PARIS — “Everybody has their idea of what Ann Demeulemeester stands for as a brand,” says Stefano Gallici, whose sophomore collection for the house that Ann built will be revealed Saturday night at Espace des Blancs Manteaux. “It is usually a narrow misconception anchored to a view that wipes away the inevitable and charming complexities of Ann’s vision. There is more to this house than the stompy boots, the dangling straps and even the slouchy tailoring, or the black, even though they are still here.”

“I am trying to offer my unfiltered point of view,” he adds.

With a directness that reads as assured rather than arrogant, Gallici — a lanky beau with the curly mane of a faun, the skinny frame of a rocker and the melancholic gaze of a poet — gets right at the problem that haunts houses like Demeulemeester — and Helmut Lang, for that matter — who suddenly lose their founder mid-career: the risk of turning what was a vision into a set of soulless, commercial codes.

After Ann left her namesake brand in 2013, its identity drifted here and there as its fortunes waned. In 2020, Italian retail guru Claudio Antonioli came to the rescue, acquiring the brand through his Milan-based Dreamers Factory incubator. For a few seasons, he released collections designed by a studio team that were heavy on slouchy tailoring. Then came the short-lived tenure of Ludovic de Saint Sernin, who, despite bringing new energy to the turnaround efforts with a punchier look, exited the brand last May after a single season amid disagreement with management.

In the spring of 2023, Antonioli made the bold move of promoting Gallici, who was already part of the studio team and trained at the Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy’s most progressive fashion school, to the role of creative director. “Stefano, despite being young, was an easy choice for me: for the work ethic, for the passion he nurtures for the brand and, not least, for his genuine interest in the project as an exploration of style, not as an exercise in self promotion,” Antonioli explains.

Gallici has a stronger connection to Ann’s legacy than his predecessor, but he is adamant that he’s not trying to be a copycat, replicating the archive ad nauseam. His gaze is drawn towards specific moments from the brand’s past in which sharpness, even sexiness, came to the fore; the barbaric, wild tones that emerged in certain collections. There is also a subterranean vibe to what Gallici does that is entirely his own: rooted in music the way Ann’s work was rooted in poetry.

At Christmas, Gallici sent out vinyl LPs with the soundtrack to his first show. For tomorrow’s presentation he is collaborating with composer and sound experimenter Neuf Voix, who will perform live. “Sound is an integral part of my vision, and the whole mindscape I aim at building for Ann,” he says.

The new collection explores fragility and strength with a kind of pagan rawness and a renewed colour palette that includes deep reds and pale flesh tones. The line up features greatcoats inspired by Joseph Beuys’, raw edged leather aprons and long pleated skirts, with tufty sheepskin and shaggy knit collars adding a wild touch. There are also some negligé and lingerie-like slip dresses which, mixed with harder pieces, look unexpected and fresh.

“I see the archive as a forest in which to enter and get lost, picking things up as I go along,” muses Gallici. “It is a journey of discovery as much as it is one of self discovery.”

The Body Shop is to close 75 stores across the UK in the next six weeks with the loss of 489 jobs, according to administrators who are overseeing the restructuring.

The closures are spread across the country, from Swansea to Glasgow, and mean that nearly 800 people will lose their jobs when the 300 redundancies at the head office are taken into account.

However, 116 stores will stay open under the changes, which affect only the company’s UK operations, the administration firm FRP said.

Last week, the administrators laid out plans to retain more than half of Body Shop stores as they announced the closure of seven shops. On Thursday, they told staff an additional 75 stores would close over the next four to six weeks.

The retailer, which employs more than 2,200 people in the UK, called in administrators this month, just months after being taken over by the restructuring company Aurelius in November.

Tony Wright, the joint administrator, said: “In taking swift action to right-size the Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business and are providing the best opportunity for this iconic brand to have a long-term, sustainable future.”

“The UK business continues to trade in administration, and we remain fully focused on exploring all options to take the business forward.”

Aurelius is understood to be the main creditor, with secured debt that will ensure it gets paid by administrators before most other creditors. It is expected to take back the chain after the shop closures and job cuts.

The Body Shop has had three owners since it was sold by its founder, Anita Roddick, shortly before her death in 2007.

Roddick, who set up the business in Brighton in 1976, campaigned against animal testing of cosmetics and promoted natural products sourced ethically in a way that would support small producers around the world.

She shocked fans of the brand by selling up to L’Oréal, the cosmetics multinational that owns Maybelline and Garnier, for £652 million.

The brand was then sold on to the Brazilian natural cosmetics group Natura, which already owned the Australian Aesop beauty brand, for €1 billion in 2017. After Natura built up debts in buying the home-selling cosmetics group Avon, it sold off Aesop to L’Oréal and then The Body Shop to Aurelius late last year.

By Julia Kollewe

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Bath & Body Works forecast annual sales and profit below analysts’ expectations on Thursday as consumers scaled back spending on non-essential items like candles and fragrances, sending its shares down 9 percent in pre-market trading.

Amid high borrowing and rental costs in the US, specialty retailers including Estee Lauder and Macy’s saw shoppers restricting discretionary spending, and have revised their annual results below Wall Street expectations.

Consumer prices rose more than expected in January, while US government reports indicated a ten-month low in retail sales.

The beauty and skincare firm expects 2024 annual net sales to range between a decline of 3 percent to flat compared with analysts’ expectations of a 1.3 percent rise, as per LSEG data

The company forecasts annual adjusted earnings to range between $3.00 and $3.35 per diluted share, compared with analysts’ estimates of $3.35.

The Ohio-based company posted quarterly sales of $2.91 billion, while analysts on average expected $2.84 billion, according to LSEG.

By Annett Mary Manoj; Editing by Vijay Kishore

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Birkenstock Holding Plc’s earnings beat analysts’ estimates as consumers snapped up its high-end sandals and clogs while other casual footwear makers struggled.

Adjusted earnings were €81 million ($88 million) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in the quarter ending in December, the company said Thursday in a statement. That compared with the €75.5 million average estimate.

Since Birkenstock’s initial public offering in October, chief executive officer Oliver Reichert has tried to convince investors that the company can maintain its decade-long hot streak by staying fashionable, expanding its production capacity in Germany and Portugal and targeting previously untapped countries like China and India.

The results “once again demonstrate the resilience of our business model and the strong sustained demand for our products,” Reichert said in the statement.

Birkenstock affirmed its 2024 guidance and mid-term goals of booking a gross profit margin of more than 60 percent and adjusted Ebitda margin percentage in the low 30s.

While sneaker brands including Nike Inc. and Puma SE have raised doubts about consumer spending, Birkenstock has argued that there’s an opportunity to win over new fans.

Revenue in the quarter reached €303 million, higher than the €285 million average estimate, with sales growing at double-digit rates in the Americas, Europe and Asia, the company said.

Traditionally a maker of no-frills sandals, Birkenstock has ratcheted up its offering of higher-end footwear and closed-toe products in recent years, including the Bend sneaker, the Highwood boots and more clogs with shearling. Those products command higher prices, helping Birkenstock boost profits and appeal to a wider array of customers.

While Birkenstock attracted attention from designers as far back as the 1980s, the company has come to embrace the fashion world over the last decade or so, launching collaborations with luxury names such as Dior, Manolo Blahnik and Rick Owens.

That’s coincided with a push to build out its digital sales channels, reducing its reliance on retail partners, and expand its network of factories, including a new plant in Pasewalk, Germany, that has cost more than €100 million.

The investments in the Pasewalk site, and another in Portugal, are weighing on profitability for now, but will be a long-term growth driver, according to the company.

After initially flopping in their trading debut, Birkenstock shares have since climbed about 11 percent above its listing price.

By Tim Loh

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Birkenstock Slumps as Forecast Disappoints Some Investors

The stock slid 12 percent in trading before US exchanges opened. If the drop extends into trading hours, it could erase the gains made since the company’s initial public offering in October.

Start-ups developing new sustainable materials like plant-based or lab-grown leathers, silks and furs raised $500 million in 2023, up nearly 10 percent from a year before, according to a report by think tank Material Innovation Initiative published Tuesday.

Investors funnelled more money into the space despite a wider slump that saw venture capital funding fall 42 percent and deal count decline 30 percent, according to CB Insights.

Still, the flow of funds into next-gen materials remains well off the record high of $1.1 billion reached in 2021 and the industry has been rocked by a number of high-profile failures over the last 12 months. Buzzy start-up Bolt Threads said it would stop production of its mushroom-based leather material over the summer after struggling to raise new funds, while Swedish textile-to-textile recycler Renewcell filed for bankruptcy on Sunday.

The industry shakeout has dampened the hype around material innovation, but incoming regulation is expected to ratchet up the pressure on brands to operate more sustainably.

”There will be some bumps, potholes, and even some crash-and-burns. These are not signsof the end-of-days, but signs of a maturing industry,” Material Innovation Initiative advisor Sydney Gladman said in the report.

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