Karl Lagerfeld to Launch Fragrance Masterbrand
Longtime fragrance aficionado Karl Lagerfeld’s new signature fragrance masterbrand that’s due out this month. The Karl Lagerfeld women’s eau de parfum includes notes of lemon, peach, rose, magnolia, plumeria, musks and woods while the men’s eau de toilette has notes of lavender, mandarin zest, apple, violet leaves, sandalwood and amber. The women’s fragrance comes in 85-, 45- and 25-ml. spray versions, which are to retail for $118, $82 and $54. There will also be a body milk. The men’s scent is to be offered in 100-, 50- and 30-ml. bottles, which are to go for $100, $76 and $54, respectively.
Lagerfeld’s silhouette (replete with ponytail and shades) appears on sleeves surrounding the fragrances’ outer black-and-white packaging, its top and the bottle cap. The bottles — black for the men’s and clear for the women’s, allowing for the dusty pink liquid to show through — have a collar around their necks, reminiscent of Lagerfeld watches, and a generous amount of glass.
The fragrances will be launched worldwide through September. They are to come out exclusively in the U.K.’s Harrods starting Sunday, followed by the U.S., where from Tuesday they will be sold exclusively at Macy’s and on macys.com through the fall, when the duo will be rolled out to broader distribution countrywide.
CFDA Fashion Incubator Brands Heading to L.A. Market Week
Once their two-year program wraps up later this month, all 10 CFDA Fashion Incubator brands will be off to Los Angeles Market Week. Presented by the CFDA Fashion Incubator and W Hotels Worldwide, the four-day trip will include a private tour with Diane von Furstenberg of “Journey of a Dress” at LACMA, brunch with L.A.-based jewelry designer Irene Neuwirth and a studio tour with Band of Outsiders’ Scott Sternberg. The highlight will be the 10-brand group’s daylong retailer, media and stylist showcase at the W Hollywood on March 18. Afterward, W Hotels will throw a cocktail party to toast the designers’ success over the past two years.
Los Angeles will mark the third city that the CFDA Fashion Incubator designers have traveled to for showcases. Through a partnership with W Hotels, which started in September 2012, the CFDA Fashion Incubator also held showcases at the hotel chain’s outposts in Dallas and Atlanta.
Cotton On Seeks Chinese Partner to Challenge Zara, H&M Dominance
Cotton On Group, a clothing chain with 1,300 stores globally, said it will invest in China to step up its overseas expansion and challenge the dominance of Fast Retailing Co.’s Uniqlo and Hennes & Mauritz AB.
The Australian casual-wear retailer is seeking a partner to help with language and regulatory barriers as it plans to set up new stores in the world’s second-biggest economy. Cotton On, along with apparel companies such as Fast Retailing and Inditex SA’s Zara, are expanding in China as rising incomes boost buying power. Cotton On Group, which also owns brands including Rubi Shoes, Supré and Typo, is opening more than 100 stores in Asian markets including South Korea, Japan and Vietnam to cut its reliance on Australia, which made up 55 percent of sales last year. Cotton On expects its Asian operations to contribute 20 percent to total sales this year, an increase from 15 percent the year before.
– Selicia A. Walker
Source: WWD, BOF
