California Apparel News

Sam Ben-Avraham became a star in the fashion business through building trade shows such as Liberty Fashion & Lifestyle Fairs and Project, as well as running the now-defunct retailer Atrium. He recently made waves by making an audacious bid to buy the influential yet bankrupt retailer Barneys New York Inc. He’s competing against a $271.4 million stalking-horse bid led by Authentic Brands Group. Ben-Avraham’s group of investors includes his relatives, including Ronnie Fieg of the influential streetwear shop Kith; Ron Burkle, co-founder of The Yucaipa Companies; and Andrew Rosen of the Theory label. Ben-Avraham explained his reasons for mounting the campaign on the website savebarneysny.com. “We can do better for the broader community of fashion designers, creative professionals and employees. We have a solution that doesn’t involve mass layoffs and store closures,” the open letter said. “Our team has been working around the clock to save it from a disaster. We will lose an icon—no other retailer but Barneys can claim to be more than just a retailer—and also a cultural protagonist.”

Nike Inc. announced Oct. 22 that Mark Parker, chief executive officer, president and chairman of the athletic footwear and apparel giant, would be stepping down Jan. 13, 2020. He’ll be replaced by John Donahoe, who was a former president and CEO of eBay, Inc.

Said Parker in a statement, “I am delighted John will join our team. His expertise in digital commerce, technology, global strategy and leadership combined with his strong relationship with the brand make him ideally suited to accelerate our digital transformation and to build on the positive impact of our Consumer-Direct Offense.”

Kevin Plank, the founding chairman and chief executive officer of Under Armour Inc., announced on Oct. 22 that he was resigning. Under his watch, Under Armour became a rival to Nike. He will remain on the job until Jan. 1, 2020, when he will be replaced by Patrik Frisk, who currently serves as the footwear-and-athleticwear company’s president and chief operating officer. Plank will continue to serve on Under Armour’s board of directors.

H&M USA,an American division of Swedish retailer H&M, recently introduced Spanish-language website services. At the web address https://www2.hm.com/es_us/index.html, shoppers can find information on H&M services and e-shop in Spanish, said Stefan Vos, chief financial officer for H&M North America. “The H&M brand currently operates in 50 online markets, in 20 respective languages, so it was an easy decision to extend our site to our U.S. Spanish-speaking community of fashion fans,” Vos said.

Tejidos Royo, a Spanish manufacturer, exhibited its DryIndigo process at Kingpins Show, an influential denim trade show which ran Oct. 23 through 24 in Amsterdam. The manufacturer claimed that its DryIndigo process uses no water in its dying process of denim. Campaigns across the world are promoting water reduction during manufacturing. This summer, Fast Retailing, Uniqlo’s parent company, unveiled a water-cutting process with an average reduction of 90 percent and as much as 99 percent.