PVH to buy Warnaco for Calvin Klein control

(Reuters) - PVH Corp will buy rival Warnaco Group Inc for about $2.8 billion in a cash-and-stock deal that will give the company control of the Calvin Klein clothing brand.

PVH bought Calvin Klein in 2003 and makes formal and sportswear under that brand, while Warnaco has held the licensing agreements for Calvin Klein jeans and underwear since 1997.

Shares of both companies jumped in premarket trading after they announced the deal on Wednesday.

'Having direct global control of the two largest apparel categories for Calvin Klein - jeans and underwear - will allow us to unlock additional growth potential of this powerful designer brand,' PVH Chief Executive Officer Emanuel Chirico said in a statement on Wednesday.

The parties expect the deal to close in early 2013, after which former Warnaco stockholders will own about 10 percent of PVH stock.

The combined business will have $8 billion in annual revenue. PVH said it expected the acquisition to add 35 cents a share to earnings, excluding special items, in the first year and $1 in the third year, when it forecasts annual savings of about $100 million.

The company said it now expected full-year earnings per share to come in at the high end of its October 2 outlook of $6.32 to $6.37 per share excluding special items.

Based on PVH's closing price of $91.50 on Friday, the last day the stock traded, the deal values Warnaco at $68.43 a share for a premium of 34 percent. Trading was closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the Hurricane Sandy.

PVH shares rose to 18.1 percent to $109.21 in premarket trading on Wednesday, while Warnaco jumped 39.2 percent to $70.81.

The deal comes about two years after PVH bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand for about $3 billion to get a bigger foothold in markets like Europe and Asia.

'In taking a look at PVH's Tommy and other acquisitions, they do make valuation a very important component, so without really digging into the numbers, I would think they did not overpay,' Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said.

New York-based Warnaco, which also sells products under brands such as Speedo, Chap, Warner's and Olga, operated 1,759 Calvin Klein retail stores worldwide as of December 31.

PVH is paying $51.75 in cash and 0.1822 of a share of common stock for each Warnaco share.

The deal value is based on Warnaco's 40.87 million shares outstanding as of August 1.

Warnaco's Calvin Klein businesses will be run by Tom Murry, chief executive officer of Calvin Klein.

The company, which competes with Ralph Lauren Corp , Perry Ellis International Inc and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd , said it had commitments for $4.33 billion in financing from Barclays , BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Global Markets Inc .

(Additional reporting by Siddharth Cavale and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Erica Billingham,; Sriraj Kalluvila and Lisa Von Ahn)



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Kate Moss opens up about modeling misery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If you hate having your picture taken, you're in good company - British supermodel Kate Moss does as well.

'I'm terrible at a snapshot. Terrible. I blink all the time. I've got facial Tourette's,' she told Vanity Fair in the December issue, out on Wednesday.

Moss, who has graced countless magazine covers and was emblematic of the waif look popular in the 1990s, added 'Unless I'm working and in that zone, I'm not very good at pictures.'

Moss, 38, opened up about her years spent before the camera, including now-legendary shoots that left her anxious, demoralized, and hungry.

Among her regrets is a 1992 Calvin Klein session that helped launched Moss' career.

She recalled the shoot, at age 17 or 18, with Mark Wahlberg (then going by his rapper name, Marky Mark) and photographer Herb Ritts.

'I had a nervous breakdown,' she said. 'It (the job) didn't feel like me at all. I felt really bad about straddling this buff guy. I didn't like it. I couldn't get out of bed for two weeks. I thought I was going to die.'

'It was just anxiety,' she added. 'Nobody takes care of you mentally. There's a massive pressure to do what you have to do (and) I was really little ... I didn't like it. But it was work, and I had to do it.'

When she was even younger, she posed nude for The Face - another regret.

'I see a 16-year-old now, and to ask her to take her clothes off would feel really weird. But they were like, 'If you don't do it, then we're not going to book you again.' So I'd lock myself in the toilet and cry and then come out and do it.'

Moss, who became associated with the 'heroin chic' look after her early shoots, said 'I had never even taken heroin - it was nothing to do with me at all.'

'I was thin,' she conceded. 'But that's because I was doing shows, working really hard ... You'd get home from work and there was no food. You'd get to work in the morning, there was no food ... You don't get fed.'

Moss has kind words for her time with Johnny Depp in the mid-1990s, when she said she felt taken care of. After their break-up in 1998, 'I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust. Nightmare. Years and years of crying.'

Now, she says, her years of partying and high living have ebbed. She married guitarist Jamie Hince in 2011 after a four-year romance. 'I don't real­ly go to clubs anymore. I'm actually quite settled.'

'Living in Highgate (in London) with my dog and my husband and my daughter! I'm not a hell-raiser.'

Still, she added, 'Don't burst the bubble. Behind closed doors, for sure I'm a hell-raiser.'

(Reporting by Chris Michaud, editing by Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)



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Disney to buy "Star Wars" producer for $4.05 bln

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co agreed to buy filmmaker George Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd and its 'Star Wars' franchise for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, a b lockbuster deal that includes the surprise promise of a new film in the series in 2015.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger told analysts on Tuesday that the plan is to release a new movie in the series every two to three years thereafter. The last 'Star Wars' picture was 'Revenge of the Sith' in 2005, and Lucas has in the past denied any plans for more.

Lucas, a Hollywood icon known for exercising control over the most minute details of the fictional universe he created, will remain as a creative consultant on the new films.

'It's now time for me to pass 'Star Wars' on to a new generation of filmmakers,' he said in a statement. Lucas will become the second-largest individual holder of Disney shares, with a 2.2 percent stake.

Disney will pay about half the purchase price in cash and issue about 40 million shares at closing.

'This is one of the greatest entertainment properties of all time,' Iger said. Like Disney's purchases of Marvel Entertainment and Pixar studio, LucasFilm will 'drive long-term value to our shareholders,' he said.

Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said the deal would lower Disney's earnings per share by a low single-digits percentage in fiscal 2013 and 2014. H e also said Disney would repurchase all of the issued shares on the open market within the next two years, on top of planned buybacks.

This agreement marks the third time in less than seven years that Disney has signed a massive deal to take over a beloved studio or character portfolio, part of its strategy to acquire brands that can be stretched across TV, movies, theme parks and the Internet.

In early 2006, Disney struck a deal to acquire 'Toy Story' creator Pixar, and in the summer of 2009 it bought the comic book powerhouse Marvel.

'Disney already has a great portfolio and this adds one more,' said Morningstar analyst Michael Corty. 'They don't have any holes, but their past deals have been additive.'

Iger said he and Lucas first discussed a possible sale about 18 months ago. Lucas was pondering his retirement, and Iger was looking to add another well-known brand to the Disney empire. The two signed the deal at Disney's Burbank, California, headquarters on Tuesday.

'Everywhere I went, 'Star Wars' was already there, and sometimes they got there ahead of us,' said Iger in an interview. 'I kept seeing that brand and decided maybe we should buy it.'

He told analysts he believed there was 'substantial pent-up demand' for new 'Star Wars' movies. Each of the last three films in the series would have grossed $1.5 billion in today's dollars at the box office, CFO Rasulo estimated.

The film's iconic characters also will boost Disney's sales of toys and other consumer products, particularly overseas, executives said. Sales of 'Star Wars' items such as Darth Vader and Yoda action figures total roughly $215 million a year, Rasulo said.

In 2005, the year the last 'Star Wars' film was released, LucasFilm generated $550 million in operating income, Rasulo said.

Disney also will be able to extend the presence of the franchise at its theme parks around the globe, Iger said. The company's parks already feature rides based on 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones,' another Lucas property.

'Star Wars' characters also are likely to find a home on the Disney XD cable channel, which is aimed at young boys, Iger said.

Iger wouldn't commit to keeping the 'Star Wars' operation separate from Disney, as he did with Pixar and Marvel.

And Lucas won't sit on the Disney board despite his 2.2 percent stake in the company, Iger said. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who held a large stake in Disney after it bought his Pixar studio, had a seat on the Disney board.

From a fan's perspective, critics said there was sure to be at least some excitement at the prospect of episode seven in the saga of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

'Do I want to see more Star Wars movies? Not really, but they're not making these movies for me,' the film writer 'Mr. Beaks' wrote on the well-regarded industry site Ain't It Cool News. 'There's a whole new generation of Star Wars fans, and they worship the prequels like folks my age worshipped the original trilogy.'

Besides 'Star Wars,' the Lucasfilm deal also includes rights to the 'Indiana Jones' franchise, though Disney did not elaborate on any plans for that series.

(Additional reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Himank Sharma in Bangalore; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Ciro Scotti)



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Crocs to run fewer holiday season promotions

(Reuters) - Crocs Inc , known for its namesake clogs, said it will offer fewer discounts during the all-important U.S. holiday season this year as the shoemaker focuses on promoting a new line of products.

'Last year we ran about 58 different type of promotions to different groups in our database ... this year it will be more like 20,' Chief Executive John McCarvel told Reuters.

Crocs is planning to promote three collections this year in the United States and Europe -- fur-lined products, a boot collection geared for the rain, and a new retro line of clogs.

'(Promotions are) hard to manage, consumers get confused (and) think everything is on sale all the time, which isn't the case,' McCarvel said.

'This year we will be focused on better programs that last a little bit longer.'

However, rivals Wolverine Worldwide Inc and Skechers Inc have launched discounts to pull in frugal customers.

Crocs, most of whose products are made from a proprietary resin material with a rubber sole, is banking on new products like its retro line to boost sales during the holiday season and will sell the shoes at a slightly higher price. A majority of the company's products sell for between $25 and $50.

The company has been trying to reduce a pile-up of its clogs, which enjoyed huge patronage in the early 2000s, but whose popularity has since declined.

The Americas accounted for about 45 percent of Crocs's total revenue in its latest quarter, while Europe's share was 13 percent. Sales growth in Europe fell 2.9 percent in the quarter.

McCarvel said the company plans to focus on promoting its new products in the European markets, which buy more of its traditional clogs.

'We are trying to get the consumer in Europe to think about us differently,' the 55-year-old CEO said.

(This story corrects paragraph 1 to remove word 'rubber' and inserts phrase in paragraph 7 to show the clogs are made of a proprietary material with a rubber sole.)

(Reporting by Aditi Shrivastava and Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)



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Britain's Debenhams, ASOS buck retail gloom

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailers Debenhams and ASOS laid out plans to deliver future growth overseas as their rising profits showed their resilience to weaker home market conditions.

Both Debenhams, Britain's No. 2 department store group, and ASOS, the fast-growing online fashion retailer, have bucked the gloomy trend in the sector, dogged by weak consumer confidence.

Shares in Debenhams, up 59 percent over the last year, rose 6 percent after it increased its target for online sales to 600 million pounds ($961.8 million) from 500 million through the next three to five years.

The group also upped its target for overseas franchise stores from 130 to 150, with a focus on new openings in the Middle East and Asia.

Debenhams currently trades from about 170 stores in Britain, Ireland and Denmark, and 71 overseas franchise stores.

The group, which ranks behind rival John Lewis in terms of annual sales, also posted a 4.2 percent increase in full-year pretax profit to 158.3 million pounds, against a forecast 157.5 million, driven by its breadth of products, appeal to a range of customers and multiple routes to market.

Yet the company did not see any general upturn in the sector, where Argos parent Home Retail for example has just posted an 18 percent drop in first-half underlying pretax profit and is closing stores.

'We've seen no significant change in consumer confidence in the last six to nine months and customers are acclimatizing to what life is like in these challenging economic times,' said Chief Executive Michael Sharp.

FURTHER PROGRESS

Sharp expects the UK to be as competitive as last year in the run-up to Christmas, the main selling season for most retailers. He does not anticipate a significant improvement in the economic environment in 2013 but said he does expect Debenhams to make further progress.

ASOS posted an expected 40 percent rise in yearly profit as strong trading in overseas markets more than offset slower growth in the UK, and said it was positive on the outlook.

The retailer, which targets young women looking to emulate the designer looks of celebrities such as Nicole Scherzinger and Pixie Lott, made a proforma underlying pretax profit of 44.5 million pounds.

UK retail sales growth of 10 percent was dwarfed by international sales growth of 64 percent.

As well as the UK, the company has websites in the United States, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. 'On a daily basis on the planet we are the most visited fashion website for 15 to 34 year olds,' CEO Nick Robertson told Reuters.

He said that by this time next year the group will have set up local language websites in both China and Russia.

'These are just two more markets which we will start small and gradually build,' he said.

Prior to Thursday's update, ASOS shares had risen 90 percent so far this year, hitting a record 2,571 pence last week. But the stock was down 8 percent at 2,302p at 0951 GMT (0551 EDT), after Robertson played down recent re-heated speculation of a possible bid from Amazon.Com Inc .

'What I can categorically say is I have haven't spoken to (Amazon CEO) Jeff Bezos for three years,' he said.

(Editing by Kate Holton and David Holmes)



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Designer Lagerfeld calls French president "idiot" over taxes

PARIS (Reuters) - Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has accused President Francois Hollande of destroying France's economy by imposing painful taxes on the rich, calling the Socialist leader an 'idiot'.

The creative director of French fashion house Chanel, whose clients are largely the wealthy who stand to be most affected by Hollande's tax hikes, likened the president to Spanish Socialist former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

'This idiot will be as disastrous as Zapatero was,' Lagerfeld said in an interview with the Spanish edition of glossy fashion magazine Marie Claire published on Friday.

He added a famously blunt celebrity voice to criticism from business leaders at tax rises Hollande is slapping on companies and the wealthy in trying to reduce France's big public deficit.

Officials at the Elysee presidential palace were not immediately available for comment.

Hollande has aimed to avoid increasing the already weighty tax burden on low- to middle-income households in his 2013 budget but is struggling regardless with approval ratings that have slid to as low as 41 percent from above 60 percent when he was elected in May, replacing conservative Nicolas Sarkozy.

Lagerfeld, known for eccentric comments and unconventional looks, and a darling of rich fashionistas who snatch up Chanel's pricey creations, said the rich were being singled out by Hollande, who has set a 75 percent income tax on with an annual income of at least one million euros ($1.31 million).

'It's a disaster. He wants to punish (the rich) and of course they leave and no one invests,' he said. 'Foreigners don't want to invest in France and that's just not going to work.'

Business lobbies say that, rather than raising taxes, the government should be easing the heavy labor charges limiting the competitiveness of French companies and contributing to a surge in unemployment above 10 percent.

The government says it intends to look at ways of boosting competitiveness but has ruled out the sweeping cuts to labor charges that business leaders are seeking.

Lagerfel, a white-haired German designer rarely seen without dark glasses, high collar and gloves, sniffed that most French products were ignored by the buying public.

'Outside of fashion, jewellery, perfume and wine, France isn't competitive,' Lagerfeld said. 'The rest of our products don't sell. Who buys French cars? I don't.'

In February, Lagerfeld weighed in on the election race between Hollande and Sarkozy, saying he was bored by it and no longer believed in politics. 'I think countries should be run like big companies,' he said.

Hollande is under pressure to show France has the fiscal rigour required to help the euro zone escape from a three-year sovereign debt crisis, while trying to keep election promises to tackle unemployment, which is likely to rise further with a spate of industrial sector lay-offs.

($1 = 0.7638 euros)

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage in Paris and Paul Day in Madrid; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Mark Heinrich)



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Bogeys not bouquets for Miss Indonesia in Jakarta

(Reuters) - Indonesian beauty queen Inez Putri failed to convert her catwalk skills to the golf course on Thursday when she carded a 79 in the first round of the Enjoy Jakarta Ladies Indonesia Open.

It was a case of bogeys rather than bouquets for Putri, winner of this year's Miss Indonesia and a Top-15 finisher at the 2012 Miss World content, as the keen golfer's game has clearly suffered due to her commitments.

'I haven't played much golf in five months so I am happy with my score,' she told reporters after the first round score at the Ladies Asian Golf Tour event.

Although her golf may be on ice this year, she still has her eye on a pair of gold medals at next year's southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

The 23-year-old from the honeymoon island of Bali said she was planning to play in the individual and team event.

'I want to win gold at the SEA Games,' said Putri, who has won gold and silver medals at Balinese national level.

'Winning a gold medal at (an) event like the Olympic Games, Asian Games or world championships is always what all athletes look for.'

Having succeeded on the pageant front, Putri has her toe in the door at a golf channel with a view to promoting the game in Indonesia.

The Balinese Olympic Committee took a dim view of her swapping her golf spikes for stilettos, however, and kicked her off the island's team over potential scheduling conflicts.

'There's no pressure on me,' said former Bali Governor Cup winner Putri, who wants to play on the American LPGA Tour in the future.

'I'd love it if the fans are following me as it takes off the pressure on me.'

She said she could carry out her duties as Miss Indonesia and continue to play golf without breaking protocol.

'Those are social requirements. This is sports,' she said. 'I'm happy to play golf and promote Indonesia as golfing destination.'

(Reporting by Alastair Himmer in Tokyo; Editing by Patrick Johnston)



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Brad Pitt mystifies as first male face of Chanel No.5

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brad Pitt made his debut as the first male face of Chanel's iconic No.5 fragrance on Monday, in an ad campaign that had fans and fashionistas split on the actor's latest role.

Pitt, 48, is seen with long hair and dressed casually, looking wistfully into the camera in an enigmatic black-and-white video directed by 'Atonement' filmmaker Joe Wright.

'It's not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns, and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are, my luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No.5, inevitable,' the 'Moneyball' actor says.

The video is part of a $10 million advertising campaign for which Pitt was paid $7 million, according to Women's Wear Daily.

Time magazine's Erik Hayden called the ad 'nonsensical,' saying Pitt's 'vaguely existential monologue ... sounds like it could plausibly have been discarded narration from the trailer for Terrence Malick's (film) 'Tree of Life.''

Us Weekly's Zach Johnson called the video 'sensual,' while Vanity Fair's Amy Fine Collins said the choice to cast Pitt as spokesperson showed the French fashion house 'subtly circling back to its gender-twisting origins.'

Pitt is the first male spokesperson for women's fragrance Chanel No.5, the first perfume launched by legendary French designer Coco Chanel in 1921.

In a statement from Chanel, the actor called the fragrance 'revolutionary.'

'N°5 has always been the most iconic women's fragrance,' Pitt said. 'That's what I see being the appeal of this campaign; it goes beyond the abstract of emotion or beauty to evoke what is timeless: a woman's spirit.'

Chanel No.5 has been represented by actresses Audrey Tatou, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Deneuve in the past. It has also been linked with screen icon Marilyn Monroe after she famously said the fragrance was all she wore to bed.

LOVE, SCORN AND AMBIVALENCE

On Twitter and YouTube, some fans noted the somewhat ironic coincidence of the campaign's release tying in with the 13th anniversary of 'Fight Club,' in which Pitt played a consumerism-hating salesman.

While the video for Chanel No.5 had generated more than 3,000 'likes' on YouTube within the first 24 hours, it also has 850 'dislikes', with some commenters saying they believe the ad did not represent the fragrance.

Harper's Bazaar editor-at-large Derek Blasberg said on Twitter: 'I've watched Brad Pitt's Chanel No.5 commercial, oh, about 17 times today. I still don't know how I feel about it.'

Another Twitter user, Aime Rogers, said, ' WHAT were they thinking?? So strange.'

YouTube user BabyHippo26, said 'So pretentious!!! Why does he look so sad and serious ... I? have been a long-time consumer of Chanel No.5 and Chanel products. This commercial has turned me off so much, I won't be buying No.5 again!'

Other fans, however, were mesmerized by the Hollywood star.

User Medusafern posted on YouTube: 'it's his VOICE, that VOICE, Jesus, it's like one sweet drop of liquid angel I shall savor on my weary lips.'

Twitter user Liz Lyons simply said, 'I love love love Brad Pitt for Chanel no.5.'

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Jill Serjeant and Jan Paschal)



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Luxury sales growth to slow in 2012, Bain says

PARIS (Reuters) - Sales growth in the global luxury market will slow this year to 5 percent from 13 percent in 2011 at constant exchange rates as Chinese customers rein in their spending and concerns about the global economy take their toll, a study has found.

A closely watched report published on Monday by consultancy Bain & Co together with Italian luxury goods trade body Altagamma said the first signs of a deceleration began to appear in 2012 in China, the luxury industry's main engine of growth.

A change in government in China and a crackdown on corruption have dented luxury spending by its consumers, the report said.

This year, the Chinese luxury goods market is set to rise by 8 percent at constant currencies and 20 percent at current currencies to reach 15 billion euros ($19 billion), while last year it gained 30 percent using both measures, the report said.

Chinese consumers, many of whom shop abroad, have become the world's No. 1 buyers of luxury goods, ahead of the Japanese, the Americans and the Europeans, the study found.

Chinese consumers now make up half of luxury purchasers in Asia and nearly one-third in Europe.

Tourists overall represent 40 percent of total luxury sales and in some countries, such as France, they make up 60 percent. The country has become a top destination for Chinese tourists after simpler visa rules were introduced.

Europe has been hit by the euro zone debt crisis and luxury spending growth will approximately halve in 2012 from last year to 5 percent, with Italy and Spain suffering the biggest slumps, the report said.

However, the Americas region is projected to post strong gains, with revenue rising 13 percent by year's end.

At current exchange rates, the report predicts that global sales growth in the luxury market will slow this year to 10 percent from 11 percent in 2011 but it forecasts a strong fourth quarter.

'Concerns about market weakness are somewhat overblown,' said Claudia D'Arpizio, a Bain partner in Milan and lead author of the study. 'But we are seeing sharp disparities between brands that are not keeping up with the quickening pace of change in the market and those that are adjusting to shifts in tastes and demographics.'

Bain estimates that the luxury goods market will grow at constant exchange rates by 4 percent to 6 percent a year between 2013 and 2015, bringing the market to over 250 billion euros.

More details about the state of the global luxury sector will be published later on Monday when LVMH , the world's biggest luxury group and owner of brands Louis Vuitton, Celine and Kenzo, releases its third-quarter sales figures after market close.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)



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Jewels, pearls, and plain Florsheim shoes for Michael Jackson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Michael Jackson was the ultimate entertainer, who oversaw all the details of his shows, from the slick choreography to the rhinestones and pearls carefully hand sewn onto his elaborate costumes, his longtime costume designer says.

As much as music and dance characterized the pop superstar, the late Jackson was also known for his style, from military outfits and regalia, to jewel-encrusted gloves, fedora hats and intricately beaded jackets.

In a new book, 'The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson,' Michael Bush, the man who designed and made Jackson's stage costumes for 25 years until the pop star's death in 2009, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic superstar and the development of his signature style.

'The clothes had to work around the way he was performing,' Bush told Reuters in a telephone interview. 'He wanted his outfits, or his costumes, to be as entertaining on a hanger as they were on him. It was an added layer of refinement and detail that he was projecting to his audience.'

Everything Jackson wore had a focus and was an extension of what he was doing on stage, with dance playing a pivotal role in the designs. He favored rhinestones and beading because they reflected the stage lighting.

Function, fitness and comfort were essential, with neckties and fringes forbidden because they could be grabbed by fans.

'It was very contrived. It was very thought out,' said Bush, adding that as the stadiums got bigger, Jackson's pants got shorter and shorter, the better to see his rhinestone socks.

'Michael was concerned that the people in the back row paid just as much to see him perform as the people in the front, so no one got cheated out of the entertainment he was projecting, because everyone could see what he was doing,' Bush said.

MAN OF PARADOXES

Each of the 800 to 900 costumes Bush and his partner Dennis Tompkins, who died last year, made for Jackson were over-the-top, skin tight, flashy pop-star creations. Many are shown in detailed photographs in the book, along with sketches and performance photos.

Still, away from the spotlight, Jackson preferred more casual, loose-fitting corduroy shirts, black cotton pants with front pleats, and loafers.

And despite all his fame and wealth, and gifts of expensive designer shoes, Jackson always performed in Florsheim shoes, which can be purchased in most U.S. malls.

'He taught himself to dance in Florsheims. They were comfortable and were what he had worn as a child star,' Bush explained in the book, to be published October 23.

Jackson's style evolved from his military outfits, featuring taut lines and embellishments and designed with his female audience in mind. These were followed by a more rebellious, edgy look with leather jackets, including one with small spoons and forks dangling, like military medals, across the front.

'The first layer was the jacket, then we put the zipper underneath that and the buckles from the 'Bad' album look, and then we asked: 'How can we make this larger than life on stage?''

Strobe lights and electric jackets were the next step. Each album had its own look, which evolved from the look preceding it.

Perhaps Bush and Tompkins's greatest achievement was Jackson's 'lean shoes,' which were eventually patented. He first performed his 'lean move,' leaning forward at a 45-degree angle in the short film 'Smooth Criminal' in 1987, thanks to behind-the-scenes magic.

Bush and Tompkins were tasked with developing shoes that would allow Jackson to perform the move before a live audience, without falling over. It took Tompkins a month but he devised shoes that bolted to the floor and worked perfectly on stage.

Although Jackson claimed not to have a favorite costume, Bush said the one the pop star liked the most, and in which he was laid to rest, was the pearl and bead encrusted white military jacket that he wore when his sister Janet handed him a Grammy award in 1993.

There wasn't time to track down the original jacket when the Jackson family contacted Bush and Tompkins and asked them to choose his final outfit, so they made a copy.

'Michael was a man of many paradoxes, most of which we were able to represent in the clothes we designed: Rigid military cuts that were also elastic and moveable; rebellious regalia, fit for army commanders, worn over the heart of a gentle man; bedazzled embellishments adorning a man blessed with a quiet humility; one of a kind, handcrafted clothes worn with aged, scuffed Florsheim shoes,' Bush said in the book.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles in June 2009 from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, which he was taking to help him sleep. His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is serving a four-year prison term for involuntary manslaughter.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bernadette Baum)



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Boy Barred for Pink Mohawk Claims Victory

To raise awareness of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to support his mother who was diagnosed with the disease a year ago, Trevor Foster, 11, of Columbus, Ind., decided to sport a pink mohawk complete with a breast cancer ribbon design on the side.

'I told my dad I had doubts I wasn't going to be able to do basketball because of it,' he said. 'But he told me that wouldn't happen and I had nothing to worry about.'

But the sixth-grader at Clifty Creek Elementary School was stopped by the school's principal, Cynthia Frost, on his way to school.

Frost, who declined to comment, initially forbade him from trying out for the team unless he changed his hairdo, said Trevor and his father, Tamage Foster. According to them, she said there were other ways of expressing support for the cause, citing how NBA and NFL players wear pink socks or shoelaces.

'It made me furious,' Trevor said.

But after local TV coverage and a social media campaign by Trevor's father, it appears Trevor has won a victory. He will be allowed to try out for the team, after all.

Both father and son met with Frost this morning. Not only did she tell them Trevor could try out for the team, they said, but she proposed he be one of the leaders of a new student council geared toward raising funds for breast cancer research.

Frost even donned pink with her suit today, Trevor said, and 'told me it was just for me.'

But he still isn't convinced.

'She apologized but it didn't help much,' he said. 'I'm still disappointed that she said what she said. It was just wrong to say that.'

It wasn't the first time Trevor had a problem with Frost when it came to pink attire. Last year, Trevor was forced to turn his pink shirt inside out and surrender his 'I Love Boobies' bracelet to his teacher, Trevor's father said.

Tamage Foster's other two children have not had any problems with school officials, he said.

After his son ran into trouble over his mohawk, Tamage Foster said he turned to social media and expressed his concerns on his Facebook page before contacting the school board, which confirmed that there are no regulations prohibiting Trevor's hairdo.

His mother, Stacey, who is being released from the hospital today after recovering from surgery on Monday, said she was 'disappointed and angry' upon hearing her son was being chided for merely expressing himself.

'This was one way he thought he could support me through this surgery,' she said. 'When parents have cancer we don't really understand what our children go through. For him, it was his way of showing support for me all the way.'

Along with her husband and son, she hopes Frost will follow through with the proposed student council that would aim to get the community involved in raising awareness for breast cancer.

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Louis Vuitton's Geometric Travel

Marc Jacobs looked for inspiration just around the corner in his latest collection for Louis Vuitton, stimulated by a once bitterly controversial '80s work of public art located five minutes walk from the luxury brand's Paris headquarters.

Daniel Buren's once heavily mocked, and now happily accepted, 260 black and white marble modernist pillars in the 17th Palais Royale inspired Vuitton's collection, where clothes varied as much as the famed columns.

When first installed, the austere art piece was sneered at for intruding into a majestic neoclassical garden. However, Vuitton's spring 2013 collection, staged Wednesday, Oct. 3, literally across in a courtyard of the Louvre, won far more immediate acceptance.

In a season dominated by geometry, this was the ultimate conceit, as Jacobs completely eschewed Vuitton's classic monogram print, and concentrated entirely on its Damier pattern. And again, this check varied from micro sized to two-foot square in a show of considerable contrast.

Vuitton even hired Buren to design a 'site specific' installation, which meant four long escalators, up and down which the models moved in couples in and out of the giant custom-made auditorium. Its sheer grandeur complimented Vuitton's hyper practical image, as did the remarkable precision of this show. It kicked off exactly at 11 a.m. and was over ? including Jacobs' bow - in less than 10 minutes. Time wise, it did help that the models walked in pairs, each wearing contrasting checks, though always in the same colors.

'Vuitton is a company that is about travel. That can be to somewhere in your mind. So, these few minutes are where we want to take you somewhere else, somewhere you have never been before,' Jacobs said backstage.

'The work of Daniel Buren really inspired myself and my team. His wonderful columns are in three different lengths, so the clothes are too!' added Jacobs, who sent out mini cocktails, just below the knee dresses and floor-sweeping gowns.



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Pablo Escobar T-shirts a hit in Mexico drug war states

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Nearly two decades after Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar died in a hail of bullets, his eldest son is conquering new markets in Mexico - with a fashion line in his father's image.

Sebastian Marroquin's designer T-shirts, plastered with photos of Escobar, are hot sellers in Mexican states that are on the front lines of the country's deadly drug war.

The shirts are emblazoned with images of the Medellin cartel boss, who flooded the world with cocaine before he was shot dead in 1993. Featuring pictures from Escobar's student ID card, driver's license and other images, the shirts cost between $65 and $95 - a small fortune in a country where about half of the population lives in poverty.

'We're not trying to make an apology for drug trafficking, to glamorize it in the way that the media does,' insists Marroquin, 39, who was born Juan Pablo Escobar Henao, but changed his name to avoid reprisals after his father's death.

In a bid to head off criticism that the line glorifies drug crime, the shirts carry messages to provoke reflection. One bearing Escobar's student card reads: 'What's your future looking like?' while a design emblazoned with his driver's license warns: 'Nice pace, but wrong way.'

The cotton shirts, which went on sale last year in Mexico, are selling well in stores in Culiacan, the capital of western Sinaloa state, which is home of Mexico's most wanted trafficker, Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman.

The clothing is also on sale in Guadalajara in western Jalisco state, long a refuge for drug traffickers, which has been swept up in Mexico's raging drug violence. About 60,000 lives have been lost in the last six years.

Analysts warn that the increasingly popular 'Escobar Henao' clothing line simply reinforces an already widespread fascination with the symbols of cartel culture such as marijuana leaves and AK-47s among youngsters in Mexico.

'I see it as a strong symbolic product,' said Vicente Sanchez, a researcher at Mexico's Colegio de la Frontera Norte. 'The state ... has to have a better grasp of things directed at young people, as that's the way that these anti-values gain ground,' he added.

But Marroquin, who has stores in Austria, Guatemala and the United States as well as Mexico, dismisses criticism, pointing to others who cashed in on his legacy. There are plenty of books on Escobar's exploits and even a Colombian television soap opera, 'Pablo Escobar: The Boss of Evil' that aired this year.

'Those who set out to criticize me are the same who have profited from the story, life and name of Pablo Escobar,' Marroquin told Reuters in an interview on Skype.

The 39-year-old has said he held off opening stores in Colombia out of respect for drug trafficking victims there.

Despite the success of the clothing line in Mexico and other markets, Marroquin insists that there has been an enduring downside to his father's legacy that has followed the family in the 19 years since his death.

'In 1994, we left Colombia ... but because of our surname, we couldn't get a passport anywhere in the world ... for the crime of having Escobar DNA,' says Marroquin, who lives in Argentina. 'We have lived liked criminals without being them.'

(Writing by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Simon Gardner and Stacey Joyce)



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Armani gains direct control of UK sales business

MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designer Giorgio Armani is taking direct control of his sales business in Britain to improve efficiency in the retail sector, which has become a revenue-spinner for luxury makers amid economic turmoil.

Armani said in a statement on Tuesday he had agreed to take control of his UK wholesale and retail business from long-term retail partner Club 21 after 23 years of cooperation.

The 1.8-billion-euro Armani empire is among top luxury makers that have moved to manage their businesses internally, reducing costs in the long term and boosting profitability.

Singapore-based Club 21, which manages brands such as Donna Karan, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith, will retain distribution of the smaller Armani Exchange sporty line.

'It is now time that a global brand like Armani runs its own interests in a market as significant as this one,' the designer said, ushering in a 'new era' for his business in Britain.

Luxottica, the world's biggest maker of designer sunglasses for brands including Giorgio Armani, is to spend more than 200 million euros over three years to increase production and cut delivery times to keep up with fast-moving fashion trends.

From Prada to Salvatore Ferragamo, top luxury makers have invested heavily in the opening of their own stores, where they have direct control of their sales forces and brand image. Stores are a cash cow for brands if managed well.

The unlisted Armani empire reported a 13.6 percent rise in revenues last year, helped by a 45 percent boost in China, the fastest-growing retail market.

The hands-on designer, who has repeatedly said he has no intention to sell his business, said last month he aimed to grow further this year despite concerns about the euro zone crisis.

The Armani group has six clothing lines, including the top Giorgio Armani collections. It also makes sunglasses, fragrances and make-up.

(Editing by Leslie Adler)



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Breezy, Serene Chic at Chanel

There can be no more glamorous audience anywhere in the world than that at a Chanel show, whose latest event was a breezy, elegant take on fashion kept even cooler by the remarkable stage set.

A dozen massive wind turbines rotated high above the audience inside the Grand Palais at this show, staged Tuesday, Oct. 2, wafting fresh air down on the 2,000 fortunate guests on a balmly day in the French capital.

'I got the idea when I was sketching in St Tropez this summer. It as so impossibly hot all I wanted was fresh air. It was that childish,' said Karl Lagerfeld backstage.

Helped by the airy wind, the collection was an ever-so-at-ease affair, which opened with a natty series of black and white looks: loosely cut suits with wide short skirts, all emblazoned with one-inch pearls. Jaunty and sporty throughout, models appeared in baseball jackets and some fab new geometrically striped platforms - sure fired hits and certain to be major fashion influences.

Probably the largest collection in Paris - with close to 100 passages - the designs had a fine Spanish touch, from shortened bolero in graphic weaves, many worn with charming Cordobes riding hats, again extended to three feet in width thanks to a surrounding plastic disk.

Lagerfeld remains the master of what the French call, un clin d'oeil, meaning an insider joke. A subsequent one yard-diameter, thick tubular circle, padded white leather CC logo bag carried by a model in a swimsuit, won loads of knowing winks.

In Paris, a central fashion obsession is a designer's alleged duty to respect the visual 'codes' or DNA of a house. Lagerfeld, on the other hand, is such a visually concise designer he can suggest and summon up Chanel, even though he barely touched many of Chanel's typical references.

'There was nothing of the past: no braid, no chains, no camellias, I removed everything,' insisted Lagerfeld backstage, slightly straining credibility. He did, notably, include much of one Chanel tradition - pearls; seen as humungous knuckles on metallic bracelets, or ripening in huge bunches in dramatic chokers. Plus the charming instant collectible that is a Chanel show program, this season featured a blond model wearing sunglasses whose ornate frames featured a silhouette of Mademoiselle Chanel wearing four strands of pearls.

'I think given the times, one needs a little serenity,' added Lagerfeld, natty as ever as he took questions in a Dior Homme duffle-meets-frock coat and a diamond clip of a sword.



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Chloe's Flirtatious New Volumes

There are certain days when one realizes that the best way to see French romanticism is from the vantage point of an English rose.

That was very much the case on Monday afternoon, Oct. 1, in Paris on viewing the curling and ruffled and rather determinedly expansive spring 2013 collection designed by the house of Chloe's creative director Claire Waight Keller, an energetic English-born lady.

One could not accuse Waight Keller of pulling her punches when it came to volume - from huge culottes, designed for slim ladeis but large enough for a linebacker, to abstract hibiscus print pajamas for day, so large they billowed down the catwalk.

Waight Keller's sunny personality was reflected in the setting - a wide white board catwalk reminiscent of a posh seaside terrace illuminated by sun beaming through the lofty panels in the custom built tent in the Tuilleries gardens in Paris.

The designer was in harmony with many of the key trends in Paris: a sense of lady-like distinction, metallic fabrics - most memorably iridescent Lurex - and a new twisted silhouette.

She cropped and chopped sleeves, added peplums to cocktails dresses, ruffled necklines incessantly and finished pants and skirts in patches of fabric flowers. In a word, Waight Keller determinedly broke new ground rather than referenced the past. Accessorized with some great new Art Deco shoulder bags, this was a charming moment for Chloe.

The show celebrated the 60th anniversary of Chloe, and was dedicated to the house's founder, Gaby Aghion. Two days before, Waight Keller feted the opening of Chloe Attitudes, a sleek exhibition that included work from each of Chloe's nine key designers all the way back to Aghion's first show, a charmingly informal affair at the Cafe de Flore on Paris' Left Bank in 1956.

Today the brand crossed the Seine, a little like Waight Keller crossed the Chanel, to create a certain casual chic that will forever be Chloe.



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Luxury king reawakens sleeping beauty Schiaparelli

PARIS (Reuters) - Fresh from the successful re-launch of sleepy French shoemaker Roger Vivier, Italy's king of luxury Tod's Chairman Diego Della Valle is resuscitating Schiaparelli, a fashion brand inspired by Surrealists that has lain dormant since 1954.

Della Valle aims to bring back the name to its haute couture past and kick-start the business with custom-made suits and dresses, its ambassador, actress and model Farida Khelfa, told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Once the label gains sufficient traction in terms of sales and credibility among fashion critics, it will branch out into accessories, perfume and jewellery, Khelfa said.

Khelfa, whose wedding to French businessman Henri Seydoux last month was attended by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni, said Schiaparelli's relaunch could be ready in time for the couture shows in Paris either in January or July.

'Della Valle is not in a hurry,' Khelfa said. 'He is taking his time.'

The brand said in the spring it planned to announce its new designer in September. Now, it hopes to do so 'in the next few weeks,' Khelfa said, dismissing rumors that disgraced ex-Dior designer John Galliano was a front-runner.

'We will make the name public when we are ready,' she said.

Choosing the right designer is key to the success of Schiaparelli's revival, critics say. Examples of successful fashion re-launches include Lanvin under designer Alber Elbaz and Balenciaga, part of PPR under Nicolas Ghesquiere.

'Schiaparelli is a beautiful, magic name but I am not sure the man in the street knows what it stands for,' French Vogue Editor Emmanuelle Alt told Reuters at the Christian Dior show on Friday.

PATIENCE

Della Valle bought the Schiaparelli archives and name in 2006 and patiently waited for six years for the lease at the prestigious address Elsa Schiaparelli in central Paris to be free again.

The 21 Place Vendome address, where Schiaparelli's atelier and boutique were originally located, is close to the Ritz Hotel and Louis Vuitton's new jewellery store.

Della Valle invested heavily in the refurbishing of each level even before selling a single piece. Schiaparelli rents out four storeys, or 800 square meters, for the design, presentation, fit, manufacture and sales of its couture suits and dresses.

The brand's plush salons, where meetings with clients and the press are held, are decorated with photos of Schiaparelli, Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau drawings and Alberto Giacometti sculptures.

Schiaparelli, a rival of Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, started with knitwear and later became known for her sharply cut suits, ornamented with drawings from her artist friends.

Memorable pieces include the lobster dress, one of Schiaparelli's most famous collaborations with Dali, worn by American socialite Wallis Simpson and photographed by Cecil Beaton just before her marriage to Edward VIII in 1937.

Other pieces included her shoe hats, gloves with golden nails, lip-shaped buttons as well as knitted sweaters with trompe-l'oeil bows and neckties.

'The designer who will be hired for the brand will be free to do what he wants but it is true that the spirit of Schiaparelli is non-conventional and eccentric,' Khelfa said.

To lead the brand on the business side, Della Valle has hired Camilla Schiavone who used to head L'Oreal's luxury perfume division in Italy.

PAST SUCCESS

Fashion critics said they had full faith in Della Valle's ability to bring Schiaparelli back to life, having done so successfully with Roger Vivier, for which he also took his time.

The Italian entrepreneur acquired the dormant shoe brand in the mid-1990s and waited until 2003 to relaunch it with Bruno Frisoni as designer and Ines de la Fressange - Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld's former muse - as brand ambassador.

Roger Vivier is the fastest-rising brand within the Tod's stable which includes Hogan and Fay. Its sales jumped 110.3 percent in the first half to 32.7 million euros ($42.07 million), nearly as much as its full-year revenue of 36.5 million euros, up 68 percent in 2011 against the previous year.

'Revivals are risky bets but Monsieur Della Valle knows how to measure risks,' Maria Luisa Poumaillou, fashion director at Paris Department store Printemps, told Reuters at Fashion Week.

To get people to start thinking again about Schiaparelli, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art held earlier this year a joint exhibition dedicated to Elsa Schiaparelli and contemporary fashion designer Muccia Prada called 'Impossible Conversations'. ($1 = 0.7773 euros)

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt, editing by Paul Casciato)



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