WWD. Raw Material GOING UP A STRONG HOLIDAY DROVE RETAIL SHARES HIGHER. PAGE 2

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1 NEW OWNER? L.A. CONTEMPORARY BRAND IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BOUGHT BY GARY WASSNER S INTERLUXE. PAGE 2 ESCAPE PLAN WHERE DESIGNERS HEADED ON VACATION FOR THE HOLIDAYS. PAGES 10 AND 11 GOING UP A STRONG HOLIDAY DROVE RETAIL SHARES HIGHER. PAGE 2 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 $3.00 WOMEN S WEAR DAILY Raw Matrial Imprfct bauty. That s th mssag of spring s most intriguing knits and lacworks. Thy com mottld, shrddd and othrwis distrssd for a dark, provocativ tak on body-conscious drssing. Hr, Simon Rocha s longslv tull drss with hand-crochtd flowrs and scallopd dgs. For mor, s pags 4 and 5. PHOTO BY SILJA MAGG; STYLED BY MAYTE ALLENDE MAKING FACTORIES SAFE Bangladsh Estimats Rpairs Will Cost $3B By MAYU SAINI DHAKA, Bangladsh It s tim for th mony to start moving. Th qustion that factory ownrs hr hav bn raising ovr th last yar whr th mony will com from to fix thir plants is slowly bginning to find answrs, as inspctions now giv way to making ral changs. Th sctor will nd a hug amount of rsourcs for undrtaking major transformational shifts in th aras of building, construction and rlocation and complying with nvironmntal and labor standards, said Ahsan H. Mansur, Ph.D., xcutiv dirctor of th Policy Rsarch Institut of Bangladsh. And how much funds ar ndd is now bcoming clarr. Shahidullah Azim, vic prsidnt of th Bangladsh Garmnt Manufacturrs and Exportrs Association, obsrvd that about 1,000 factoris would b rquird to rlocat, and ovrall, a fund of $3 billion would b ndd to covr all costs, including fixing safty faturs. Mansur said th amount of mony ndd for th rlocation varid with th siz of th factoris. For factory rlocation, w know that th biggr th factoris ar, th mor mony thy ar going to nd for acquiring lands, providing facilitis and stup, rmdiation and rlocation, h said. According to his analysis, for factoris that xport btwn $2.6 million and $20 million and that hir 300 to 1,200 workrs, th amount ndd for rlocation would rang btwn 25 million takas, or $300,000 at currnt xchang, and 85 million takas, or $1.09 million, dpnding on thir siz. Th cost of dtaild rmdiation would b btwn 2 million takas, or $25,000, and 7 million takas, or $90,000. Th cost of acquiring and providing facilitis and industry stup in th ddicatd zons would b btwn 200 million takas, or $2.5 million, and 678 million takas, or $8.7 million. SEE PAGE 6 Amrican Apparl Facs Growing Calls to Sll By EVAN CLARK INVESTORS ARE WAITING to s whr th chips fall on Amrican Apparl Inc. Th stock ros 2 cnts to $1.08 on Monday as mor forcs bgan to push for a possibl sal of th company. Lyndon La, founding partnr of Lion Capital, lat on Sunday snt a lttr to th firm indicating his intntion to join th board, according to sourcs. That adds mor ful to th fir at th ailing rtailr and apparl producr, which is in th midst of a turnaround undr nw managmnt and bing courtd by privat-quity firm Irving Plac Capital. Amrican Apparl rcntly hird Molis & Co. to xplor its stratgic options, including an outright sal and changs to th capital structur. Lion, which in th past has tamd with oustd foundr Dov Charny, has th right to a sat on th company s board by virtu of warrants that ntitl it to 24.5 million shars in th company, giving it a 12.3 prcnt stak. La askd that a spcial committ of th board b st up to valuat any takovr offrs and that h participat. That would giv him mor dirct influnc ovr how th M&A danc might play out. Th topic of a spcial committ is said to hav bn controvrsial in th boardroom, but a sourc clos to th company said th board was advisd by an M&A xprt who dtrmind that a spcial committ wasn t ncssary. Irving Plac, which is ld by chif xcutiv officr John Howard, said it could valu th company at as much as $1.40 a shar, or $245 million, dpnding on du dilignc. That dpr look into th company s oprations, SEE PAGE 12

2 2 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 Ports Disput a War of Words By KARI HAMANAKA LOS ANGELES Labor contract ngotiations impacting som 20,000 Wst Coast port workrs continu to drag on. Th Intrnational Longshor and Warhous Union on Monday accusd th Pacific Maritim Association of stalling th now svn-month-long talks by not including ky dcision-makrs in ngotiations. Workrs hav bn without a labor contract sinc July. Indirct ngotiations won t gt us ovr th finish lin. Th fw issus that rmain unrsolvd rlat dirctly to th carrirs, and ths ky carrirs nd to com to th tabl, said Robrt McEllrath, ILWU prsidnt and chairman of th ngotiating committ. Th PMA, which rprsnts 72 cargo carrirs and trminal oprating companis, said in a rspons that significant issus rmain unrsolvd, including wags, pnsions, jurisdiction and work ruls. Th association ritratd its call for fdral mdiation. Th PMA last wk said it askd th U.S. Fdral Mdiation and Conciliation Srvic to U.S. Rtailrs Lift WWD Stock Trackr By ARNOLD J. KARR INVESTORS APPEARED to brath a sigh of rlif about th fiscal condition of rtailrs in th aftrmath of th pak of th holiday slling sason. On th strngth of gains among most of its U.S. rtail quitis, th WWD Global Stock Trackr ros 0.1 prcnt to , idntical to th S&P 500 s ris to 2, Rtail componnts of th S&P ros far mor, with th S&P 500 Rtailing Industry Group gaining 0.8 prcnt to clos at 1,035.09, whil th Dow Jons Industrial Avrag gav back 0.1 prcnt to clos at 18, Australia s Myr Holdings Ltd. gaind th most ground among trackr stocks, rising 0.1 prcnt to 1.48 Australian dollars, or $1.20 at currnt xchang. Li Ning Co. was up 6.5 prcnt to 3.62 Hong Kong dollars, or 47 cnts, with Guss Inc. a fairly distant third, up 3.4 prcnt to $ Avon Products Inc. and Kat Spad & Co. both tackd on 3.2 prcnt to nd th day at $9.56 and $31.56, rspctivly. Dillard s Inc. addd 3.1 prcnt to clos at $ Issus losing ground wr ld by Quiksilvr Inc., down 7.4 prcnt to $2.25, and Lun Thai Holdings Ltd., off 4.9 prcnt to 1.37 Hong Kong dollars, or 18 cnts. Shanghai Mtrsbonw was off 3.9 prcnt to yuan, or $1.71, whil Vinc Holding Corp. lost 2.5 prcnt to clos at $ Hrmès Intrnational ndd th day at uros, or $349.59, whil Takashimaya Co. closd at 977 yn, or $ % RISE IN WWD GLOBAL STOCK TRACKER, TO IntrLux Said Buying A.L.C. Brand By EVAN CLARK THE DEAL markt for at last on young dsignr sms to b hating up as th yar coms to a clos. Andra Librman s rady-to-war brand A.L.C. which was courting th invstmnt st this fall is said to hav found a buyr in Gary Wassnr s nw vntur IntrLux, according to a sourc. Th spcifics couldn t b larnd, but th invstmnt is blivd to valu th company at $60 million, or on-tims sals. Aftr launching in 2009, th brand found a footing in th contmporary dsignr aras of lading rtailrs lik Saks Fifth Avnu, Barnys Nw York, Nordstrom and Intrmix, among othrs. stp in. Also last wk, mor than 160 national, stat and local trad groups appald in a lttr to Prsidnt Obama and his administration to intrvn in th mattr. Th National Rtail Fdration and th National Association of Manufacturrs stimatd in a rport, rlasd in Jun, that a full shutdown of th ports ovr a fiv-day priod would cost roughly $2 billion a day. That figur would incras ovr a longr tim priod. Th ports hav continud to oprat throughout th contract ngotiations, although traffic congstion and dlays hav affctd imports and xports. Rtailrs including Ann Taylor, Ascna Rtail Group, Nw York & Co. and Lululmon during rcnt arnings calls hav mntiond th impact of th contract disput as bing, in som cass, in th millions of dollars. Evn McDonald s was impactd whn it tmporarily had to suspnd sals of its rgular-sizd fris in Japan du to dlays in gtting potatos shippd from th U.S. Th problm has now bn rsolvd. NRF mmbrs rmain concrnd about th ongoing issus at th ports, which ar now dlaying dlivris of arly spring mrchandis to stors, according to Jonathan Gold, th NRF s vic prsidnt of supply chain and Customs policy. Walgrn Sharholdrs OK Allianc Dal By FAYE BROOKMAN WALGREEN CO. sharholdrs approvd th company s plan to acquir th rmaining intrst in Allianc Boots GmbH. At th spcial mting calld Monday, sharholdrs votd to approv all proposals rlatd to th company s acquisition of th 55 prcnt of Allianc Boots it dosn t own and th rorganization of Walgrn into a U.S.-basd public holding company calld Walgrns Boots Allianc Inc. Walgrn said 97 prcnt of th vots cast wr in favor of th proposals for rorganization and th issuanc of Walgrns Boots Allianc shars. That prcntag rprsnts about 73 prcnt of Walgrn s outstanding common stock as of Nov. 17, th rcord dat for th spcial mting, th company notd. Rachd whil on vacation, Wassnr said h had no information and was focusd on IntrLux s first acquisition, Jason Wu. Wassnr is co-chif xcutiv officr of th fashion factoring firm Hilldun and st up IntrLux this yar with L Equity. H srvs as chairman of th vntur, which is looking to build out a portfolio of brands. IntrLux plans to build up infrastructur of smallr companis with $15 million to $100 million in sals. Librman, who could not b rachd on Monday, built a rputation as a stylist working for Gwn Stfani, Gwynth Paltrow, Kat Hudson and othrs. Th Nw York nativ wnt to Parsons Th Nw School for Dsign and had a stor in th city calld Cultur and Rality bfor launching A.L.C. Th companis launchd a long-trm stratgic partnrship in Jun 2012, whn Walgrn acquird a 45 prcnt quity ownrship in Allianc Boots, with th option to procd as stp two to a full combination by acquiring th rmaining 55 prcnt of th British rtailr. Walgrn xrcisd th option to acquir th rmaining 55 prcnt of Allianc Boots in August. Th companis hav rcivd all rgulatory approvals rquird to complt th transaction. Walgrn xpcts to complt th acquisition of Allianc Boots and th rorganization mrgr on Wdnsday, subjct to th satisfaction of customary closing conditions. As announcd, Grg Wasson will rtir shortly following th compltion of th scond stp of th dal. From a bauty standpoint, th dal furthr givs th grn light for xpansion of th Boots concpts into U.S. stors. THE BRIEFING BOX IN TODAY S WWD Confidnt wintr styls prmatd Brlin. For mor, s WWD.com. ON WWD.COM WWD.COM Bangladsh factory ownrs qustions about whr th mony will com from to fix thir plants ar bing answrd, as inspctions giv way to ral changs. PAGE 1 Amrican Apparl stock ros Monday as mor forcs bgan to push for a possibl sal of th company. PAGE 1 Th WWD Global Stock Trackr wnt up 0.1 prcnt to , idntical to th S&P 500 s ris to 2, PAGE 2 Walgrn s sharholdrs approv plan to acquir th rmaining intrst in Allianc Boots GmbH. PAGE 2 Imprfct fashions tak cntr stag as loos knits and frayd dgs crat a livd-in sductivnss. PAGE 4 Nw union ladrs in Bangladsh mpowrd by chang in factoris vn as thy fac unspokn dangrs and trpidation for spaking out. PAGE 6 Excutiv dirctor of th Accord on Fir and Building Safty in Bangladsh spaks about th progrss and concrns that rmain at garmnt factoris. PAGE 8 Th Allianc, which has 26 North Amrican apparl companis, strivs to mak workr safty a priority. PAGE 8 Dsignrs travld as far as Marrakch and as clos as Dtroit to rlax ovr th holidays. PAGE 10 Amazon said if vry sho from ach pair of pumps bought wr stackd on top of on anothr, thy would b 52 tims highr than th Empir Stat Building. PAGE 12 British fashion photographr Rankin has bn tappd by fitnss chain Equinox for its 2015 ad campaign. PAGE 12 THEY ARE WEARING: In th vibrant city cntr nighborhoods of Brlin Mitt and Fridrichshain, individual wintr styl was confidnt, if conformist: a prdictabl paltt of black, charcoal and caml. For mor, s WWD.com. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL WWD.com/social TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDFASHION.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. COPYRIGHT 2014 FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 208, NO TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, WWD (ISSN ) is publishd daily (xcpt Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with on additional issu in March, April, May, Jun, August, Octobr, Novmbr and Dcmbr, and two additional issus in Fbruary and Sptmbr) by Fairchild Mdia, LLC, which is a division of Pnsk Businss Mdia, LLC. 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3 B Digital BEAUTY NYC Forum Fbruary 12, 2015 Cratd by WWD. Built for th industry. Contnt to inform and inspir bauty marktrs wwd.com/summits ATTEND: SPONSOR: FAIRCHILD SUMMITS ANNUAL PARTNERS EVENT SPONSORS

4 4 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 raw mat Loos knits and frayd dgs crat a Livd-in sductivnss. MODEL: HEATHER/DNA; HAIR BY CAMERON RAINS; MAKEUP BY KATIE MELLINGER; PHOTO ASSISTANT: BENNY LEE; FASHION ASSISTANT: MILTON DIXON Azd Jan-Pirr s cotton drss.

5 rial From lft: Rd Krakoff s honycomb silk macramé slvlss drss with mbroidrd crystals and Grant Knits scarf. Eckhaus Latta s knit trry cloth drss and Karolina Zmarlak s silk top. AllSaints shos. From lft: Josph s wool drss. Paula Chng s silk, wool, polystr and Lurx drss. From lft: Alxandr Vauthir s pythonon-lac top and skirt. Gabril Colanglo s top and skirt in lasrd and printd silk organza and Grg Laurn s cotton tank. PHOTOS BY SILJA MAGG STYLd BY MAYT ALLNd WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, WWD.COM

6 6 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 Costs Bcom Clar in Factory R {Continud from pag on} Banks ar taking cntr stag as th opportunitis and nds for borrowing and lnding hav bcom crucial. Th high intrst rats chargd by banks within Bangladsh hav bn discouraging, factory ownrs said, and thy hav bn calling for brands to lnd and invst mor in th procss of chang, as wll as asking th govrnmnt to rduc intrst rats. But thr is no shortcut to th Corrctiv Action Plan itslf which mans fixing th problms found in th 2,000 factory inspctions compltd by th global tams of buyrs and rtailrs of th Accord, Allianc and th local National Action Plan. Th Allianc, a consortium of 28 brands and rtailrs that has 587 factoris in Dhaka, compltd inspctions in July. Th Accord, th compndium of mor than 160 Europan buyrs and rtailrs, has compltd th inspctions in 1,106 factoris, and shars 300 additional factoris with th Allianc. Inspctions by th Accord idntifid mor than 80,000 safty issus, Brad Lown, th Accord s chif safty inspctor notd. Ths rang from th nd to rduc wight loads to a failur to install fir doors and alarms, th failur to hav protctd fir xits and th nd to strngthn building columns. Th National Action Plan by th Intrnational Labour Organization and th Bangladsh Univrsity of Enginring Tchnology has anothr 1,750 factoris, 600 of which hav bn inspctd so far. Th factoris that hav bn closd 29 at th last count hav bn classifid as rd ar about 2 prcnt of total inspctions. Thos classifid as ambr nd fixing within six wks of inspction. Ths mak up approximatly 24 prcnt of inspctions. Th rst ar yllowgrn, which mans that thy nd a fair amount of work, to b compltd within six months of inspction. Mansur notd funds for fixing ths problms could b ngotiatd through commrcial trms, joint invstmnt, dirct paymnt from th govrnmnt lvl and othr donor support. H also flt that th Accord and th Allianc ndd to nsur that sufficint funds wr availabl to pay for rnovations and othr safty improvmnts as rquird aftr inspction. Innovativ partnrships ar bing struck to mak this happn. Th Allianc has bn making concrtd fforts to mak $100 million in affordabl capital availabl to factory ownrs. On Monday, as th VF Corp., which is a mmbr of th Allianc, stood guarantor for a $10 million fund from th Intrnational Financ Corp., an arm of th World Bank, th mony to thr supplir companis of $1.3 million was clard. Ths includd thr factoris that supply to th VF Corp.: Arunima Sportswar Ltd.; Olio Apparls Ltd., and Radisson Apparls Ltd. It has bn an unusual invstmnt not just of dollars but of faith, a promis of th futur and of continud businss for ths factoris. Rob Wayss, xcutiv dirctor of Th situation in th garmnt industry has changd into a nw arna, whr th complianc, th safty, national standards hav bcom mor th nd of th day. SHAH SARWAR, IFIC BANK that conomists bliv may b a liflin Bangladsh Oprations for th Bangladsh Accord Foundation, said th Accord puts a trmndous amount of ffort into making sur that th financial support part of th rmdiation is undrstood and applid in practic. W mt with th factory ownr and ownrs rprsntativs. W work proactivly; th Accord facilitats a mting with th lad brand and th othr brands can join if thy want, h said, adding that th IFC also is in talks with 10 Accord brands to mak similar invstmnts happn. That it is tim for out-of-th-box thinking is obvious from th initiativs by companis such as Lvi Strauss & Co., which workd with th IFC to giv an incntiv to its factoris in Bangladsh to mt nvironmntal labor and safty standards. Japan Intrnational Coopration Agncy has signd a mmorandum of undrstanding with th Bangladsh bank for $12.5 million of low-cost financ to b mad availabl to factoris, an amount for th factoris bing inspctd by th National Action Plan, which don t hav big global brands to support thm. It is ncssary to discuss how thy will carry on rmdiation. I hop that ral discussion will b on th practical solution to how financ coms to small- and mdium-sizd factoris, said Sarah Labowitz, codirctor of Nw York Univrsity Strn Cntr for Businss and Human Rights, at a discussion on th rmdiation at th Apparl Summit arlir in th wk. Th Bangladsh bank will provid $1.25 million to ach xport-orintd garmnt factory at a 9 prcnt intrst rat. An analysis of inspction rports from all thr initiativs so far indicats that 69 prcnt of factoris around Dhaka ar in spcifically constructd locations, whil 28 prcnt ar in shard locations. Two prcnt hav bn convrtd from shard to spcific factoris. Of th factoris inspctd in Dhaka so far, 1,434 ar in spcifically mad buildings whil 569 ar in shard spacs and 62 hav alrady bn convrtd. In Chittagong, 49 prcnt, or 256 factoris, ar spcifically constructd factoris; 42 prcnt, or 225, ar in shard spacs, and 9 prcnt, or 50, hav bn convrtd. Som in th industry complain that intrst rats in Bangladsh at mor than 14 prcnt mak it hard for factory ownrs to borrow from local institutions. Shah Sarwar, managing dirctor and chif xcutiv officr at IFIC Bank, which is a privat sctor bank with 32.5 prcnt ownd by th govrnmnt, said th bank has announcd a 10 million taka ($128,000) loan on vry soft trms to buy basic fir safty quipmnt for th garmnts industry. Th situation in th garmnt industry has changd from whn thy wr family ownd and trid to do things in a mor individual way into a nw arna, whr th complianc, th safty, national standards hav bcom mor th nd of th day, h said. Now what thy nd is to mov out of rntd placs to mak factoris that ar compliant so thy nd fir safty quipmnt to hav safty so w ar structuring our products to hlp thm through this transfor- Union Ladrs Rmain Wary By MAYU SAINI DHAKA, Bangladsh Ruksana, a swing oprator with mor than a dozn yars of xprinc, spaks up clarly from hr dsk in th cornr of th classroom. Th room is filld with a rcord numbr of prsidnts and gnral scrtaris, rprsntativs of th many trad unions that hav com up in th last yar; 323 nw unions at last count. Most of ths hav bn formd aftr th passing of a nw law, in July 2013, by th Bangladsh labor ministry, allowing frdom of association without prmission of mployrs. Th surg toward unionization has st in motion a sris of uphavals in th industry. Factory ownrs appar to b sttling into a nw accptanc with workrs who ar mor vocal and dmanding, whil workrs thmslvs ar sing ral chang. Mor than 65 prcnt of th nw union ladrs ar womn, and it is obvious with th changing ladrs that mpowrmnt isn t just a word hr. It radiats. But with mpowrmnt also coms som vry ral fars antagonism against union ladrs has, in th past, ld to physical harm, attacks and dismissal of workrs. Th qustion bing askd ovr th last yar as trad unions multiply is whthr a nw law can chang a tradition of hirarchical systms, and if so, how quickly? At th training sssion, Ruksana spaks up clarly from hr dsk. Sh is mphatic: As th prsidnt of th union that was st up in March at Updat Apparls Ltd., sh talks about thrats from hr mployrs, bing askd to lav hr job and a failur to gt any bonus or incrmntal rais. Sh said that through all this, hr own position was clar. I didn t want anything for myslf. I wantd to b abl to nsur that w hav th bst for all th workrs. Thy told m to tak th mony and go, lav th factory. I rfusd, sh said. Hamida Khatun, assistant womn s scrtary of th Bangladsh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, which is a national trad union fdration, listns and adviss hr on th bst way to communicat and mor importantly to ngotiat. Ruksana says sh will not giv up, no mattr th cost. Th qustion of vulnrability is thrown opn in th classroom. Many of th othrs had diffrnt xprincs, but ths didn t includ violnc or thrats. Minu, prsidnt of a sparat union in a factory in Badda, said sh had ld dmands for chang through prsntations to th factory ownrs, many of which wr accptd. Othrs noddd and said thy did not far attack, although a gnral sns of trpidation kpt thm in chck. It is all quit nw, said Asna, th gnral scrtary of anothr nw union. For thm and for us. Aftr th chang of law, w also undrstand that w nd to b mor rsponsibl. If th factory closs down bcaus of our dmands, it is bad for us, too. W ar a bit afraid, but it is mor bcaus w hav hard thr is dangr. Thr is a transformational chang going on, said Alonzo Glnn Suson, country program dirctor of th Solidarity Cntr. Th cntr is a nonprofit organization affiliatd with th AFL-CIO, which works with unions, nongovrnmntal organizations and community groups worldwid to advanc workrs rights and promot broad-basd, sustainabl conomic dvlopmnt. Thy hav th confidnc to spak to thir boss, to thir coworkrs, finding solutions to th problms of othr popl. Mor than 65 prcnt of th nw union ladrs ar womn. Thy hav to tak on criticism in th procss, thir husbands saying, Why ar you coming hom latr, talking to strang popl? but it is mpowring bcaus thy ar abl to b a spoksprson for thmslvs and thir collagus, Suson said. Th unspokn dangrs that Asna rfrrd to includ past incidnts, spcially th murdr of Aminul Islam, a labor organizr, in Islam was a factory workr who bcam a ladr and had svral run-ins with factory ownrs as h ngotiatd workrs rights. Dspit protsts and calls for invstigations into his dath, workr fdration ladrs hav voicd thir frustration that no progrss has bn mad into th cas. A rcnt cas at th Azim factoris in Chittagong, whr th factory ownr has bn accusd of violnc against Mira Boashak, prsidnt of a union at th factory, has sharpnd th global dbat and attntion to th situation of trad unions in Bangladsh. Boashak was rportd to hav bn batn with iron rods, causing a svr had injury that rquird mor than a dozn stitchs. Thr was a scond attack at th sam factory in Novmbr, and th mployr has rportdly statd that th quarrl was btwn th union and workrs, not btwn th factory ownr and workrs. Manwhil, showing th quick link btwn th local and th global, Unitd Studnts Against Swatshops has bn gathring signatoris in a ptition to ask PVH Corp., which owns th Calvin Klin and Tommy Hilfigr brands, to cut tis with th Azim Group. Thy want th company to rspond immdiatly to th violnc against union ladrs in Bangladsh garmnt factoris. ALL PHOTOS BY MAYU SAINI

7 pair Inspctions mation priod. W hav a srious history of hand-holding in th garmnt industry for th last 30 yars and hav watchd companis transform. Appals to th commrc ministr to rduc intrst rats, which was urgnt to mt th dadlins st by th Accord and th Allianc, hav bn mad by factory ownrs who hav clarly indicatd thir ability and dsir to chang and accommodat with th rsults of th inspctions. W v actually sn thm [th ownrs] bing vry cooprativ in wanting to mak th changs and somtims it is an ducation procss bcaus thy don t always undrstand th purpos for th chang, Danil Duty, vic prsidnt of global affairs and corporat social rsponsibility at Targt, told WWD. You know you hav to hav som convrsations and talk about why and how it can actually bnfit thir businss at th nd of th day. A lot of th factory ownrs ar starting to s that by making ths changs, it can actually mak thir businss bttr, thy can b mor productiv, thy can b mor profitabl, thy can b mor succssful, h said. Duty talkd about th historic ffort, as rtailrs such as Gap Inc., Wal-Mart Stors Inc. and Targt Corp. wr working togthr somthing thy v nvr trid to do bfor spcially at this scal. And w actually lik ach othr, and lik working with ach othr, h said with a smil, talking about th changs taking plac among factoris in Bangladsh and dscribing th situation as imprssiv. Just sing that chang has bn vry dramatic so that s vry rwarding, Duty obsrvd. What is intrsting is that no on company alon could do what w hav don as a coalition and that s bn rally satisfying to s. Both th spd and quality of work that w can gt don togthr in inspcting factoris, in figuring out what s to b don in rmdiating th factoris, training th workrs, all of that is happning vry quickly, and I think it is th coming togthr of so many popl that has allowd that to happn. Thr ar still many frustrations and far from nough mony availabl for th lists of rquirmnts th factoris nd to mt. It also is, ssntially, about working togthr with local and global financial institutions, brands and biggr garmnt companis that can hlp with funding. As Duty pointd out, som of th frustration was just th shr amount of work lft to do and th shard rsponsibility to mak it happn. Thr ar so many partis that hav to b a part of it; no on company and no on authority can solv this issu. Th govrnmnt has to com to th tabl, th industry, factory ownrs, labor and th brands, and you want vryon to hav th sam timing and nthusiasm and so forth that vrybody ls has, h said. Economists hav also warnd that th invstmnt in rmdiation would nd to b complmntd by invstmnts in th infrastructur bttr transport facilitis to carry th goods, availability of lctricity, gas, tc. Zahid Hussain Ph.D., lad conomist at World Bank, has stimatd that dvlopmnt of th infrastructur would cost btwn $74 billion and $100 billion. It is obviously a long road ahad, but on that th garmnt factoris ar taking with th goal of doubling growth in th nxt svn yars to $50 billion in xports. Asking who is th culprit bhind ths horrific assaults, th studnts dmand an answr from th factory ownrs of th Azim Group. An invstigation into th situation is alrady undr way by VF Corp., which owns brands such as Nautica, L and JanSport. VF has givn Azim until Wdnsday to complt th invstigation and to giv assurancs thr will b no furthr violnc. Facd with th criticism, th Bangladsh Garmnt Manufacturrs and Exportrs Association told WWD that it was furthr invstigating th cas, but claimd a prliminary invstigation had rvald that th altrcation had takn plac btwn workrs and was outsid th prmiss of th factory. BGMEA officials ar also quick to point out that, in gnral, factory ownrs ar not bigotd and violnt popl who hat trad unions. W hav no quarrl with labor unions, said Atiqul Islam, prsidnt of BGMEA. But what is important to undrstand is that many of ths unions ar ld by politics. Ths unions who com and brak down factoris and throw stons thy ar not ld by normal workrs. Thy would not ston a plac that fds thm and whr thy find work. Unions that ar ld by hostil lmnts from outsid w objct to that. Svral factory ownrs hav voicd concrn that irrsponsibl unions could b fatal to th $25 billion xport garmnt industry in Bangladsh. Abdur Razzak Sattar, managing dirctor of th Utah Group, which has mor than 12,500 workrs, xplaind: If you look at th protsts ovr th last yar and th attacks on factoris by allgd groups of workrs, it is obvious that ths ar not just workr groups who ar attacking factoris. Bridging this gap, and ovrcoming a situation of mistrust, has bcom an important ara of focus. At a panl discussion in Dhaka arlir this month, Wajdul Islam Khan, gnral scrtary of th Bangladsh Trad Union Cntr, urgd mployrs not to considr workrs as nmis. Instad, h said that th rol of workrs and trad unions should b clarly splld out. Th Intrnational Labour Organization, th U.N. agncy that focuss on human and labor rights, has bn playing an activ rol in this mdiation, spcially aftr th collaps of Rana Plaza, and taking not of th dramatic growth in workr unions ovr th past yar. This is a staggring growth compard to rgistration figurs for th prcding yars, said Gilbrt Fossoun Houngbo, dputy dirctor gnral for Fild Oprations and Partnrships of th ILO. Th formation and rgistration of nw trad unions is a sign of a nw ra of collctiv bargaining and frdom of association in Bangladsh, which can act as a catalyst for chang in othr industris. Training th union ladrs has bn part of this chang. In Octobr, th ILO hld a thr-day training workshop. Srinivas Rddy, th ILO s country dirctor for Bangladsh, spok on th panl about th growing momntum ovr th last yar and th changing trnd. W r sing mor womn particularly youngr womn coming forward to b ladrs. Thy ar finding ways to rprsnt th workrs, but thy also nd support to go on to th nxt lvl, to b abl to sit with mployrs and ngotiat and to fostr an undrstanding, h said. ENTERING THE NEW YEAR, th initiativs to improv factory safty in Bangladsh s apparl sctor hav bn valuating thir progrss. Twnty months aftr th collaps of Rana Plaza, th tragdy that claimd th livs of mor than 1,100 workrs, WWD spok to th ladrs of th initiativs that aim to nsur th safty of th almost 3,500 garmnt factoris in Bangladsh. Ths includ th Allianc for th Safty of Workrs in Bangladsh, th initiativ of 26 brands and rtailrs, mostly Amrican; th Accord on Fir and Building Safty in Bangladsh, th consortium of 190 brands and rtailrs, mostly Europan and som Amrican, and th Tripartit National Action Plan, with th Bangladsh govrnmnt taking rsponsibility for th rmaining factoris, with inspctions ld by th Bangladsh Univrsity of Enginring Tchnology and supportd by th Intrnational Labour Organization and fundd by th Dutch and British govrnmnts undr a $24.2 million grant rvald last yar. Th Bangladsh Garmnt Manufacturrs and Exportrs Association, a powrful body of factory ownrs, continus to b cntral to all ngotiations and movs toward gratr safty in th industry. Factory inspctions compltd so far includ 1,106 by th Accord, 587 by th Allianc and 606 by th National Tripartit Committ, ld by a tam from BUET. Th Accord and th Allianc hav 340 factoris in common, for which inspctions compltd by th Allianc Th Accord, a lgally binding agrmnt signd by mor than 190 companis from 20 countris in Europ, North Amrica, Asia and Australia; two global trad unions, IndustriALL and UNI; numrous Bangladshi unions and with th Intrnational Labour Organization acting as th indpndnt chair, compltd inspctions of 1,106 factoris in Sptmbr. Rob Wayss, its xcutiv dirctor, spok about th progrss and th concrns that rmain. WWD: Th Bangladsh Garmnt Manufacturrs and Exportrs Association has said th Accord is not doing nough, and thy nd mor hlp with rmdiation and on svral othr counts. Ar thy tlling you that, too? Rob Wayss: W do a lot of work with BGMEA to gt thir support for th Accord and for th rmdiation. Th Accord puts a trmndous amount of ffort in making sur that th financial lmnt for th rmdiation is undrstood and applid in practic. With vry singl factory that is inspctd, w mt with th ownr or th ownr s rprsntativ, togthr with th lad brand, to xplain th procss aftr th inspction, how th Accord vrifis things and what support w nd from thm and what thy can xpct from us. In thos convrsations, w inform th partis of thir obligations and discuss th financs and of our rquirmnt that, bfor th corrctiv action plan (CAP) will b approvd, thy hav to confirm both with th factory ownr and th brand that th financing for th rmdiation is confirmd. W also rquir thm to provid us information on th composition of th rmdiation. In many cass, it is slf-financd. Th BGMEA has criticizd this, saying that th brands arn t mting th rquirmnt of th Accord, that thy ar not providing support to th factory ownrs. And w v askd BGMEA if thy hav information on any spcific cass in which th factory ownrs or on of thir mmbrs approach on of our brands for support for rmdiation WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, WWD.COM Th Accord and Allianc On Progrss in Bangladsh wr undrstood to b takn as th guiding point, to avoid duplication. Whil th Allianc and th Accord compltd thir inspctions in July and Sptmbr, rspctivly, th NTC, which has an stimatd 1,700 factoris to valuat, is still complting its inspctions. All thr initiativs hav had to agr on safty masurs involving structur, fir and lctrical systms. This approach has takn considrabl ngotiation, with th various partis working togthr with rprsntativs of diffrnt govrnmnt ministris to ffct th changs. Rports of discord btwn th Accord and th Allianc hav bn widsprad ovr th past yar, but th ultimat goal has gnrally paprd ovr th diffrncs. At th Apparl Summit in Dhaka arlir this month, Prim Ministr Shikh Hasina pldgd hr support to continu th procss of chang. Factory ownrs also hav bn working through th BGMEA, with a rnwd focus and a goal to grow th industry from rvnus of $24.5 billion in to $50 billion industry by 2021, th yar Bangladsh clbrats its 50th yar of frdom. Th garmnt industry has hlpd Bangladsh maintain an conomic growth rat of 6 prcnt for almost a dcad and provid mploymnt to about 4 million workrs, 80 prcnt of whom ar womn. M.S. Hr, updats on th thr main initiativs: THE ACCORD IN FIRE AND BUILDING SAFETY IN BANGLADESH and if thr was ithr a rfusal to discuss or rfusal to provid support for th rmdiation. If thy gav us that information, w would invstigat and intrvn; if ncssary, w would scalat it. WWD: Th lnding mony that th Intrnational Financ Corporation put forward arlir this month through VF Corp. appars to b undrstood by th industry in Dhaka to b linkd with th Allianc. R.W.: No, w v workd activly with th IFC for th past yar. W v larnt of th possibility of an IFC instrumnt invsting hr, mt with thm, shard th information with our string committ, shard th prsntation in on of our string committ mtings, and thr is an intrst in thm by svral of th Accord brands. W v don a sris of Wbinars with IFC and th Accord staff. W v had about 300 of our signatory companis participat in th Wbinars, and in spaking with th IFC, it appars that 10 of our brands ar wll into th discussion of stting up an instrumnt. Thr ar a coupl that hav alrady bn st up that will b announcd soon. So, w v bn working with thm for th bttr part of a yar now. So it s not an Allianc initiativ. Th IFC has workd with th Allianc and th Accord, and any on of th brands, th Accord or th Allianc, can spak with thm about stting up an initiativ. WWD: Has th Apparl Summit this month bn hlpful in clarifying som of th issus and diffrncs among th various stakholdrs, including th Accord? R.W.: Th summit is mor of an industry promotion vnt than anything. I man, popl in th community know that inspctions hav takn plac, thy know that th initial ons hav finishd, thy know that rmdiation costs mony, and thy want to figur out whr th mony is going to com from and what th options ar for gtting th mony or for gtting th support. And I think that s what th sssion on rmdiation addrssd on how this can happn. {Continud on pag 8}

8 8 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 THE ACCORD IN FIRE AND BUILDING SAFETY IN BANGLADESH {Continud from pag 7} WWD: In April, factory ownrs appard to b rsistant to inspctions, but now thy appar to b glad for thm and rady to mov forward. Has that bn your xprinc, too? R.W.: Clarly, th inspctions took plac, and thr wasn t a trmndous amount of rsistanc som nois, but not a trmndous amount of rsistanc in trms of practical purposs. And on th rmdiation stuff, it varis. I would say, by and larg, th factory ownrs ar going about it and bing fairly sincr. Som of thm hav xprssd th nd for som financial support, and w ar facilitating thos discussions or putting th brands and th factory ownr togthr so that discussions tak plac. I would say that th biggr issu that w will hav to dal with is popl not mting timlins, whthr through lack of ffort or [for] lgitimat rasons; I think thr will b som cass of both. But I think it s not so much that popl arn t going to fix stuff thy know thy hav to fix it. I think it s wanting to gt mor tim to fix it and thn, obviously, finding th mans of support to mak this happn. WWD: So, what s on th top of your worry list at this tim? R.W.: I would say I don t think it s going to happn but I don t want to s largscal failur to rmdiat within rasonabl timlins. And, again, I don t think w r going to s that. But it s somthing I think about, and w r doing vrything w can to prvnt it from happning. I crtainly don t want to s timlins on rmdiation not bing mt bcaus thr wasn t sincr discussion on financing to bgin with, lik that factory ownr ndd hlp and ithr didn t ask for it or th discussion on it was not substantiv and thn four months latr, whn thy r supposd to hav fir doors installd and fir-alarm systms nothing s gtting don or not gtting don adquatly, and th factory ownr says, I can t do it bcaus I don t hav th rsourcs. I nd som hlp. I hop that dosn t happn, and, again, w r proactivly doing this stuff to prvnt it. On th safty and halth committs, th lction of workr rprsntativs is, I think, going to b a snsitiv subjct and rquirs a prominnt rol by th govrnmnt. Th govrnmnt should b th on to ovrs thos lctions and srv th rgulatory functions if thr ar any irrgularitis in th lctions. It s important for th govrnmnt of Bangladsh to stp up and do that. Rob Wayss WWD: Th numbrs that BGMEA is saying about $250,000 pr factory and $3 billion for all th factoris ar thy corrct? Is that fair? R.W.: W don t rally hav an avrag pr factory bcaus thr rally isn t on. It dpnds on how many floors, how many doors, how many mtrs of wiring for th alarm systm; it dpnds on whthr thy will hav to put a sprinklr systm in; it dpnds on, structurally, if th building is fairly sound and thr s not a lot of column strngthning that nds to tak plac. So, w don t giv an avrag bcaus it can vary so dramatically. WWD: It s th sam in trms of rlocation? R.W.: Again, ar thy proposing a factory that is fiv or 10 storis? How many doors ar thr going to b in th factory, how many squar mtrs is th floor going to b without that, you THE ALLIANCE FOR BANGLADESH WORKER SAFETY THE ALLIANCE, which has 26 North Amrican apparl companis, rtailrs and brands, including Gap Inc., VF Corp., and Wal-Mart Stors Inc., compltd inspctions in its 587 factoris in July. An additional fir-safty training program for 1.1 million workrs and managrs was part of its focus. Elln O Kan Tauschr, formr U.S. Congrsswoman and th Allianc s indpndnt chair, spok with WWD about th tasks ahad and what it will tak to achiv safr garmnt factoris in Bangladsh. WWD: What is your immdiat concrn on th ground in Bangladsh? Elln Tauschr: In ordr to do businss, you nd to do two things: hav a businss licns and blong to th BGMEA [Bangladsh Garmnt Manufacturr and Exportrs Association]. So, it maks sns that you r going to hav th bifurcation of th factory businss: th factoris that ar taking th xports, th flight to quality, th factoris that ar highr nd, mor sophisticatd, safr and hav bttr vrything, [and] thn you r going to hav th domstic factoris. I want to continu to hav ths aspirational goals [and] continu to hav factoris do bttr and mor. WWD: Will thr b 4,000 factoris in th futur? E.T.: It s not my job to figur out how many thr should b. Businss intrst and comptition and th normal businss cycl will dictat whthr thr will b 4,000 factoris or 3,500 factoris. I want ach of thos factoris inspctd vry on of thm. I want subsqunt initial inspction and subsqunt rmdiation. I want thm inspctd vry yar, and that s got to b th job of th Bangladsh govrnmnt. And thy v got to dcid that thr can t b a shadow factory businss; thr can t b som factoris that hav kind of gon undr bcaus, with that, you r going to tak th whol thing down. WWD: Ar ths issus bing undrstood at th local lvl? E.T.: Ths ar th kind of awaknings that th ministrs and govrnmnt and th BGMEA and th brands and th buyrs [ar having]. Thr is a lot of sophistication aftr [th collaps of] Rana Plaza, whn Amrican and Europan brands bgan to undrstand. Whn somthing bad happnd and thy wr calld and askd, Wr you in that factory? thy kind of knw whr thy wr, but thy rally didn t know whr thy wr. You can t do that any mor. You gotta know whr you ar. W rquir it as a part of this binding agrmnt. WWD: In this tim, hav you sn th businss modl in Bangladsh rally maturing and changing? E.T.: Th chang has bn normous just in th past 18 months, causing buyrs to focus. And rquiring thm to only b in factoris that ar in th inspction procss crats a lot mor visibility [and] also crats popl making a lot mor smart choics, th flight to quality. So, what w want is to pull vrybody up. Thr will b som that won t mak it. But [th procss] has to b an organizd ndavor of th govrnmnt, BGMEA and ths businss ownrs. You hav to crat a floor rgardlss of th othr vagaris of th businss modl that you cannot hav anyon sourcing, vn if it s just domstic, from a factory that is uninspctd. That is such a matrial chang. That will tak us wll byond th fiv yars, but it will chang vrything, and that is how w start to stabiliz businss and popl s xpctations in th businss. You start to matur th businss modl, and you start to matur th businss, and you mpowr and ducat th workrs. WWD: Has th Bangladsh govrnmnt hld up th right nd to mak ths changs possibl? E.T.: Yah, but you always hav to hav a halthy tnsion in a rlationship bcaus you hav to b abl to say, Ys, I know it taks a long tim, and it will tak six months. But I can t lt it b svn bcaus I hav fiv yars. So, lt s gt this tim lin, and lt s undrstand how to quu and squnc th lmnts of a major plan. For instanc, I don t want to do any mor inspctions. I want to gt my inspctions don, which w v don. I want to sit down and gt ths agrmnts with th factory ownrs, CAP, and thn mov on to th rmdiation plan. But thn thr will hav to b ongoing inspctions. What rquirs thm, and who is going to do thm? You don t hav to b a buyr to do that. Lt s gt th inspctors hird, and by th nd of yar thr, w want that thy ar doing thm on thir own. W v got to gt thm doing annual inspctions. W v got to gt thm to a plac whr not only thir capability and capacity is incrasd to tak ovr from us but [thy also can] tak ovr from us without having any dgradation of th standards. You can t b nos down whn you nd to b nos up. WWD: You v agrd on th contntious issus of th common factory approvals with th Accord? Businss intrst and comptition and th normal businss cycl will dictat whthr thr will b 4,000 factoris or 3,500 factoris. I want ach of thos factoris inspctd. ELLEN TAUSCHER th standards and th aspirational svn E.T.: Yah, w v agrd, and thn w m and my board will hav som mtings with th snior ladrship of th Accord to gt past som of ths political issus that ar wastful and distracting bcaus, in th nd, th Accord and th Allianc alrady hav an agrmnt on how to go forward. W v alrady cratd storis for fir supprssion. So, th qustion is, what do w do about th othr 2,000 factoris that ar still undr th Bangladsh purviw to manag? WWD: What has bn th biggst challng for th Allianc ths past months? E.T.: Th biggst challng has bn bcaus this is a hybrid concption, nvr cratd bfor to do somthing that is tough to do: cultural and social chang and half a world away. All of th things that mak this hard. So, actually, gtting down to it was difficult, but w wr prtty clar what w had to do. W st vry significant milstons for ourslvs. W just wnt about gtting it don. Th toughst part still is th political challng. WWD: In Bangladsh? Or do you man in th U.S., as wll? Or do you man politics btwn th various sgmnts? E.T.: Ys. It s th political tnsion btwn th Bangladsh govrnmnt and th Allianc and th Accord [and] th factory ownrs and all of thos [rlationships] hav bn managd vry wll, I think. And thn th rlationships back at hom, popl s xpctations and, of cours, th rlationship btwn th Accord and Allianc. WWD: Things havn t bn working vry smoothly with th Accord on th ground. Is that frustrating? E.T.: No. I can only affct what I can do. W v dcidd that w r going to tak th high road, and w r going to b rsults-orintd, and w r going to kp our promiss. I cannot st xpctations for sombody ls. I can t rquir popl to do things unlss I hav an xpctation that I can mt bcaus w hav an agrmnt. But w don t hav an agrmnt with th Accord. If anything, I think that popl ar starting to s that, from th vry bginning, w v always dcidd to b rsultsorintd and tak th high road and not b drawn into a political fight that s rally about crtain constituncis of th Accord who don t lik th Amrican brands. I m not going to chang th fact. I don t hav to. Thy ar not my constituncy. My constituncy is hr. WWD: What aspirations and goals ar you stting out for th coming months? Ar ths common goals with th Accord and th Bangladsh govrnmnt? E.T.: I think thr is gnral awarnss and accptanc that so, w v got mayb 600 factoris; thy hav mayb 1,300 or 1,400 factoris out of 4,000. So, thr ar now all ths othr factoris, anywhr from th high tns to 2,500 factoris that th Bangladsh govrnmnt has to inspct. What w v bn vry awar of from th vry bginning is that, if thr should b, God forbid,

9 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, WWD.COM don t know. So, what w do is, w provid information that w v bn gathring on costs of common inputs, so you do th math. Hr s a standard-siz fir door of this dimnsion, which costs this much; th installation for [that] fir door costs somwhr in this ara; a mtr of sprinklr systm can b purchasd and installd for this much; th computr componnts for a cntral fir-alarm systm cost this much; th cabling pr mtr costs this much; th jackt of a column costs this much, and thn you hav to do th multiplication basd on this. That kind of stuff is what w provid. WWD: Will you b working with th formation of nw trad unions and workr rprsntation at factoris? R.W.: Th trad unions ar signatoris, but w don t do any union organizing or anything lik that. Th trad-union signatoris ar qual partnrs, so thy gt all th inspction rports. W r invsting in th IndustriALL structurs; w v don a lot of trainings with thir activists, with thir workr-outrach popl, with thir trainrs. W v workd with thm to slct a group of popl to st up mtings with th workrs from th factoris to go through th inspction rports and gt thir contact information and shar ours, so that w hav accss to workrs in th factory as part of our monitoring whn th rmdiation is taking plac. W rly on thm to do outrach to workrs whn th workr committ rprsntativs ar lctd that will b happning in th nxt yar. Thy do outrach with mmbrs on how to handl th safty complaint mchanisms of th Accord. But w don t rquir a union at th factory. W r not supporting IndustriALL to do union organizing. WWD: What has bn th hardst to initiat on th ground so far? R.W.: I don t find any of it particularly hard to work with not th BGMEA, nor th govrnmnt. BGMEA is a mmbr-basd organization, so thy hav to rprsnt thir mmbrs. Th popl that srv on th board of dirctors, thy ar lctd popl, so thr is a bit of politics that coms into it, which somtims affcts our work, so on a day-to-day lvl, from th political ladrship lvl, w work wll with BGMEA. Our ngagmnt with th govrnmnt is mor with th national-ffort projct with ILO and th National Tripartit Committ. W hav a good working rlationship with thm. WWD: What would rally hlp on an immdiat lvl? R.W.: From th govrnmnt prspctiv, it s important for th ruls on th labor law to b publishd [and snt] to th safty and halth committs. Thy nd to lay down what th ruls ar going to b for th safty and halth committs and how thy ar going to gt lctd. That will b vry hlpful to vrybody bcaus w hav to stablish thm in our factoris. So, I think th work will gt mor intnsiv with th govrnmnt whn th lctions start taking plac that s going to b a big dal. Ths will start in arly WWD: So, 2015 is ssntially going to b about mting timlins on rmdiation? R.W.: Ys, th rmdiation and monitoring th rmdiation is going to b a major part of our work, and prparing and stablishing th safty and halth committs and training th popl who will b on th committs will b a big part of our work going forward. W v also don a lot of upgrads on th Wb sit. It will b launchd this month. W v don a lot of graphics on it and significant chang in layout. WWD: Th fir in Octobr at th Mga Dying Ltd. factory happnd aftr inspctions wr compltd by th Accord. Arn t inspctions xpctd to liminat ths risks of fir? R.W.: I don t think w ar going to b abl to liminat accidnts in th garmnt factoris, and I would xpct that, ys, w would s firs and othr industrial accidnts in th factoris. Our job is to liminat th ons that can b avoidd through practical safty masurs. But I would say, ralistically, it will tak 12 to 18 months to rmdiat th factoris that w v inspctd. Evn whn thy ar rmdiatd, w won t b rmoving all hazards it s a catand-mous sort of thing. You also hav to allow for possibilitis of backsliding, and you hav to allow for rpairs mad on th lctrical systms to not b maintaind. I man, w can t liminat th possibility of industrial accidnts. I would suspct that w ll s som firs and, hopfully, again, that ths will b dramatically rducd and that workrs won t b injurd whn thy do brak out and that thr will b fir doors if thy do, so that popl can gt to safty fastr. It s trribl, of cours, anytim w [har] that any of th factoris w hav inspctd hav a fir or an accidnt. But w nd to work with purpos to mak sur that ths things gt fixd and that w r tracking and supporting so that thy do gt fixd. WWD: Ar thr things that popl on th global lvl don t undrstand about what s happning on th ground? R.W.: Thy nd to know that factoris in Bangladsh ar bing mad saf. Thr s bn a lot of progrss in on yar, and th commitmnts that th Accord has mad ar bing mt not without its problms, not without its complication, not without stbacks or occasions whr w v had to nforc th Accord but commitmnts hav bn mt, and w r working hard to mak sur thy ar mt. And by doing this, th factoris that produc for th Accord brands ar bing mad saf. Thy r not saf yt, but thy ar bing mad saf. any tragdy in a Bangladsh rady-mad garmnt factory, it dosn t mattr who is sourcing from it. So, w v st som aspirational goals, including having fir-supprssion quipmnt on th svnth floor, and this is not part of th building cod in Bangladsh. W would lik to hav som lgislators pick it up and tak a look at it bcaus thr ar two things that you accomplish whn you do that: [Using] ithr fir doors or fir-supprssion quipmnt lik sprinklrs, first thing you do is, you giv popl on uppr floors a chanc to gt out. But qually important, fir-supprssion quipmnt allows popl to go to work th nxt day. And thr is somthing to b said about bing abl to go back to work th nxt day. WWD: So, is th awarnss of th timlin of fiv yars in Bangladsh bcoming clarr now? E.T.: Ys, w v alrady bn thr 18 months. W r out of this businss in thr and a half yars. Thr is alrady th sustainability compact, [and] thr is th National Tripartit Action plan. W ar now working with th brands, th Accord and th Allianc to sit down and say, This is th timlin in fiv yars, and w r doing our factoris. W know now that thr is a flight to quality. W know now that thr ar 1,700 of 4,000 factoris whr th Europans and Amricans hav congrgatd, thr is a sophisticatd plan, so thr is a ral going businss. Ths factoris ar going to now pass through othr tsts and will gt mor xport businss. But what is th govrnmnt going to do or th BGMEA? WWD: What do you s as th ral shift in attitud in Bangladsh now that th Allianc has don all this work alrady? E.T.: At th panl [at th Apparl Summit in Dhaka arlir this month], I m sitting thr w r making th factory ownrs spnd an avrag of $250,000 pr factory. Thir complaint is that thr is a businss nvironmnt whr thy ar not comptitiv bcaus of th high intrst rat. Thy r not saying, Thy ar making us spnd a quartr of a million dollars to mak thir workrs saf. No. Thy ar complaining to th commrc minstr that it s costing too much to borrow. Thy r not saying, That lady is making us do it. That s how th sismic shift has bn: Popl hav absorbd this, thy hav accptd it, and thy hav movd on. It s amazing. It s stunning. Elln Tauschr I hav mor factory ownrs coming to m, saying, I am doing it fastr. I am doing sprinklrs on th svnth floor. Thy undrstand that fir supprssion is a doubl bnfit: It givs popl tim on th uppr floors to gt out, but it also givs thm a plac to com back th nxt day. If you r waiting for th fir brigad to com, holy mackrl! Also, this is a way for workrs to rturn to work th nxt day. It s a win-win. It s an insuranc policy. I rmmbr th first tim I dscribd it [last] summr, six months ago: Thr was a littl rsistanc whn I xplaind it as [bing] th bst policy for workrs and for you, bcaus you r not waiting for th fir dpartmnt to com. Thy r going to find a way to do it thy v brought it all on board, thy v absorbd it. It s a hug, hug, hug shift. WWD: Is that what it s costing, btwn $250,000 and $300,000? E.T.: Ys, for th Amrican- and Europansourcd factoris, and ths ar th flight to quality bttr managd and bttr rsourcd, bttr vrything. WWD: And you r hlping to find th mony for rmdiation? E.T.: So, this is th tst of sophistication of th ntir ntrpris of this public partnrship: our ability to bring rsourcs of both corporat-quality lnding and th IFC [Intrnational Financ Corp.]. Evryon has bn looking for imaginativ, intrsting and a, frankly, nw way of accssing capital. W ralizd arly on that for many of th factory ownrs who look and appar to b nding crdit from thir buyrs [that] was th wrong mssag. So, w had to turn it around and mak sur that thy didn t think that w wr qustioning thir ability to b a rsourc. Th rmdiation is xtraordinary and a nw kind of xpns. And thr is a prmium on doing it quickly. If you can figur out how to afford it in your businss modl but borrowing som mony at a lowr cost gts it don fastr, that s an incntiv for vryon to do that. Thr wr som convrsations with th factory ownrs to mak sur thy didn t fl vulnrabl. W workd with VF, but Wal-Mart and Targt, Th Gap and othrs ar involvd. This is innovation. This is popl rally saying, OK, lt s just figur out how to b crativ. Lt s figur out how to do somthing in a nw way. And IFC, to thir crdit, was right thr and saying, OK, lt s figur out how to do it. WWD: How much intrst ar thy going to charg? E.T.: You know, it s a markt variabl. But it s vry comptitiv and a much bttr rat than [at] HSBC and othr banks. WWD: Now that fir and safty issus ar bing addrssd, will th Allianc tak up trad unions and workrs rights as an important issu? E.T.: It s always bn an important issu. Our bylaws insist that workrs hav th right to organiz, whthr it is [as] a labor union or a workrs halth-bnfit committ. W promot that workrs hav th right to organiz, and thy hav to mak thir own choics on how thy do it. W v said that right from th vry bginning. W ncourag th workrs to organiz. WWD: Part of th criticism of th Allianc is that workrs ar not a priority. E.T.: Look, do w hav som labor ladrs who ar nvr going to lik th Allianc? Apparntly, thr ar. I think th tst of th thing whthr you hav any class or whthr you hav any crdibility is whthr you can actually tak somon you don t lik, s somthing that thy do that thy do wll and say, I guss you do that wll. And unfortunatly, apparntly, thr ar som popl, both in th Unitd Stats and Europ, who rfus to accpt th fact that thy hav got ys for an answr. Ths ar companis that hav said and promotd and don mor. W r th only group that pays popl if thy los thir job. So, whr is th big labor organization calld th Accord? Thy v got tns of thousands of popl who hav lost thir jobs without compnsation. W v compnsatd vrybody who s lost thir job for four months. So, you know, I think it is a littl hollow to b claiming that thr ar popl all for labor rights, whil popl ar out of work bcaus of th actions thy hav had to tak bcaus th factory that thy ar working in is unsaf, but thy r not paying thm. Only th Allianc is paying thm. W v paid lots of popl. You know, popl just don t want to accpt th facts. Thir biass ar showing, and it is unfortunat, but th truth of th mattr is, our rcord is unquivocal. WWD: Is thr a sns of satisfaction about th achivmnts so far? E.T.: Ar w satisfid with th progrss? No. But w ar working closly togthr. And if you ask, Should anybody b satisfid with th progrss? th answr is no. You hav to hav that tnsion thr. You r always trying to gt somthing don, but it dosn t hav to b advrsarial bcaus w hav th sam goals in mind, and w r rally confidnt that w r rally in a good plac.

10 10 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 ks... Th Adirondac Baja Cal ifornia, M xico. CHRIS TIAN LO UBOUTI N Surf and sun in Tobago with a bunch of frinds and family. A CYNTHI ROWLEY b th ns. It ll pr to Ath th om h or k bf Bac w hav, so I ll last brak ll 2015 launchs fa! fall and th most of it ANTZOU ak KATR try to m MARY...and Palm Bach. MAR K BADGLE Y AND JAM ES MISCH KA r n g i s D s n o i t a Dstin My hom in Parrot Cay with my family. DONNA KARAN Whr ar d to know, days? t an w D li WW ing th ho you spnd assumd w, s u lo u b ast fa th r u o h S w, Som Th Alps t. h f g o ri r m and w w arrakch ar just so t up h M g d au c an Asia rs w th th dsign th spots but so ar R & R g in tt. g it o tr with ar ks and D Adirondac ttl family; athltic li W ar an Val Thorns to ski. g to MARANT w ar goin ISABEL y T through ravling all out Asia. It s Southast th combinat prfct ion scap an of sun, d calm. MICHA EL KOR S Punta d le I v nvr st. b I am so x n, and citd. A frind gav incrdibl m hr b hous in Sa ach for a wk. n Ignacio ADAM LIPPES us My mothr s ho a in Dtroit is on ul lak and bautif yar-round. ANNA SUI

11 ELA RO SE...and Lisbon. GIAMBATTIS TA VALLI I hav to dcid. akch.. btwn Marr I am going to Miami w ith my family fo R&R, whr r non-basl I actually g to war a ba thing suit an t at tons of d st th bach ho on crabs on lding rosé or a Bloody al l day long. JENN IFER FISH ER Rsolution IS DRAWING to a clos. It s that tim of yar whr w vow to spnd lss tim indulging in Ntflix marathons and mor of it on a tradmill. WWD polld dsignrs, socials and clbs on thir rsolutions to s how thy plan to bttr thmslvs nxt yar (at last till mid-fbruary). To at lss kal, mor chocolat. LEANDRA MEDINE Thy might sm phony, but thy r tru. On is to sit down lss, and th scond is to not hav my phon in sight all of th tim. I fl lik it s always out. I think I can do a bttr job of putting it away it s distracting. JASON SCHWARTZMAN Idally, I would lik to crat a coupl mor Natalis in On will own hr own clothing lin. Th othr will study nuroscinc and dvlop thrapis for childrn with larning disabilitis. And thn thr s th Natali who has a TV show on CNN. Now it s up to th univrs to dcid which Natali conqurs. NATALIE JOOS To mditat daily. HERSHEY S BY SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES; YOGA MAT, FULL MOON AND BROCCOLI BY GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO; GLASS BY GETTY IMAGES; BUDDHA BY MICHAEL BETTS/GETTY IMAGES; PEN BY SIEDE PREIS/GETTY IMAGES I m spn ding th holiday at our Wyomin family s ranch in g. It s a grat pla to cozy u c p an tim outs d njoy som id of th city. L LIPPES, SUI, BADGLEY AND MISCHKA PHOTOS BY THOMAS IANNACCONE; ROSE AND KORS BY JOHN AQUINO; KARAN, ROWLEY AND FISHER BY STEVE EICHNER; LOUBOUTIN BY AMY GRAVES; VALLI, KATRANTZOU AND MARANT BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI; THAILAND BY SASINTIPCHAI/ROOM THE AGENCY/CORBIS; ATHENS BY SANDRA RACCANELLO/SOPA RF/SOPA/CORBI; ADIRONDACKS BY CHRIS HACKETT/ TETRA IMAGES/CORBIS; MIAMI BY MURAT TANER/CORBIS; LISBON BY JORG GREUEL/OCEAN/CORBIS; MARRAKECH BY CORBIS; VAL THORENS BY JACQUES PIERRE/HEMIS/CORBIS; DETROIT BY BARRY HOWE/CORBIS; TOBAGO BY NORBERT PROBST/IMAGEBROKER/CORBIS; PUNTA DEL ESTE BY JAVIER PIERINI/OCEAN/CORBIS; WYOMING BY JAMES HAGER/ROBERT HARDING WORLD IMAGERY/CORBIS; BAJA CALIFORNIA BY PIETRO CANALI/SOPA/CORBIS; PALM BEACH BY MARTIN MOXTER/WESTEND61/CORBIS; TURKS AND CAICOS BY MATT DUTILE/CORBIS WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, WWD.COM LAUREN REMINGTON PLATT it, just b about it. That way I don t bat myslf up and fl guilty if I don t do it. I m not going to mak any. I liv my Nw Yar s rsolutions ach and vry day. So that s my Nw Yar s rsolution: To kp going. JOY BRYANT To tak a littl bit mor of myslf and go back to yoga in a big way. KRYSTEN RITTER My Nw Yar s rsolution is to gt mor than four hours of slp vry night. DIANE VON FURSTENBERG My Nw Yar s rsolution is to try and hav a bdtim. JENNIFER FISHER To still s th glass half-full. ROLAND MOURET To at mor grns. CHELSEA LEYLAND Mayb I ll start a languag or somthing. Frnch. I rally want to mov to Franc. OSMAN YOUSEFZADA To larn calligraphy and nroll in a danc class. MISHA NONOO I don t mak any anymor. I alrady quit smoking so that s don. I say, Don t talk about REACH THE FASHION INDUSTRY S TOP TALENT WWDCAREERS.COM PRINT & ONLINE PACKAGES AVAILABLE Contact Christn Cosmas, WWD Classifid/Carrs at or christn_cosmas@fairchildfashion.com DYLAN PENN

12 12 WWD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014 Prssur Builds at Amrican Apparl {Continud from pag on} which would stablish a valu, has not happnd and is not currntly schduld, according to a sourc. La s arrival on th scn puts a third big-mony invstor in th mix. Soo Kim, managing partnr at Standard Gnral, is also vry influntial at Amrican Apparl aftr h cut a stock dal with Charny to shar voting rights for his stak and thn xtndd th company $25 million in financial backing. Standard Gnral had a hand in picking fiv of th ight popl now on th company s board. (Lucky Brand cofoundr Gn Montsano had bn mad Lion s dsign for th board, although his nam was withdrawn in favor of La, who will xpand th board to nin mmbrs whn h joins officially.) For now, th brand is plugging along, working on a turnaround. Paula Schnidr is st to tak th rins as co on Jan. 5, and sh ll hav hr work cut out for hr. Th company postd losss of $40.9 million for th first nin months of th yar, as sals slippd 2 prcnt to $455.5 million. Comparabl sals in Amrican Apparl stors fll 5 prcnt in AMAZON HOLIDAY FACTS: Amazon may hav signd 10 million nw Prim mmbrs for holiday, but it s th Wb sit s fashion facts basd on purchass from Amazon Fashion customrs that show just how big a rtail prsnc th company had during th sason. According to Amazon, if vry sho from ach pair of pumps bought wr stackd on top of on anothr, thy would b 52 tims highr than th Empir Stat Building. Enough Alx and Ani braclts wr purchasd to giv four th third quartr. With 245 doors and its own factory in Los Angls, th company has bn losing mony for yars as it has copd with a sris of highintrst loans. With a bttr capital structur, th hop is that th brand will gt ahad of things, opn mor stors and mak th oprations at its factory mor profitabl. Thr s bn som progrss: Adjustd arnings bfor intrst, taxs, dprciation and amortization hav bn on th ris, gaining 38 prcnt in th third quartr to $13.5 million. But Amrican Apparl also has bn spnding havily to fnd off Charny, who was votd out as chairman in Jun and suspndd as prsidnt and co amid allgations of misconduct. Th company spnt $5.3 million on lgal and consulting fs in th third quartr alon. Should mony run short, Amrican Apparl is said to still hav funds availabl from Standard Gnral. On Monday, th company sought to countr a rport that it was cutting back at its L.A. factory to consrv cash. Amrican Apparl s factory is oprating in th ordinary cours Alx and Ani braclts to vry child born in th U.S. with th nam Alx in Purchass of watchs wr sufficint to scal London s Big Bn 1,148 tims if stackd nd-to-nd. Th numbr of pairs of slipprs bought would b nough to giv vry rsidnt of North Pol, Alaska, a nw pair of slipprs vry day for th nxt 100 days (for th curious, a Googl sarch showd th town had a population of 2,214 as of 2013). Th numbr of pairs of cowboy boots purchasd was nough to provid a nw pair of boots of businss, a spokswoman said. Our stors ar fully stockd. W v had a succssful holiday sason. Our mploys hav bn working ovrtim to mt th holiday dmand, and now that th holiday sason is ovr, w plan to adjust shift schduls as w do vry January. Th spokswoman addd, Amrican Apparl rmains committd to grat fashion whil staying tru to its cor principls of producing cloths mad in th USA, swatshop-fr and with fair wags for mploys, and that commitmnt has not changd as th company positions itslf for a turnaround. Charny was ultimatly fird this month but continus to orbit th company. H s th largst sharholdr with a 43 prcnt stak, although h shars th voting rights for thos shars with Standard Gnral and has bn thratning lgal action that could sk damags of mor than $100 million. That mans Charny is still a playr in what s bcom fashion s own vrsion of Gam of Throns. And for thos looking to catch up on all th othrs in th saga, hr s a primr: THE AMERICAN APPAREL PRIMER Combatants in th battl to control th highst-profil U.S. apparl producr. DOV CHARNEY, OUSTED FOUNDER, AMERICAN APPAREL Th company s largst sharholdr, with a 43 prcnt stak, but h shars th voting rights undr th trms of a stock dal with Standard Gnral. Charny s on th outs with both th company and Standard Gnral, but has th support of many mploys and is thratning a lgal battl. SOO KIM, MANAGING PARTNER, STANDARD GENERAL Loand mony to both Charny and Amrican Apparl and scurd voting rights and significant sway on th board. LYNDON LEA, FOUNDING PARTNER, LION CAPITAL Longtim supportr of Charny, now sking to claim his sat on th board and pushing to considr a sal of th company. COLLEEN BROWN, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN APPAREL Joind th board in August and took th top spot this month. Brings xprinc turning around public companis but finds hrslf prsiding ovr a battl royal for th futur of th rtailr. FASHION SCOOPS PAULA SCHNEIDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AMERICAN APPAREL St to tak th rins of th firm on Jan. 5 and is said to hav bn rcruitd by Charny, who rportdly turnd down a lucrativ consulting dal with th company whn sh wasn t givn a board sat. JOHN HOWARD, CEO, IRVING PLACE CAPITAL Privat quity chif and fashion mainstay has xprssd intrst in buying th firm for up to $1.40 a shar, or $245 million, pnding du dilignc. to th population of Chynn, Wyo., which is hom to on of th largst outdoor rodos in th world. And th numbr of pairs of running shos bought would b nough to giv ach participant of th Minnapolis Marathon a nw pair of running shos vry tim thy startd a nw mil. VICKI M. YOUNG LOW KEY IN THE PHILIPPINES: Drk Lam may hav jttd into th Philippins without much fanfar, but Manila s fashion crowd rcognizd him whn h was sn having lunch at Blackbird, a chic rstaurant in th CHARNEY PHOTO BY RINGO CHIU/ZUMAPRESS.COM; HOWARD BY THOMAS IANNACCONE FOR MORE SCOOPS, SEE WWD.com. MEMO PAD TALKING TOKYO: Japans photographr Nobuyoshi Araki st asid his sxy and provocativ dg for th spring advrtising campaign h shot for Bottga Vnta, instad aiming for imagry that is dlicat yt strong. Mor than simply provocativ, Araki s imags hav a powrful honsty and human poignancy that mak thm unforgttabl, said th brand s crativ dirctor, Tomas Mair. H has his own visual languag, which I was Nobuyoshi Araki s ad for Bottga Vnta. vry xcitd to s translatd to th collction. Photographd in Tokyo, th campaign includs a shot of modl Saskia d Brauw handin-hand with mal modl Sung Jin Park. Thy ar sn laning against a wall in an mpty urban landscap, whr th ovrall whit and gray scn is intrruptd by th pop of color of a rd mtallic chair. Th campaign is slatd to brak in th Fbruary issus of intrnational fashion titls. Araki is th latst artist to collaborat with Bottga Vnta for its ad campaign. Th labl has prviously workd with photographrs including Ryan McGinly, Pitr Hugo, Nan Goldin, Stphn Shor and David Sims. ALESSANDRA TURRA RANKIN GOES SPORTY: British fashion photographr Rankin has bn tappd by fitnss chain Equinox for its 2015 ad campaign. Th ads, which brak on Thursday, ar an xtnsion of th company s prvious campaign dubbd Equinox Mad M Do It. Th first itration of th campaign was launchd last yar and hart of suburban Makati, housd in a gracious building that was onc an airport trminal. Lam, accompanid by his husband and businss partnr Jan-Hndrik Schlottmann, mt up with som frinds, who showd thm around th city. Thy r hr on thir way to Palawan, said on frind, on condition of anonymity. Thy r doing a fw touristy things whil in Manila. Palawan is a scattring of islands in cntral Philippins, known for its whit sand bachs and blu watrs, not to mntion its pionring fforts in co-tourism. Svral rsorts WWD.COM shot by Robrt Wyatt via agncy Widn + Knndy. At th tim, it garnrd mdia buzz, as it markd a split with controvrsial photographr Trry Richardson, who prviously shot a sris of ads for Equinox in his signatur risqu styl. This yar, Equinox said it partnrd again with Widn + Knndy to dpict postworkout imagry, which is mant to furthr xplor th consquncs of a good workout and xamin th flings associatd with it. Th ad campaign is budgtd at about $6 million, and it includs digital, mobil, social mdia, outof-hom advrtising in Nw York and Los Angls, as wll as national print mdia domstically and in London. Th ads will also b displayd at Equinox locations in Nw York, Los Angls, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Washington, London and Toronto. Rankin cratd a sris of portraits mant to grab attntion; for instanc, on shot faturs a woman with a shavd had with a razor in hand, whil anothr shows Equinox ad shot by Rankin. a man in womn s clothing. According to Equinox chif markting officr Carlos Bcil, th campaign undrscors risk taking and mpowrmnt. Evrything w do at Equinox is groundd in th ida of high-prformanc living, mpowring our mmbrs to b bold, b risk takrs and push thir limits, insid and outsid of th club, Bcil said. This campaign mbodis that prid and th advnturous spirit that spaks to th ida that it s about mor than just taking risks, it s about owning th consquncs. ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD dot th islands, among thm Amanpulo in Pamalican Island, and El Nido, a collction of rsorts in th small clustr of islands that tak thir nam from th birds nsts (nst is nido in Spanish) found atop th islands cliffs. Th muchsought-aftr bird s nst is a dlicacy in Chins cuisin. It s asy to vacation undr th radar in Palawan, which xplains why Amanpulo is a favorit of David Bckham, Naomi Campbll and Michal Kors as wll as Phillip Lim, who spnt a fw days thr in Sptmbr. A scond Aman rsort is bing dvlopd in th Philippins, also in Palawan. BAMBINA WISE