Italian Heritage Brand Serapian Lands Stateside

Italian handbag brand Serapian is officially making landfall in the U.S. this year. The 70-year-old Milanese label, regarded by Italian consumers for its classic handmade designs sold at relatively affordable prices, has signed an LLC partnership that will enable it to jump-start retail, wholesale and e-commerce operations Stateside. The first phase of this endeavor — a men’s wholesale partnership with Barneys New York — is already under way with styles available in eight of the department store’s doors, as well as the Barneys Web site. Phase two, Serapian’s first U.S. stand-alone store, will open at 204 North Rodeo Drive next month. The 900-square-foot space, designed by Milanese design firm Laboratorio 83, is expected to open by mid-April. “We are doing a very handmade product, I would say an intelligent one, and [by coming to the U.S.] we are focusing on a market that, I think, can understand Serapian’s work,” Giovanni Nodari, Serapian’s marketing manager, said of the expansion. “Americans’ taste and knowledge of the Made in Italy brand is pretty high.” Serapian, founded by Stefano Serapian and Gina Flori in 1945 and now presided over by their son Arda Serapian, employs 100 artisans in-house to create its bag range. These technicians also manufacture leather

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Michael Froman Assures Industry on TPP

WASHINGTON — U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, touting a resurgence in U.S. textile manufacturing in a speech on Thursday, pledged to a conference of U.S. textile producers that there would be “no surprises” in an Asia-Pacific trade deal the U.S. is negotiating. Froman praised the members of the National Council of Textile Organizations, attending their annual confab here, for forging a close and “unprecedented” partnership with the Obama administration, which has said it is in the final stages of completing negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement between the U.S. and 11 other countries. Froman’s pledge reassured textile executives, who have been pressing the U.S. not to water down its proposal for a “yarn-forward” rule of origin that requires apparel be made of fabric and yarns supplied by the U.S. or other TPP partner countries to qualify for duty-free benefits when shipped back to the U.S. But textile producers are concerned that if there are any changes to provisions that give Vietnam, a TPP partner country and the second-largest apparel supplier to the U.S., more duty-free access to the American market in the final stage of negotiations, it could undermine their business in the Western Hemisphere that has strengthened in recent years. This could

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Travel Retail Conference Hails ‘China Century’

SHANGHAI — The evolving nature of the Chinese consumer and the importance of technology were major themes of the Tax Free World Association China’s Century Conference, held here earlier this month. The three-day conference was attended by hundreds of delegates from China and around the world, including representatives from international luxury brands such as Calvin Klein, Chanel, Bally and Furla. For TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen, the conference’s main points included catering to the changing needs of Chinese consumers with more unique and bespoke offerings and investing in technologically savvy marketing and promotional activities. “The growing importance of experience, the individualization of the Chinese consumer, their growing sophistication and focus on quality in both products and customer service, as well as the need for an online presence to complement, but not replace, the traditional retail model. These are all important for our industry,” he said. There’s little doubt that the Chinese consumer is a vital part of the international tax-free and travel retail sectors, with 2014 seeing the wider world inundated with more than 100 million outbound Chinese travelers who spent $165 billion, according to Chinese government estimates. Though these numbers are already substantial, they are only expected to rise over the coming five years. “Emerging Asia

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WWD Stock Tracker Decline Outpaces U.S. Indices

Stocks tried hard to regain losses after a big sell-off yesterday, but finished the day mostly down amid a strong government report on declining jobless claims and reports from economists regarding the certainty of an interest rate hike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2 percent to close at 17,678.23 while the S&P 500 lost 0.24 percent to finish at 2,056.15 while the WWD Global Stock Tracker slipped 0.5 percent to close at 114.66. All the major indices has treaded in positive territory at points throughout the day, but still ended the day in the red. Of the 100 issues in the WWD tracker, 75 declined while 21 advanced and four were unchanged from yesterday’s close. One notable advancer was Lululemon Athletica Inc., which reported strong quarterly sales and earnings. For tomorrow, global investors will be keeping an eye on crude oil prices, which jumped today 4.3 percent, as well as economic indicators in Europe that include retail sales for Germany and Italy as well as home prices in the United Kingdom. U.S. gross domestic product tallies are also on deck. Click Here for the WWD Global Stock Tracker >>

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