KOHL’S HEADS WEST: LOCAL STORES BRACE FOR THE SHOCK WAVES

NEW YORK — Gildan Activewear Inc. raised its earnings per share and sales forecast for both the current third quarter and the full fiscal year.

The Montreal-based maker of T-shirts, golf shirts and sweatshirts now expects its third-quarter EPS to…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In its second major licensing deal of a well-known brand name, Saks Inc. has purchased the exclusive right to sell Ruff Hewn, a label known for classic, relaxed styling, through an agreement announced Tuesday with Kikomo Ltd., a…

NEW YORK — Bankrupt Ames Department Stores stands to gain an additional $25 million in liquidity from two new agreements, one with its debtor-in-possession lenders and the other with KRC Acquisition Corp.

The two new agreements, which still…

NEW YORK — While much of the government’s and the public’s attention is focused on the security of commercial airlines and the threat of another terrorist attack, observers of the shipping trade are concerned that there’s a major vulnerability in…

CLOSE TO THE VEST: Rumors continued to circulate on Monday that Herb Gallen, owner and chairman of Ellen Tracy, had finally sold the company after toying with the idea for years. But the company wouldn’t confirm anything. Gallen did not return several…

TOKYO — In an effort to build its presence in the Chinese consumer market, Itochu Corp., a leading Japanese trading company, next year plans to begin producing garments in Ningbo in partnership with Ningbo Youngor Group Co., one of China’s largest…

TSA FUEL SURCHARGE: The 14 members of an alliance of ocean carriers who bring goods from Asia to the U.S. said they plan to impose fuel surcharges on container shipments beginning July 1, as a result of rising fuel costs at U.S. and Asian ports. The…

MEDFORD, Mass. — The mission was covert — travel to a newly opened Kohl’s store, do a walkthrough and see what there is to buy.

The destination was a Kohl’s store in the Meadow Glen Mall in Medford, Mass., which opened last April. The store is…

AN IN-HOUSE JOB: Readers of FHM can rest assured that the editorial vision of its former editor will live on in his absence. In other words, more babes, more beer, and loads of gadgets. As expected, Scott Gramling, the number two at FHM, was named the…

SANGRIA ON TAP: Kellwood Co.’s ENC division has created a new line called Sangria, a misses’ and contemporary dress line to complement its other offerings. Kunal Shah, previously head designer at the dress label Believe, has been named design director…

NEW YORK — Call coat firms the undaunted brigade.

The recession, unseasonably warm weather and terrorist trauma took a toll on outerwear sales in 2001, but makers are determined to stage a comeback this fall and winter with more focused and…

NEW YORK — Warmer weather helped retailers keep up with their June sales plans, while warmer sentiment on Wall Street pushed their stocks ahead.

Regaining territory lost last week, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average raced ahead 213.21…

MEMPHIS — Trends in the cotton apparel market, questions about the future of the U.S. cotton industry and a new consumer ad campaign were all a part of Cotton Incorporated’s Engineered Fiber Selection System conference in Memphis last week.

The…

NEW YORK — Expecting modest revenue growth in the years ahead, DuPont Textiles & Interiors plans to rely on cost cutting and efficiency as the key to raising its profits.

In a briefing Thursday with investors — whom DuPont is courting as it…

TDA BOARD ELECTED: The Textile Distributors Association elected a new board of officers at its annual meeting on June 10 at The Village Club in Sands Point, N.Y. John Cavanagh, formerly of Clinton Mills and now with textile consulting firm Textile…

NEW YORK — While demand for fabric waxes and wanes with the economy, it takes more than subtle shifts to keep the core of Manhattan’s textile industry away from a charity lunch.

Key executives were out in force on Thursday at a fund-raiser for…

SOME DESIGNERS START WITH AN IDEA, SOME WITH A SWATCH. THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO LIKE TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. HERE, A LOOK AT SOME IDEAS AND VIEWS FOR SPRING 2003

NEW YORK — It’s the proverbial chicken or egg theory — fashion style. The question…

The St. John story is a classic American tale of love, family and fashion. Boy meets girl. Girl scores knitting machine through ties as a TV game show hostess. Girl convinces boy to sell her designs. Born is an empire based on the unwavering gospel…

In America, what’s a power woman without her power suit? From Condaleezza Rice on down, the women who wear the pants in Washington are, often enough, actually wearing knee-length skirt suits and dresses from St. John. On the West Coast, the brand’s…

When Robert and Marie Gray moved their fledgling, nine-year-old company from North Hollywood to Irvine in 1971, the Orange County enclave of developing tracts, lima bean farms and horse ranches was just undergoing incorporation as a city.

Also in…

While the hallmark of St. John Knits Inc.’s apparel may be classic, the brand takes a more whimsical approach with its six-year-old home division.

Napkin rings festooned with an octopus or ladybug, glass dishes brushed in silver, cocktail shakers…

Kelly Gray makes living the St. John lifestyle look easy. Her cool aura anchors the brand’s image, after all. But it takes plenty of effort. Out in the middle of the Arizona desert in a dusty, rinky-dink theme park, Gray poses with her pack of grizzly…

When it comes to St. John’s advertising history, there are two eras: the last two decades embodied by the reign of Kelly Gray — and B.K., or Before Kelly.

In fact, founder Marie Gray served as St. John’s first model, a call that was as natural as…

On a mission to leverage the St. John brand and establish it as an international luxury house, the company’s accessories categories are undergoing a major overhaul, marked by a rare decision to look outside for collaborative input on design and…

The signature scent — introduced in 1994 and bottled in a round, fanned-out flask with a shiny gold top that was designed in-house by Marie Gray — is a floriental, with fresh night-blooming florals such as jasmine, moonflower and gardenia at its…

In the mid-Seventies, it took an enormous amount of persuading to convince Norman Wechsler, then-chairman of Saks Fifth Avenue, to feature St. John Knits Inc. in the windows of the New York flagship.

It mattered little that St. John’s first big…

Leaf through any top fashion glossy of the last 20 years and chances are — sandwiched somewhere between Christian Dior and Chrysler — is an image from a St. John advertising campaign shot in a seemingly fabulous globe-trotter friendly locale….

Four decades, and it’s still going strong. St. John has stayed true to its understated, classic roots, and that’s been a winning formula all the way. Here, a wool and nylon top and skirt for cruise.

Bells and whistles have never been Marie Gray’s schtick. Ever since she designed that first simple little knit dress in 1962, the St. John clan has stuck with what it does best, and it has worked like a charm.

The early St. John Knits designs were…

For a workhorse like Bruce Fetter, going on holiday is a trying proposition. After all, what if he’s far away from headquarters when something key breaks?

Murphy’s Law went into effect, in fact, when Fetter, St. John’s chief operating officer since…

An integral thread in St. John Knits’ allure is a proprietary blend of Australian wool and rayon that the company’s employees spin in its Southern California production plants.

The company owns almost every aspect of the production process from yarn…

St. John Knits Inc. is, if anything, an anomaly. While the very idea of fashion is contingent on change, the house the Gray family built is solidly founded on clothes that never go out of style and, frankly, never dictate style either. Sure, they’re…

LOS ANGELES — It’s not an earthquake, but the heavy footsteps of Kohl’s Corp. approaching across the Rockies that’s causing trembling on California’s retail shelves.

The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based retailer, preparing to stage its biggest…

LOS ANGELES — Moomba’s stage might be pint-sized, but Donovan Leitch’s new act is big. It started as a typical night at Voulez Vous — Audrey Bernstein and Apple Via’s Friday night party — with hipsters like Claire Danes, Ben Lee, Monet Mazur, Drew…

PARIS — Fashion mirror, on the wall: Who is the most fabulous of them all?

According to the “Couturier Superstar” exhibition that just opened here at the Museum of Fashion and Textiles, it’s the white-haired wonder recognized the world over, with…

NEW YORK — There’s a time and place for everything. And Carolina Herrera considers resort the perfect season for understated femininity, so she is giving her collection a light touch with such details as pretty floral prints and delicate embroidery…

WHO’S AFRAID OF BABY JANE?: Remember Baby Jane Holzer, the Andy Warhol acolyte and former Factory member? Her 15 minutes of fame are long over, but she’s still involved with the art world, and Warhol, her commerce-minded mentor would be proud. Holzer,…

NEW YORK — Designers are seeing the light this season. Carolina Herrera is opting for airy printed chiffons, many with reembroidered flowers and cutout hems. Vera Wang, inspired by Ancient Greece, has toga-draped dresses and gowns, adding tulle…