimmer editions.

To be sure, dedicated menswear shows are making a comeback, with brands from Versace and Dsquared2 to Givenchy opting for men’s-only showcases.

The Florentine house has experimented with different formats over the past few years. In 2017, it opted for the coed format with Michele asserting that the move reflected “the way I see the world today.”

In 2019, Bizzarri announced Gucci would revert back to separate showcases, but those plans changed in 2020 when COVID-19 hit. Michele decided to hold two coed shows per year as a result of a pandemic-induced pledge to slow down, and renamed seasons, swapping resort and pre-fall for terms borrowed from classical music.

In recent seasons, the brand has not entirely sit out the men’s showcases, opting to present special projects within the context of Milan Men’s Fashion Week.

In June, Michele unveiled the Gucci Ha Ha Ha collection, stemming from his friendship with British singer and actor Harry Styles, while in 2021 it used the fashion week platform to tease Gucci’s centennial collection with which it celebrated its ties with the music world. — MARTINO CARRERA

Marni’s Collab: Marni is embarking on its next fashion collaboration with lifestyle brand No Vacancy Inn.

The Italian design house is furthering its link to the art world through the project, teaming on a collection of men’s, women’s and accessories offerings. The collection fuses Marni creative director Francesco Risso’s affinity for vibrant colors and clashing prints with No Vacancy Inn’s streetwear sensibility. 

The two brands describe the collection as “playing with a shared visual language that uses clothing surfaces as a canvas upon which to lay visually striking symbols that deal with contemporary culture.”

The Marni + No Vacancy Inn collection includes pieces featuring patchwork and collage-like design elements in vibrant colors. Pieces include a patchwork sweatshirt designed with a bird motif, rainbow-themed crochet separates, hand-painted floral separates, patchwork denim jeans and other styles. The collection will be available to purchase in April at Marni retailers and other select retailers internationally. 

The collaboration comes after No Vacancy Inn relaunched this month with a new collection called “Born Cancelled,” which aimed to change the notion of cancel culture. The collection includes pieces like varsity jackets, cargo pants, hoodies and more styles. 

No Vacancy Inn launched in 2015 as a collaboration between Acyde Odunlami, Brock Korsan and Supreme creative director Tremaine Emory as a fashion brand and platform that aims to build a community. 

The collaboration is Marni’s latest project this year. This summer, the fashion house opened its flagship on Via Montenapoleone in Milan, which is also meant to be a creative hub for artists. Earlier this year, Marni also unveiled its first collaboration with footwear brand Veja. — LAYLA ILCHI

Romeo’s Drop: It will only be around for 30 hours, but Romeo Hunte’s first launch with Amazon should leave an impression.

The star designer, who has been mentored over the years by fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger, will be placing a nine-piece capsule collection on Amazon’s The Drop, a trend-focused, street-focused business model, on Halloween Day. The collection will be available for only 30 hours.

The pieces will include a cutout blazer dress that can be worn as a dress or jacket, oversize cargo pants, bodysuits and a stretch leather corset. They will be priced for $100 or less and made to order for each customer. Sizes will range from XXS to 5X.

The under $100 price tag is a departure from Hunte’s regular collection under the Romeo Hunte New York label, where many items sell for $500 and up. But The Drop is a price-focused operation by Amazon that is filled with cutting-edge fashion.

“We are excited to be taking this step with Amazon and look forward to hearing customer feedback,” Hunte said in an email.

The designer said Amazon’s The Drop provided the framework for the capsule, and he provided the creativity and vision for the collection that captures the latest trends.

Hunte, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, attended the Fashion Institute of Technology after turning down two full athletic scholarships for track and field.

Eight years ago, Hunte launched his namesake brand centering on womenswear while working full time as a personal shopper in luxury retail and in editorial styling. He soon caught the attention of Hilfiger.

Last year, the two partnered to launch the Tommy x Romeo capsule collection. The dual-gender fall collection dug into the Hilfiger archives, using Hunte’s signature deconstruction techniques to reconstruct, remix and reimagine iconic pieces such as the classic bonded trench coat remixed with sailing jacket colorblocking or clashed with a leather biker jacket.

Hunte’s designs became popular after Zendaya sported a look he created. Soon, other celebrities donning his work included Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, Selena Gomez, Tessa Thompson and Laverne Cox. — D.B.

Va Va Voom: French actress and model Laetitia Casta is the face of the Roland Mouret resort 2023 campaign, slated to drop online today.

Founder and co-creative director Mouret stated that Casta was the only woman who could transmit “the heritage, future, strength and vulnerability “of this “important new chapter.”

“[She] is an icon for so many deserved reasons, but I am most drawn to her depth of spirit and real understanding of what it means to be a woman,” he continued.

In the images shot by British photographer Harley Weir in Paris, Casta wears a short-sleeved dress with a dramatic curved neckline in a fuchsia pink knit mermaid style, and a chocolate-colored ruched minidress, in a series of sensual visuals which will appear online and on social media.

The collection, the first since the brand was purchased by Han Chong’s SP Collection, is rife with Mouret’s signature curves and cutouts while providing versatile wardrobe options the French designer described as addressing a need for “versatility and consistency — pieces that aren’t trend driven and which are designed to be adaptable to her life and made to be worn and reworn.”

It dropped online on the Roland Mouret website as well as retailers on- and offline, such as MyTheresa, Net-a-porter, Bergdorf Goodman and other key department stores.

Mouret deemed the resort lineup “a very special collection for [him] — it’s one which looks to [his] past in order to influence a newer and modern approach to dressing.”

SP Collection’s chief executive officer Han Chong described this campaign as a “very poignant” debut for the revived brand and part of the newly minted group’s desire to “build a visual language that was reflective of the way the collections speak to a modern customer.”

While Casta is rarely on runways these days, the 44-year-old model has appeared in recent years in ads for Saint Laurent, Valentino and Jacquemus. — LILY TEMPLETON