Coach Announces Further Strengthening of Creative Team

Coach, Inc., a leading marketer of modern classic American accessories, today announced a further strengthening of its creative organization with two key appointments focused on elevating store environments globally.

Lew Frankfort, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coach, Inc., said, “The appointments of Zach Augustine and Erin Thompson to these newly created roles are the latest steps we’ve taken to broaden our capabilities to enhance the Coach experience through product, retail environments and integrated marketing communications. This comprehensive approach to our transformation to a lifestyle brand will add excitement and cachet to Coach.”

Zach Augustine will join Coach as EVP, Global Environments, effective March 11, 2013, reporting to Reed Krakoff. Mr. Augustine will lead initiatives across Visual Merchandising, Architecture and Creative Development partnering with the other leaders to create a consistent and cohesive brand story.

Mr. Augustine joins Coach from Nike, where he held the role of Global Creative Director – Direct-to-Consumer Experience. Prior to Nike, he was co-founder of Winston, a consulting firm that worked with clients on projects ranging from brand identity design to retail and showroom design, development and production. He started his career in visual merchandising at Giorgio Armani and worked in creative leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Diesel, Polo Jeans, Nautica and Levi Strauss before launching Winston.

Additionally, Erin Thompson will join Coach this spring as VP, Artistic Director, Global Environments. In this role, Ms. Thompson will oversee all creative development for windows, in-store, showrooms and events, reporting to Mr. Augustine. Ms. Thompson comes to Coach from Selfridges & Co., in London, where she most recently held the position of Head of Visual, having initially joined the company in 2002. Prior to Selfridges, Ms. Thompson spent twelve years at Mulberry in progressively senior visual merchandising roles.

Reed Krakoff, President and Executive Creative Director, added, “Our stores are our most important point of engagement with our customers - they allow us to showcase the world of Coach in its fullest expression. Both Zach and Erin have extensive and successful track records of creating impactful consumer experiences that will be instrumental in bringing our stores to the next level.”

The company appointed Sandra Hill, EVP Women’s Design who joined Coach in January 2013 with responsibility over all women’s product. Ms. Hill was credited with building out the Women’s business at Paul Smith Ltd., in London where she held increasingly more senior creative positions leading to her elevation to Creative/Design Director Womenswear in 2007, departing in 2011. During her 16 year tenure, she partnered with Paul and was responsible for leading the vision for Women’s across all categories including ready-to-wear and accessories.

Coach had previously appointed Jeffrey Uhl to his current position as SVP Men’s Design in September 2012. He originally joined Coach in July 2010 from Converse. Since joining Coach in 2010, Jeffrey has been instrumental in the transformation and tremendous growth of the Men’s business across all channels and geographies.

Coach, with headquarters in New York, is a leading American marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men, including handbags, men’s bags, women’s and men’s small leathergoods, weekend and travel accessories, footwear, watches, outerwear, scarves, sunwear, fragrance, jewelry and related accessories. Coach is sold worldwide through Coach stores, select department stores and specialty stores, and through Coach’s website at www.coach.com. Coach’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH and Coach’s Hong Kong Depositary Receipts are traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the symbol 6388.

Neither the Hong Kong Depositary Receipts nor the Hong Kong Depositary Shares evidenced thereby have been or will be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account of, a U.S. Person (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act), absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Hedging transactions involving these securities may not be conducted unless in compliance with the Securities Act.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "intend," “ahead,” "estimate," "on track," “on course,” "are positioned to," "continue," "project," "guidance," “target,” "forecast," "anticipated," or comparable terms. Future results may differ materially from management's current expectations, based upon risks and uncertainties such as expected economic trends, the ability to anticipate consumer preferences, the ability to control costs, etc. Please refer to Coach’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete list of risk factors.

Agent describes grisly cannibal talk at NY trial

The trial of a New York police officer accused of conspiring to kill and eat women featured grisly testimony Tuesday as an FBI agent described the Internet correspondence between the officer and a man in Great Britain who spoke as if he were mentoring the officer on the art of cannibalism.

Agent Corey Walsh read passage after passage from emails and text messages between Officer Gilberto Valle and a man the government said used Moody Blues as a screen name and MeatMarketMan as an email address.

"I'm dying to taste some girl meat," the agent said Valle wrote.
Some of the passages went into sickening descriptions about cooking and eating women. Others sounded so absurd they bordered on cartoonish, feeding the defense argument that Valle and friends he met on extreme sexual fetish websites were merely engaging in fantasies.

In describing one potential victim, Moody Blues suggested "cutting off her feet and barbecuing them in front of her" while she was still alive.
Throughout, jurors remained stone-faced as they followed the words on screens before them while Walsh read them aloud in a federal courthouse in Manhattan, where the charges of conspiracy to kidnap and improper use of a federal database system could bring Valle, 28, a life sentence if he's convicted.
The government called several women who were the subjects of some of the Internet correspondence to testify how they knew Valle just before Walsh took the witness stand.

Kimberly Sauer, of Germantown, Md., went to the University of Maryland with Valle and had nothing bad to say about her former classmate. Like the other women, including one who had never met him, she knew nothing about the Internet desires of Valle and the others. On cross-examination, Sauer told defense attorney Julia Gatto that she never felt threatened by Valle.

Sauer learned of the case only after she received from Valle's wife last year in the middle of the night a disturbing Facebook message that sounded so crazy that she texted him to warn that the account must have been hacked. Either that "or you're trying to sell me into white slavery," she recalled joking in the text.

Walsh said Sauer was a central subject for Valle and Moody Blues, who claimed he had fantasized about cannibalism since he was 6 years old but did not fulfill the desire until 35 years later.

In one correspondence, Valle suggests a woman named Kimberly — prosecutors say Sauer — would be easy prey because she lived alone.

"I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her house," he wrote, according to prosecutors.

The agent said Moody Blues suggested eating their victim alive but Valle responded: "I'm not really into raw meat."

Walsh said they also discussed cooking Sauer, basted in olive oil, over an open fire and using her severed head as a centerpiece for a sit-down meal.
"I just can't wait to get Kimberly cooking," the agent quoted Valle as saying.
The agent said Valle's computer had a file titled "Abducting and Cooking Kimberly: A Blueprint," which included a photo of Sauer.

Walsh testified that the federal probe began after Valle's wife, Kathleen Mangan-Valle, in September gave the FBI in Reno, Nev., a computer Valle had used.

Walsh described communications between Valle and his co-defendant, Michael Vanhise, of Trenton, N.J. He said the two negotiated the price to be paid for a Manhattan teacher to be taken to New Jersey in a suitcase for Vanhise to rape and kill.

The agent said Valle asked Vanhise whether he wanted the woman clothed or naked and Vanhise said he wanted her clothed.

"Excellent. I'll leave her clothes on. I'll give you the pleasure of unwrapping your gift," Valle was quoted as saying.

Vanhise, like Valle, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers also say he engaged only in Internet fantasy chats.

The government hasn't said what role Moody Blues, who has been portrayed as a co-conspirator, played in the investigation.

Charming Charlie fashion accessories store opening at Twenty Ninth Street

Charming Charlie Inc., a retailer of women's fashion accessories, plans to open a store at Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street mall, according to building permits recently approved by the city of Boulder.

Charming Charlie leased a 5,900-square-foot space formerly occupied by Ai Sushi and Steak at the southwest corner of Canyon Boulevard and 29th Street. Twenty Ninth Street officials said they purposefully sought a retailer to replace the former restaurant space in the eatery-heavy south neighborhood of the center.

A retailer would pair well with anchor Nordstrom Rack, said J.T. Fulton, Twenty Ninth Street's property manager. "We kind of wanted to bridge the gap," Fulton said. "It made sense to bring some more retailers over there."
The Houston-based Charming Charlie has six locations in Colorado, including a store at The Orchard Town Center in Westminster.

Charming Charlie fills one of the larger vacancies at Twenty Ninth Street. Mall officials have indicated they are in negotiations to fill the two largest openings -- the 7,000-square-foot space vacated last year when MontBell departed to Pearl Street and the 5,500-square-foot former home to Islands Restaurant.

The former Applebee's restaurant at the corner of Walnut and 28th streets will be razed this year and replaced by a Trader Joe's grocery store.

Billionaire Green Plans 10 Topshop Stores in US

British fashion mogul Sir Philip Green plans to open 10 more Topshop stores in the U.S. within 2.5 years, after launching its first Californian branch in Los Angeles last week.

"The Los Angeles reaction was much stronger than we thought. We were about 50 percent above our target," Green told CNBC on Sunday, speaking from London Fashion Week.

Topshop, which is part of Green's fashion conglomerate Arcadia Group, also has branches in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, as well as a partnership with upscale fashion department store Nordstrom (JWN).

Despite weak retail numbers for January from the Commerce Department, Green said "shopping has not ended."
"I think what has happened is the market is getting squeezed where the operators do not have the right merchandize or are not a necessity. Hopefully we have got something slightly different, slightly unique."
Green added that speed-to-market is "more important than ever" for fashion retailers.

"Our speed-to-market has always been very powerful and it continues to be that way. I think that is probably our edge, being able to produce very quickly."

Green refused to comment on reports he has bid for up-for-sale Dreams, whose beds he hopes to sell in his BHS department stores.

"Historically, private equity has bought retail businesses and done a reasonably good job with them. Now you read in the papers that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is back in fashion. We will see," he said.

In December, Green sold a 25 percent stake in Topshop and Topman to LA-based private equity firm Leonard Green, in a deal that valued the high street chain at two billion pounds.

"Fast fashion continues to gain market share, particularly in Europe, and it looks like the U.S. better be prepared to compete with the new entrant," said Stacey Widlitz, the president of SW Retail Advisors, after the sale.

Stocks in major U.S. retailers fell on Friday after Wal-Mart (WMT) leaked an email in which an executive called its February sales a "total disaster". Macy's (NYSE:M), Home Depot (HD) and Target (TGT) traded lower on the news.

AP Photos: NY Fashion Week's beautiful blur

Fashion Week is a beautiful, strange and infinitely colorful event. For eight days twice a year in New York City, the fashion conscious delve into a glamorous world of wearable art.

Using multiple off-camera flashes and long exposures, I created photographs that convey movement on a single frame. One shot and one chance to capture the ebb and flow of Fashion Week's diverse cast of characters.

The concept reflects my perception of the event as organized chaos. Bustling crowds, dramatic lighting and a hectic schedule create a visual storm. Many people have seen video clips of a runway show, but far fewer have been there and felt the booming music and the reaction of the crowds.

My black T-shirt and jeans style may be simple but I've always been aware of the energy on those runways. Big things happen there, and I sought to capture that in motion.

Fashion Bug closes its final stores

After 70 years on the retail landscape, Fashion Bug is out of business.

The moderately-priced women’s specialty clothing chain shut the doors on its final store last week, leaving voids at several Indianapolis-area retail centers.

Those include at least four locations in Indianapolis — on East Thompson Road, West 86th Street, Kentucky Avenue and U.S. 31 — as well as sites in Plainfield, Greenfield, Noblesville and Anderson.

“Who cares?” said Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group, which studies retail trends. “They were a non-player in retail.”

Beemer blames the retailer’s struggles on weak store locations. Many were in B-level strip centers.

“In this competitive environment you are either in the right store location or you’re dead,” he said.

The retailer in the past two decades has also been hit by competition from big box discount stores.

Ascena Retail Group announced it would close all 600 Fashion Bug locations in 43 states in the summer of 2012. That announcement came after Ascena acquired Fashion Bug’s parent company, Charming Shoppes, for about $900 million.

A phone call to Ascena was not immediately returned, but on Fashion Bug’s Facebook page, it thanked its customers for their decades of business.

“Goodbye, adios, au revior. No matter how you say it, it’s time for us to go,” it reads. “It’s been our pleasure to serve you.”

The page also offers a “Find a Brand for You” option that links visitors to other Ascena brands, such as Lane Bryant, Catherine’s and Maurices.

Planet Fashion TV Looking For Trending Cosmetics And Accessories To Feature During Milan Fashion Week

Planet Fashion TV will be hosting a premier cocktail and fashion event during Milan Fashion Week to showcase the best in cosmetics and accessories. The event will also feature the runway collection of Goldbergh, an exciting new winter wear clothing line from Holland .

Milan, Italy (PRWEB) January 31, 2013
Calling all trending cosmetics and accessories brands. Planet Fashion TV will be hosting an exclusive event at Milan Fashion Week from 6pm to 10pm on Saturday February 23rd at the exclusive Sheraton Diana Majestic, Viale Piave 42, 20129 Milano, Italy, for a night of fashion, cocktails, and fun. The HD TV show will have presentation displays of each brand and will feature them live on air. Brands interested in participating should contact Melissa at info@planetfashiontv.
About Planet Fashion TV:

Planet Fashion TV is an online news/video portal and series, beautifully shot in HD & can be seen in 8 countries .The show targets an international & culturally astute demographic. It’s one of the few western shows that currently airs in China. PFTV is known for its features on new brands, and for the hottest runways shows from around the world and every cutting edge trend. Planet Fashion TV has a history of successful fashion events globally. For the last 5 years Planet Fashion has done promotional events at Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Oslo Fashion Week, Miami Fashion week, The Cannes Film Festival and at the largest media event in the world, The London Olympics.