Richemont

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Barneys unveiled elements of its website redesign on Thursday and will launch the new site's full features on Monday. Next week, customers will be able to "favorite" products — similar to "liking" a page on Facebook — and share their favorites through social media channels. "We are not changing the DNA of Barneys but reviving the way we communicate with customers," said Barneys' chief merchant Daniella Vitale. [Barneys]
  

• Rodarte has partnered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to create costumes for an upcoming production of Don Giovanni. "The costumes are the kind of thing that you want to lift the music — you don't want to compete or kill it," said Kate Mulleavy. [Styleite]
  

• Istituto Marangoni, the Milanese fashion school where Domenico Dolce learned his craft, is planning to open an outpost in Shanghai. "We are proud to accompany the developing process of the fashion system in China," said the new school's director, Tim Borgmann. [Material World]
  

• A California judge granted class action status to a lawsuit against L'Oreal in which plaintiffs complain the brand didn't warn consumers that its Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum is flammable. Almost 10 million units of the serum have been sold in the United States since February 2008. [Fashion Etc.]
  

• Net-a-Porter has turned out to be a good investment for Richemont, the luxury conglomerate that owns Cartier, Chloé, and Alaia. The brand's sales helped boost Richemont's profits by 43 percent to $1.9 billion in 2011. [Vogue UK]
  

• St. John is looking for a new owner. The American brand, which is known for its suits and which has counted Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet among its spokeswomen in recent years, has been owned by Vestar Capital Partners since 1999. [WWD]

Photo: Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet during London Fashion Week Fall 2012.

>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa landed his first modeling assignment with the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Costa will star in a campaign advertising the organization's new "São Paolo for the Cure!" t-shirts, set to debut tomorrow in his native Brazil. He's joined in the campaign by fellow Brazilians Luciana Casta and Raquel Zimmermann. [Daily Front Row]
  

• Natalia Vodianova took flak for saying "It's better to be skinny than to be fat" at this past weekend's Vogue festival, and today she responded to the criticism on her Facebook page, explaining that her original comment was designed to make people laugh. "If I was giving a speech I would have chosen my words more carefully of course," she wrote. [The Cut]
  

• Opening Ceremony will open its first London store — a pop-up shop — to celebrate the start of the 2012 Olympic games this July. When the games are over, the store will move to a permanent spot on King Street in the Covent Garden neighborhood. "Bringing Opening Ceremony to Covent Garden is an important next step in the growth of our company," said founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. [Catwalk Queen]
  

• The Food and Drug Administration will start monitoring what goes into beauty products sold in the United States by creating a mandatory ingredient registry next year. Current law allows beauty companies to report their ingredients voluntarily, and there are only 10 ingredients that are banned from domestic products. In the European Union, tighter beauty industry regulations have banned some 1,200 ingredients. [Refinery29]
  

• Richemont, owner of luxury jewelers and watchmakers like Cartier and IWC, won a momentous infringement case against a company that registered the trademark for Vacheron Constantin — Richemont's oldest watch brand — in Russia and sold clothes under that label. The outcome of the case means that a well-known trademark in one country can't be taken and reregistered in another country, because it can confuse consumers and harm the original trademark holder's reputation. "This is a landmark case with worldwide implications," said Richemont chief counsel Frederick Mostert. [Material World]

  Photo: Natalia Vodianova walks during Stella McCartney's Fall 2012 show.

>> WWD confirms yesterday's rumors that Ralph Toledano, Chloe's well-respected and popular chairman and CEO since 1999, is no longer with the firm. Although when reached for comment, Toledano said, "We never comment on rumors," sources told WWD that Toledano recently left the company, shaking the house roughly a month before Paris Fashion Week.

Why did he leave? »

>> Rumor: Ralph Toledano Out at Chloe? —Just over the weekend, Cathy Horyn wrote: "Chloe’s real success has been due to Ralph Toledano, its CEO for the past decade." And Ron Frasch, president and chief merchandising officer of Saks, echoed that sentiment, crediting Toledano with understanding all the steps it took to rebuild Chloe as a brand. But is there unforeseen turmoil at Chloe? This morning, a rumor hit Twitter: "Woah: Chloe parent Richemont has ousted its industry-beloved CEO Ralph Toledano, the man who pretty much made the French label a success." [@jimshi809]

UPDATE: Toledano was reportedly given the boot this week after Richemont became impatient with Chloe's poor financial results, according to sources close to the situation. The brand has struggled to become profitable in recent years, and announcement of Toledano's departure is expected shortly. It is unclear whether Chloe has a replacement in the pipeline. [NY Post]

Net-a-Porter was acquired by Richemont earlier this year and since then we've been waiting to see what kind of expansions founder Natalie Massenet had in mind for her ten-year-old company.

This morning Massenet and the Net-a-Porter family announced they are adding a stand-alone menswear shopping site to the company. Called Mr Porter, the site will launch for the spring 2011 season and do for men what Massenet has been doing for her loyal female clients for ten years — namely bring an edited selection of global designer label along with style advice and unbeatable customer service. Mr Porter launch partners will include Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Margiela, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Balmain, Dunhill, Margaret Howell, Rick Owens, John Lobb, and MR by Roland Mouret.

“We’ve wanted to do this for years but never felt it was the right time,” said Natalie Massenet. “This idea did not come from a bunch of people sitting in a boardroom looking at a spreadsheet. It was our customers, our target market, that was asking for this.”

Come 2011, the lucky men will also benefit from same day delivery service in London and Manhattan.

Source: Getty

>> Confirming reports from a couple of weeks ago, luxury conglomerate Richemont (parent of brands like Chloe and Cartier) is acquiring Net-a-Porter in a £350 million (approx. $533 million) deal.

Natalie Massenet, who founded Net-a-Porter in 2000, is estimated to pocket £50 million (approx. $76 million) with the sale of her 18 percent stake in the company.  She is expected to stay on as executive chairman of the company after Richemont's takeover and is reportedly preparing to invest £15 million of the sale proceeds back into Net-a-Porter. Mark Sebba, Net-a-Porter's chief executive, is also said to be staying on.

Why the marriage? »

>> Net-a-Porter Said to Be Acquired by Richemont —Earlier this year, it was Prada that luxury conglomerate and Cartier and Chloe owner Richemont was said to have its eye on, but for now, Net-a-Porter will have to do, instead.  In a deal expected to be completed this week, Richemont will acquire the remaining 70 percent of Net-a-Porter it doesn't already own, including founder Natalie Massenet's 18 percent stake (worth at least $76 million).  This move is especially notable considering that LVMH shuttered its e-commerce branch eLuxury.com just last year. [Telegraph UK, Fashionista]

>> Prada, Richemont Rumors Persisting —Two weeks ago, a report that luxury conglomerate Richemont (whose properties include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Chloe) was taking a stake in Prada; Prada emphatically denied the notion.  But Business of Fashion's Imran Amed reports today from Berlin Fashion Week: "Sources here in Berlin say the Prada and Richemont rumours are true, despite firm denials from Prada." If that's the case, a Prada-Richemont marriage could create quite the competitor for Richemont rival LVMH. [@_BOF_]

>> For the second time in six months, reports of luxury conglomerate Richemont (think Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloe) taking a stake in Prada have surfaced.  Both times, Prada has vehemently denied the possibility — first in August and again today — but if the union were to take place, as the New York Post suggested, it could create quite the competitor for Richemont rival LVMH.

Prada has long expressed interest in going public and rejected past private equity offers, but its current debt — $1.7 billion worth — has prevented company expansion.  If Richemont acquired one-third of the company as reports imply, with the possibility of an eventual majority investment, Prada would be much better equipped to take on emerging markets. But again, Prada "categorically denies any negotiation whatsoever to sell any share to Richemont."  And although a Richemont spokesman says the company doesn't comment on rumors, a source close to the company told WWD of the story: "just silly. I don't know where they got it, and clearly it's a quiet time for news."