Vivarte to Trim 1,481 Employees

PARIS – Ailing French retail group Vivarte said it plans to lay off 1,481 employees at its various chains. The cuts include 1,344 jobs at La Halle, 105 at André and 32 at Kookaï. Out of 608 stores, 197 stores are to be shuttered, including 23 transferred to other banners of the group. The footwear brand André will lay off 10 percent of its staff, while at Kookaï cuts will mostly be in support functions. Workers in La Halle stores, logistics and headquarters are the most affected. The strategy for La Halle consists in focusing on high potential stores, and repositioning on the low-end segment to appeal to the brand’s core family-oriented and suburban clientele, a spokesman told WWD. Another axis of the group’s strategy is to develop e-commerce across brands, he added. The apparel and footwear specialist, whose stable of brands also includes Caroll, Naf Naf, Chevignon, Minelli and Cosmoparis, employs some 20,000 employees and counts about 4,500 stores. The group has been battling a morose economic climate, with an all-out effort to renovate and reinvigorate its key banners. It is understood that sales dropped 10 percent in fiscal 2014 to 2.7 billion euros, or $3.63 billion at average exchange rates. Last year, Vivarte reached an agreement

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Valentino Uomo Dominates French Fifi Awards

PARIS – French fragrance industry executives turned out en masse to celebrate the French Fifi Awards, held Tuesday night in the Pavillon d’Armenonville nestled among trees in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris’ outskirts. They marked the 23rd year that the Fragrance Foundation France hosted the event, during a sit-down dinner for more than 470 professionals. The biggest winner of the night among the fragrances launched in 2014 was Valentino Uomo, from Valentino, which swept two prizes in the men’s category: best scent and bottle design – voted on by industry professionals – and the Fifi d’Or Masculin – chosen by a small jury of people from the artistic and cultural worlds. Jean Paul Gaultier, Pierre Hermé, Dorothée Gilbert and Ali Mahdavi were among those participating in the Fifi d’Or award selection, which was new this session. The prize recompenses a scent for all of its qualities – including advertising, fragrance and bottle design. Two scents boasted a couple of awards each: Black Opium from Yves Saint Laurent and Guerlain’s L’Homme Idéal. Industry professionals handed Black Opium prizes for the best fragrance and best advertising campaign for a women’s scent. L’Homme Idéal was chosen as the best men’s scent in selective distribution by 26,000 people from

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