BEVERLY HILLS, 16 June 2010: At the 2010 Financial Times Business of Luxury Conference, Marissa Mayer (Vice President, Search Products & User Experience, Google Inc.) and Dov Charney (Founder & Chief Executive Officer, American Apparel) singled out Madonna’s career as a model luxury brands should follow, citing her ability to maintain a strong core identity while constantly reinventing herself. Leonard A. Lauder (Chairman Emeritus, Estée Lauder Companies Inc.) put his own spin on how to achieve career success, saying “the key thing is this: You start high and you stay high. You start low and stay low.”

Debate on the role of digital media in the luxury industry was also lively, with Robert A. Iger (President & CEO, The Walt Disney Company) asserting that traditional marketing has been “eviscerated” by digital forms, while Jean-Christophe Bédos (President & CEO, Boucheron) contended that brands should “rethink their preconceptions that the internet necessarily equals a mass market. It’s like a city full of streets, and some are high streets and some are luxury destinations.” Marissa Mayer offered further advice to digital architects, saying that luxury websites should be orchestrated for a simpler and faster experience by employing “less flash” and automatically defaulting to the “view all” option when revealing search results.

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, chaired the Summit, which convened over 350 senior luxury, media and entertainment executives, consultants, brand experts, fund managers and securities and retail analysts from around the globe.

The theme of the conference was “The Medium and the Message,” providing exclusive and inspired insight from industry leaders around the world on how the global luxury sector should adapt communications strategies in an era of social media, as well as the general challenges the luxury and entertainment industries face amid a shift in the traditional consumer’s buying habits.

Other distinguished speakers included Bryan Lourd (Managing Partner, Creative Artists Agency), Tom Murry (President & CEO, Calvin Klein Inc.), Diane von Furstenberg (CEO & Founder, DVF Studio and President, CFDA), Jonathan Newhouse (Chairman, Condé Nast International), Tamara Mellon (Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jimmy Choo),  Sebastian Suhl (COO, Prada Group) and Tim Murphy (Chief Product Officer, MasterCard Worldwide), who unveiled MasterCard’s new logo premium brand mark during his presentation at the Summit.

For more information and to hear keynote speaker interviews please visit http://www.ft.com/reports/business-luxury-2010

Charles Finch, Chairman & CEO, Finch & Partners, Tamara Mellon, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jimmy Choo, Fabio Mancone, Global Director of Licensing & Communications, Armani Group and Marina Garzoni, Founder & CEO, Moda e Technologia/Style Star at Financial Times Business of Luxury Summit on June 15, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California.

Madonna and Iconix Brand Group’s MG Icon Announces First Fashion Partnership With Macy’s Inc.

“MATERIAL GIRL” JUNIOR COLLECTION TO DEBUT THIS FALL

NEW YORK, March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — MG ICON, the newly formed joint venture between Madonna and Iconix Brand Group, Inc., (Nasdaq: ICON) announced its first direct-to-retail license agreement with Macy’s, Inc. for the “Material Girl” collection. “Material Girl” is a newly created, fast-fashion junior collection that will launch exclusively in approximately 200 Macy’s stores and online at www.macys.com in August 2010 for the back-to-school season.

As part of the direct-to-retail agreement, Macy’s will have the opportunity to launch additional brands with MG Icon in the future.

The “Material Girl” collection was inspired and designed in collaboration with Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, along with Iconix Brand Group’s in-house fashion department. In addition to the back-to-school apparel collection, “Material Girl” will also launch in multiple categories including footwear, handbags and jewelry. The collection will retail from $12.00 to $40.00, comparative with pricing strategies at junior specialty stores. The strategy for growth will include additional categories in the lifestyle and beauty sectors, including fragrance, beginning 2011 as well as a rollout into additional Macy’s stores.

Neil Cole, CEO and Chairman, Iconix, stated, “We are excited to announce the first in a series of new brands that will be developed under our partnership with Madonna.  ’Material Girl’ has a powerful retail partner in Macy’s and we look forward to working together to deliver an innovative launch for our consumers.”

“We believe that ‘Material Girl’ will be a dynamic exclusive brand for Macy’s, and we look forward to working with Madonna, Lourdes and the Iconix team. Madonna is a fashion icon who can bring a new dimension to our juniors customer,” said Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chief merchandising officer. “‘Material Girl’ will enhance the excitement of fast fashion at Macy’s.”

About Iconix Brand Group, Inc.

Iconix Brand Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ICON) owns, licenses and markets a growing portfolio of consumer brands including CANDIE’S (R), BONGO (R), BADGLEY MISCHKA (R), JOE BOXER (R) RAMPAGE (R) MUDD (R), LONDON FOG (R), MOSSIMO (R) OCEAN PACIFIC(R), DANSKIN (R) ROCA WEAR(R), CANNON (R), ROYAL VELVET (R), FIELDCREST (R), CHARISMA (R), STARTER (R) and WAVERLY (R). In addition, Iconix owns an interest in the ARTFUL DODGER (R), ED HARDY (R), ECKO (R), MARC ECKO (R) and ZOO YORK (R) brands. The Company licenses its brands to a network of leading retailers and manufacturers that touch every major segment of retail distribution from the luxury market to the mass market in both the U.S. and around the world. Iconix, through its in-house advertising, promotion and public relations agency, markets its brands to continually drive greater consumer awareness and equity.

About Macy’s, Inc.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2009 sales of $23.5 billion. The company operates about 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. The company also operates macys.com and bloomingdales.com. Prior to June 1, 2007, Macy’s, Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores, Inc.

About Madonna

Madonna, a multi-Grammy winning artist, cultural icon, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, director, producer, documentarian, children’s book author, video visionary and humanitarian has sold over 200 million albums in the course of her unparalleled career in the entertainment business.  Her recent “Sticky and Sweet” Tour was the most successful concert tour by a solo artist in history.

SOURCE

Madonna irrompe nel mondo della moda in partnership con Iconix Brand Group.

fonte: fashionmagazine.it

Madonna è pronta per fare irruzione nel mondo della moda grazie alla fondazione di Mg Icon, frutto di una partnership paritaria con Iconix Brand Group. La newco promuoverà una serie di iniziative negli Stati Uniti e nel mondo, compreso il lancio di nuove etichette. Si parte in agosto con la linea junior Material Girl, in esclusiva per Macy’s.
La venture, che vede la partecipazione al 50% di Iconix Brand Group e, per il restante 50%, di una società controllata da Madonna e dal suo manager Guy Oseary (Mg sono appunto le iniziali dei due), rappresenta il primo esperimento di joint venture della cantante nell’universo del branding. “L’obiettivo è lanciare label frutto di questa intesa in diversi Paesi e crescere in maniera organica a livello mondiale”, ha dichiarato Neil Cole, ceo e chairman del gruppo quotato al Nasdac proprietario, licenziatario e distributore di etichette fra cui Badgley Mischka, Ecko, Marc Ecko.
“Non vedo l’ora di lavorare al fianco di Neil e del suo team”, ha affermato Madonna che, con questo accordo, ha autorizzato l’utilizzo del suo nome per abbigliamento, scarpe e altri prodotti.
In prima battuta Mg Icon annuncerà un accordo in esclusiva con Macy’s a partire dal mese di agosto. Secondo quanto si legge sulla stampa quotidiana, riguarderà una linea junior (vestiti, calzature, borse e bigiotteria) contraddistinta dalla label Material Girl, che sarà venduta inizialmente in 200 door e sul sito macys.com per poi espandersi a quasi tutti gli 850 department store della catena. Sarà indirizzata a un target di età fra i 13 e i 25 anni e avrà prezzi retail oscillanti fra i 12 e i 40 dollari. La società, inoltre, sarebbe in procinto di presentare una collaborazione con un noto designer relativa a una linea di occhiali in co-branding.

article source: fashionmagazine.it