Toronto Born Hip Hop Artist Drake About to Board Virgin's First Flight to Canada

The day began at 4AM, en route to Los Angeles International Airport with Jason Pomeranc, co-owner of Thompson Hotel Group, once we arrived, we proceeded through Virgin America security to board their celebratory inaugural international flight from Los Angeles & San Francisco to Toronto. The irreverent launch resonated with the Virgin brand’s Canadian roots – Sir Richard Branson and Canadian export Grammy winning musician Drake co-hosted the flight.

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Bosworth, Bailey & Williams

Christopher Bailey is Chief Creative Director of Burberry, responsible for the brands image including all advertising, corporate art direction, store design of all 100+ retail locations and visuals, as well as design of all product lines and collections.  154 years ago, when Burberry was born, they become famous for making the trenchcoat more fashionable than ever before, and now, after dominating the fashion scene for longer than any of us reading this have been alive, there is a new launch, Burberry Beauty.

Burberry Beauty Products

Bailey, who is credited for transforming Burberry into a billion-dollar global powerhouse, and decided it was time to develop and launch the brands first make up collection.  In celebration of the launch, Baliey traveled to New York, San Francisco, and our home town Los Angeles – where we were fortunate to meet up with him at the former home of Tom Cruise in Bel Air – thanks to our amazing friend Lauryn Flynn, Director of VIP & Music Relations at Burberry.

Burberry Beauty Launch - Tea in Bel Air

Bailey hosted the Brit-inspired tea party in the private garden poolside, and the dining room became a cosmetics counter.  Among the 70 or so guests were May Anderson, Kate Bosworth, Serena Williams, Lake Bell and stylist Rachel Zoe, all of whom enjoyed the beautiful day, listening to music from the likes of Kings of Leon to Sting, munching on petite sandwich’s (crustless of course), sipping on Pim’s cocktails and cucumber water, while sampling Buberry Beauty like Burberry Skin, Glow, Lips and Eyes.

Burberry Beauty Campaign

“Burberry Beauty” includes foundations, blushers, lipsticks and eyeshadows, and its very British palette is inspired by the house’s iconic trench coat. In keeping with its quintessentially English vibe, the ad campaign features British models Lily Donaldson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Nina Porter.

“We’ve chosen three British beauties we’ve worked with before and who are part of the family,” Bailey said. “Rosie has this effortless sexiness to her; Nina has an edge and attitude; and Lily is a classic British beauty. When you put them all together, you have a pure Burberry expression.”

Burberry Beauty Lips, Eyes and Face

The products (priced from $27 for an eyeliner to $55 for a wet-dry foundation) come in metal packaging etched with Burberry check. Foundation shades are based on the earthy shades of the iconic trench. The Light Glow blush, in colors like russet, blossom and cameo, are mostly translucent, and the Lip Glow has a great plumping effect. The Sheer Powder Eye Shadows, in stormy khakis, blues, lavenders and grays, are easy for anyone to use.

Bailey said, “I started to think about  makeup a few years ago, while working on a runway show. where it seemed clear that this concept was the only one that we were missing to fully express a world and state of mind”

The collection is fused with inspiration from the classic Buberry trench coat, locking in that timelessness with innovation and functionality.  The make up line is available exclusivley at Nordstrom and www.burberry.com across the US, Canada and Europe.  We were lucky to leave with an incredible gift bag full of products to take home and packaged in a great clutch by Burberry of course.

Expect to see much more from Burberry, Bailey is building on the brands history with innovation and is reaching out to the next generation, starting now with this beauty line, but also doing an entire social networking site, digital advertising and even a fashion show webcast that let consumers order on the spot.  Burberry’s comeback, that Bailey lead,  just keeps on coming and coming.   With a following like Bailey has and the incredible staff around him, Burberry is sure to continue to surprise us and entice us.

From: MRketplace.com

Fashion and lifestyle firm Tommy Hilfiger is merging its operations in the U.S. and Canada, the company confirmed on Friday, March 6, in a move that will create a new business unit called Tommy Hilfiger North America.

Some jobs will be lost in the merger, a spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger confirmed this morning. “A few staff positions will be made redundant but it is close to nothing,” he said.

The changes come after a review of Tommy Hilfiger’s operations identified synergies between the two units which have both shifted their focus onto their retail businesses in recent years.

The new consolidated business will be headed by Gary Sheinbaum, group president of North American Retail.

Colleen Kelly, group president of North American Wholesale, will oversee U.S. and Canadian wholesale activities.

Sheinbaum and Kelly will continue to report directly to Fred Gehring, CEO of the Tommy Hilfiger Group.

Once the integration is complete in June 2009, Howard Starr, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Canada, will resign.

The changes come after a period in which the company has been expanding its retail business in Canada where it operates more than 50 retail locations.

Under Tommy Hilfiger North America, the Montreal office will remain the Canadian corporate office with regional offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

“The unprecedented economic crisis around the world has led us, like all other companies, to review the business structure and identify areas of consolidation and efficiency,” said Fred Gehring in a statement mailed to just-style.

“The business profiles of Tommy Hilfiger USA and Tommy Hilfiger Canada have many parallels, including a recent shift to a primarily retail business, creating an opportunity to maximize alignment and synergy.

“The integration is in line with our strategy to consolidate brand management and enhance our international presence by approaching markets in a globally coordinated effort.”

Tommy Hilfiger has been making a major push to expand its retail presence in the U.S., and is seeing significant growth from its partnership with Macy’s — which has been the exclusive department store retailer of its men’s and women’s sportswear since last autumn.

In its most recent financial update, the firm, which is owned by private equity firm Apax Partners, said its U.S. sales rose 16.7% to $356m in the six months to 30 September. U.S. same-store sales were up 6.0%. However, sales in Canada were 1.9% below last year.

From:  Lethbridge Herald

February 20, 2009

TORONTO – Sears Canada (TSX:SCC) has laid off 300 employees to prepare for what a company spokesman calls a “tough” year.

That represents less than one per cent of the company’s workforce of 38,000. About half the laid off workers are at the company’s Toronto headquarters, while the rest are at Sears repair centres across the country.

Sears Canada spokesman Vince Power says the cuts will have no impact on customer service either in the stores or at Sears’ repair business.

“We made these job cuts to prepare for what’s widely known to be a year with a tough economic climate,” Power said Friday.

The impact of the global slowdown has been felt unevenly, with some retailers or retail sectors feeling more pain than others.

Hudson’s Bay Co., whose Bay department stores compete with many Sears stores, announced this month it was cutting 1,000 jobs or about five per cent of its full-time Canadian workforce.

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. (TSX:SC), on the other hand, reported last week that it expects to open between 120 and 130 new stores in 2009. The pharmacy chain increased its fourth-quarter revenue by 14 per cent to $173 million, partly as a result of adding 142 stores.

Analysts have noted that retailers who sell must-have goods, such as pharmaceuticals and groceries, often do well during recessionary times while others that depend on customers’ discretionary spending see a decline.

Clothing and furniture sales, two department store staples, have struggled this year as home sales have plunged, prompting cautious consumers to shift their spending to such basics as food.

Sears Canada shares traded at $19.46, up 21 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.