Accessories

Dodgeville, Wis. - Lands’ End Inc. has named fashion executive Federica Marchionni as CEO. Marchionni comes to Lands’ End from her role as president of Dolce&Gabbana USA Inc. She will succeed Edgar Huber, who is resigning from the company.

Marchionni has served as president at Lands’ End since 2011, overseeing the opening of several key stores, including the Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City as well as stores in other markets including Toronto, Chicago, Aspen and Boston.  

Clarksville, Tenn. -- Francesca’s Collections will open a 1,353-sq.-ft. store at Cafaro’s Governor’s Square Mall, in Clarksville, Tennessee. The new store, located across from Gap/Gap Kids, is slated to open May 2015.

Governor’s Square Mall, owned and managed by Cafaro Company, comprises over one million sq. ft. of retail space. It is anchored by Dillard’s, Belk, Sears, J.C. Penney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, Cinema Ten and over 100 other specialty shops and services.
 

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. is shutting down its Piperlime business. The company plans to close the brand’s online platform and single store in New York, by the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.  

The decision comes as Abe Peck, who has led Gap’s growth, innovation and digital unit, gets ready to step into the CEO suite next month.

“We plan to keep on pushing new ideas and look forward to seeing how we can apply what we’ve learned to the rest of the company,” Peck said in a statement.

New York -- Women’s footwear designer Vince Camuto, who co-founded Nine West Group and then went on to establish his own successful namesake clothing and footwear business, has passed away at the age of 78. Camuto died Wednesday at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, after a battle with cancer.

In 1978, Camuto and Jerome Fisher founded Nine West Group, which they grew into a retail powerhouse. In 1999, the company was acquired by Jones Apparel Group for nearly $900 million.

While House Black Market is taking an innovative approach to attracting more customers by launching an online wedding and event boutique.

The online boutique hopes to take the guesswork out of shopping for an event outfit by selling specific dresses along with coordinated belts, shoes, and accessories, making it super easy for shoppers to put together a cohesive look for that big wedding or gala.

Los Angeles -- Millennial fashion authority and online retailer Nasty Gal has tapped Sheree Waterson has CEO, effective immediately. Waterson, promoted from her position as president and chief product officer, which she has held since early 2014, previously was lululemon athletica’s executive VP and chief product officer.

Founder Sophia Amoruso will continue as executive chairman to oversee creative and brand marketing functions.

New York -- Former Coach Inc. chief Lew Frankfort has joined Sycamore Partners as an Executive in Residence, which will allow the private equity firm to tap into Frankfort’s retail knowledge, managerial expertise and network of industry relationships. Sycamore’s portfolio of retail investments includes Aeropostale, Coldwater Creek, Hot Topic, Jones New York, Nine West Holdings, Stuart Weitzman and Talbots.

San Mateo, Calif. -- NetSuite Inc. announced that two fashion and apparel retailers — Journelle, a seller of high-end lingerie and loungewear, and Alton Lane, a maker of men’s custom-tailored clothing — have deployed NetSuite to run their core retail business processes from order management, inventory management, financials, supplier purchasing and customer relationship management (CRM) to marketing — all from within one unified cloud-based business management platform.

Target shoppers looking for the next big thing in fashion are in for a splash of color and bold prints from the retailer’s next design partner.

Target has announced it is collaborating with American resort wear brand Lilly Pulitzer on a limited-edition collection featuring 15 exclusive prints, which are original works of art.

Another mall-based retailer has announced that it is in default and struggling for survival.

Body Central Corp. announced that it is in default on $18 million in debt and is exploring strategic alternatives, the Jacksonville, Florida-based company said in a statement.

The company also said it is experiencing “significant liquidity problems,” and is exploring options, including a possible bankruptcy filing.