PPR to purchase Puma stake

GERMANY: French luxurywear retailer PPR is set to purchase a 27.1 per cent stake in German sportswear brand Puma, following a deal to buy out a leading shareholder. Although the friendly takeover bid, valued at $US1.9 billion ($A2.27 billion), is wholly supported by Puma's management board, shareholders are reportedly pining for a higher offer. The proposal would see PPR venture into the casual sportswear market for the first time with Puma ranking as the third largest brand in its category.

USA: Mass market retailer Gap is hedging its bets on the talent of three up-and-coming designers to boost its weakening sales and poor brand profile. As part of a five-year partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund, the retailer is giving three of the winners an opportunity to design a line for its stores. The designers have each created their own take on the classic white shirt with prices and styles varying from a $68 trapeze top by Rodarte to an $88 puff blouse from Thakoon. This is not the retailer's first "risky" designer initiative, after it engaged in a poorly-performing collaboration with Rouland Mouret late last year.

H&M's wrong number
UNITED KINGDOM: Australian fashion businesses looking to exploit celebrity ambassadors should think twice before ringing in any favors. The UK's National Consumer Agency (NCA) is planning to prosecute European department store H&M after it used a computerised Madonna voice to telephone consumers and plug its new M by Madonna range. An NCA attorney said while H&M's customer club had agreed to receive updates via mobile phones, the use of a computer to call customers may have broken local laws. Morten Weigand said the company must clearly state what form of communication the customer has agreed to accept per the terms. The action was instigated after a wave of H&M consumers complained about the invasive marketing strategy.

Unfashionable Moss
USA: UK fashion giant Topshop's assault on the American market has come to a standstill following widespread criticism over its collaboration with supermodel Kate Moss. Only a month after Topshop executives announced their intention to use it as an expansion strategy into the US, American fashion commentators have dismissed the debut range as a "snore". Leading newspaper The New York Post even accused the supermodel of copying other leading designers and being "oddly familiar". The collection is expected to arrive at New York department store Barneys later this month following its UK release on May 1.

Green denim
ITALY: Denimwear brand Replay has taken the trend for all-things-green to new heights with the launch of its environmentally friendly "Organic Blue Jeans". Created entirely from natural organic cotton denim, the limited edition jeans are hand-treated using abrasive stones, rinsed in an infusion of flowers and essential oils and packaged in recycled paper. Sold in all Replay stores throughout the world, the jeans even feature buttons produced from vegetable-tanned leather and fastened with rough twine.