The deal scuttles the specter of demonstrations at the high-profile event, threats raised by Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Negotiations between the union and the producer, IMG Fashion, began Monday and ended late Thursday evening, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The agreement…will ensure IMG Fashion’s ability to present this premier event using world class talent from the New York theatrical industry,” the two groups said in a joint statement. “We are pleased with the outcome and will continue to coordinate efforts as the event gets underway in September.”

“Their objectives were met and our objectives were met as far as wages and hours and general outcome,” the union president, James J. Claffey Jr., said.

The union had been engaged in a dispute with the producer over whether IMG should be required to hire union labor for all Fashion Week events held at Lincoln Center. While the contract between the union and the performing-arts complex gives the union jurisdiction over many events on the Lincoln Center campus, it does not require the use of union labor for events that take place on the plaza or surrounding areas, such as Damrosch Park, where Fashion Week tents started going up last weekend.

Both Lincoln Center and the parks department had told IMG that the union does not have jurisdiction over the park property, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Thursday’s agreement falls short of covering the entire five-year term of Fashion Week’s tenure at Lincoln Center, but Mr. Claffey said he is pleased with the length of the union’s deal with IMG. He said he didn’t like the union contracts “to go too far out because we don’t know how the world will change.”

Fashion Week will hold its inaugural run at Lincoln Center beginning Sept. 9. It was previously organized at Bryant Park.

In the run-up to New York Fashion Week’s Sept. 9 opening, a dispute is brewing between IMG Fashion, which produces the biannual event; Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that oversees much of the stagehand and other theatrical labor used at the performing-arts complex; and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
With preliminary set-up for the fashion event scheduled to begin this weekend, the union will hold an emergency board meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss its options.

The disagreement is rooted in the nature of the union’s relationship with Lincoln Center and the specific location where IMG is scheduled to erect the tents it will use for fashion shows.

The contract between the union and the performing-arts complex gives the union jurisdiction over many events on the Lincoln Center campus, including those held in venues like Alice Tully Hall. But it does not require the use of union labor for events that take place on the plaza or surrounding areas, such as Damrosch Park, in the southwest corner of the plaza, where Fashion Week will pitch its tents.

But according to President James J. Claffey, Jr., the union is traditionally awarded contracts for such events, including the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony that takes place near the center’s fountain and the seasonal dance event Midsummer Night Swing. And based on that precedent, Mr. Claffey believes IMG should be required to hire union labor for all Fashion Week events held at Lincoln Center.

“Local One is the labor provider. We have a relationship to the entire campus,” Mr. Claffey said. “It’s absolute practice.”

A spokesman for IMG, Zach Eichman, said via email the company is working to avoid an escalation of the disagreement. “The various issues that exist now we are sure will find an amicable solution by September 9,” Mr. Eichman said. “As we move into final preparations, our team is focused on providing the most cost efficient, effective, and user-friendly productions for our designer and sponsor clients and as such, will work diligently to make the move to Lincoln Center as smooth as possible.”

A spokeswoman for Lincoln Center said that because Fashion Week is a renter, rather than a resident organization, the center does not dictate the terms of the event’s labor arrangements. “Lincoln Center has enjoyed amicable and productive relationships with Local One for many years,” spokeswoman Betsy Vorce said. “Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center will operate in Damrosch Park with IMG as its licensee.”
Both Lincoln Center and the parks department have told IMG that the union has no jurisdiction over the park property, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for the parks department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Things are very sensitive now,” Mr. Claffey said. “We’re going to exercise our legal rights if they don’t come to some sort of agreement with us.”

The union will consider pamphleting or setting up a picket line, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Certain events occurring under the umbrella of New York Fashion Week will take place in Lincoln Center facilities that require the use of union labor, and those events will comply with the lease terms of those facilities, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The outcome of the current dispute will have an impact not only on this season’s shows but will also set a precedent for the future relationship between the two groups. IMG has a five-year contract to host Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, and it is expected to make use in coming years of an increasing number of facilities throughout the Lincoln Center campus.

Prior to this season, New York Fashion Week was held in Bryant Park.

Then came award-winning director Tran Anh Hung, a fan of the novel who approached the author about five years ago. That meeting eventually led to Tran’s adaptation, which had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week and is screening in competition.

The novel, published in 1987 and translated into more than 30 languages, is about a university student in 1960s Japan who finds himself drawn to two women — one shy and emotionally unstable, the other lively and independent — and experiencing love and desire for the first time. (The novel takes its title from the Beatles song of the same name.)

“What I like about the book is the fact that it’s about young people, about love, about lust, about mourning, and about sorrow,” Tran told Speakeasy in an interview ahead of the premiere. “There is a sense of melancholy, which you can feel from beginning to end.” Tran, who was born in Laos in 1962 and moved to France in 1975, said that in adapting the story from written word to film, “I wanted to bring this feeling to the audience.”

Tran doesn’t speak Japanese, and the process of developing the script was a highly detailed process. He first wrote it in French, then he worked with others to translate it into English and finally into Japanese. He receives sole credit for the screenplay, he said, “because each line of dialogue — the precise meaning — comes from me.”

Tran’s 1993 debut feature, “The Scent of Green Papaya,” a Vietnamese-language film, received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film. His next film, 1995’s “Cyclo,” also in Vietnamese, was awarded the Venice Film Festival’s top prize: the Golden Lion.

“Norwegian Wood” stars Kenichi Matsuyama as the young college student, and Rinko Kikuchi (best known to American moviegoers for her Oscar-nominated role in “Babel”) and Kiko Mizuhara as the romantic interests. Jonny Greenwood of the rock band Radiohead provided original music for the film.

For fashion, it means a dressy but relaxed style that could take a man from work to after-work without looking too business or too casual. If that sounds somewhat vague, it is. The look materialized on the runways of Louis Vuitton during the men’s shows in January. In June it showed up in such brands as Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana and Ermenegildo Zegna, in the form of white linen-blend suits, silk seersucker sportcoats and silk double-breasted blazers.

These ensembles are sometimes worn without ties and even with T-shirts and sandals. The suit jackets and sportcoats are extremely lightweight, often as light as cotton shirts.

The style is reminiscent of the “casual” and “sporty” looks donned by the likes of Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Cary Grant when they weren’t in full suit and tie.

Bleisure runs the risk of being a dubious trend, with unemployment still high and the economy still fragile. Given the troubled economic times, some fashion experts were encouraging men to dress more formally, whether to try to find a job after being laid off or to keep the job they are fortunate enough to still have.

But Eric Jennings, men’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, says that right now bleisure is “how the American man wants to know how to dress—like, how do you dress business casual. For most of our customers, the workplace is not as dressy. They’re not wearing suits Monday through Friday. They’re professionals looking for how to dress professionally and casually,” with the casual part not looking sloppy.

Mr. Jennings said he read about the concept of bleisure and decided to use it to describe the dressy-but-relaxed looks he saw while at the fashion shows in Europe, which presented the spring 2011 collections.

He concedes that “bleisure” is not the most elegant word one could use to describe a style. “There was not a great reception to it [from his higher-ups] to be honest,” he says. “But for me, it clearly describes what we’re looking at.”

His other choice was, he says, worse: “professual,” a blending of professional and casual.

The day started with fun, flirty and feminine creations from Schumacher, the Mannheim-based label by Dorothee Schumacher. Ms. Schumacher’s designs ranged from fitted to soft and flowing, and used lots sequins and ribbons. Delicate pinks were thrown in with silver. Some short dresses were given long, sheer trains, adding a feminine elegance.
Sheer shirts were paired with edgy, short, three-quarters-length sleeved leather jackets. A short, pink silk dress featured a couple of inches of grey tulle peeking out at the bottom. Ms. Schumacher also imprinted leather and other materials with small holes, creating a see-through pattern for shirts and skirts.

“I love Schumacher,” said German actress Alexandra Neldel, best known for playing the lead role in “Verliebt in Berlin,” Germany’s version of the U.S. television show “Ugly Betty.” “It fits me so well, this mix of leather, sequins, chiffon.”

Supermodel Milla Jovovich, who was photographed for the Berlin fashion week campaign image, also attended the show.

****

Patrick Mohr touched on the bizarre. The designer dressed his models, both male and female, as androgynous bald men with fine beards to showcase his collection, which ranged from thermal, red hooded knits to jeans. Loose, shear, ragged linen covered some of the models, who sported layered creations. The finale: A female and male model were sent out wearing only boxer shorts patterned with a sketched head.

****

Germany’s answer to “Project Runway” took place Friday afternoon with the “Designers for Tomorrow” finale, which selected a winner among a group of eight aspiring designers. With 90 degree heat and an ill-functioning air conditioning system, hand fans were passed out — and most of the audience used them.
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    * Berlin Tries to get on the Fashion Map

The show was broadcast live over the Internet. It was a mix of the peculiar, pretty and edgy. Each candidate showed five looks to a jury of fashion designers, buyers, journalists and teachers.

“Do you prefer chocolate or chips?” asked contestant Irene Luft during her introduction. Her high-necked dresses looked like they could’ve come straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Contestant Magdalena Stark’s models wore brightly colored outfits with big shoulders. A black skirt was covered in sparkling, multi-colored orbs, and another skirt was made out of red plastic. A soft, feminine pink and grey collection from contstant Anna Zwick felt wintry, with knits, layers and leggings.

Copenhagen pop star Aura Dione sang an acoustic version of her song “Song for Sophie” while the jury deliberated.

And the winner was… Parsival Cserer, who drew his design inspiration from Michelle Obama, who he finds “fascinating,” and the United States. His collection, entitled “Good Morning Miss Obama,” featured short, knit dresses with low backs and geometric flair.

Cora Isabel David won the online fans’ choice vote with her more classic collection, which featured, among other pieces, a short-sleeved, green suede jacket and a shimmery purple dress with a layered rope necklace.

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Hubertus Regout is currently a Berlin-based television and film actor, but spent time working in Paris in the fashion industry. He’s a proponent of the burgeoning Berlin fashion scene.

“Berlin fashion has gotten kind of instantly world famous in the past few years,” he said. “It’s so cool to be made in Berlin right now.”

He adds: “Berlin doesn’t have to run after Paris or Milan, or be like New York. It’s got its own style, and it always will.”

The news sent American Apparel shares falling nearly 26% during regular trading to an all-time low of $1.03 on the American Stock Exchange.

The company’s warning had some financial analysts questioning whether Dov Charney, its chief executive, has the right skills to run American Apparel.

“His enthusiasm for his product is perhaps at odds with the discipline that a retailer needs,” said Richard Jaffe, a retail analyst at investment bank Stifel Nicolaus.

Peter Schey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles company, said there have been talks about bringing in more executives to the retailer. Mr. Charney, he said, is “aware of the need for increasing assistance on the management side.”
Mr. Charney owned almost 54% of the company’s stock as of last Sept. 10, according to its latest proxy.

American Apparel, known for domestically produced T-shirts and risqué marketing, said Tuesday its debt had ballooned to $120.3 million as of June 30, up 32% from three months earlier. It warned that current sales trends projected for the rest of 2010 mean it is “probable” the company will fail to be in compliance with credit terms by the end of September. It said it is in talks with lenders to amend the terms.
Concerns about the debt agreements, coupled with sales projections for the remainder of the year, “raise substantial doubt that the company will be able to continue as a going concern,” the company added in a statement.

American Apparel also said in a regulatory filing it received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in July, as well as inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission, over the resignation of its auditors. Deloitte quit in July as American Apparel’s auditors after warning of problems with the company’s financial reporting.

In preliminary results for the quarter ended June 30, American Apparel said it expects a loss of $5 million to $7 million, compared with a profit of $7.3 million a year earlier. Sales are expected to total $132 million to $134 million, down slightly from $136.1 million a year earlier.

The new protocol is one of myriad new changes as the legendary shows move to Manhattan’s Lincoln Center from the tents in Bryant Park. As designers such as Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg and Narciso Rodriguez prepare to show their spring collections, tension is building amid controversy over the mandated use of union labor and the general upheaval of having some shows further uptown and others downtown.

The new technology is designed to make admitting guests faster and more orderly—and possibly more resistant to gate-crashers. But with thousands of fashionistas using the system for the first time, it also may introduce more confusion, as well as the possibility of computer glitches delaying guests.
Invitations are about much more than simply letting in people. Designers choreograph a careful mix of celebrities and fashion press for their audience. Seating charts are elaborately designed, and brands compete for celebrities to fill the front row, where bold-faced names can raise a designer’s cachet. The computer system will make last-minute changes to the seating charts much easier. Empty seats are strictly verboten, and designers will be able to tell instantly who’s not there and fill them on the spot.

With the economy still shaky, the fashion industry is depending on the drama of the shows to get shoppers excited about buying new looks. Some designers are worried that Lincoln Center is farther away from the city’s traditional garment district, and there has been concern about how much traveling guests will need to do. A growing number of young, buzzed-about designers such as Proenza Schouler have been showing in alternative spaces downtown in recent seasons.

Still, designer Elie Tahari, who attended a presentation for the new space at Lincoln Center in April, says he liked what he saw. “The ambience just feels more proud, more glamorous, much more elegant,” he says.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, officials from the performing-arts center described the range of programming, from runway shows scheduled for the complex’s illustrious theaters to a fashion-oriented exhibition at the on-campus branch of the public library.
“I want to see fashion on par with all of the other cultural activities here—the ballet, the opera,” said the director of fashion at Lincoln Center, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who is responsible for coordinating Fashion Week and the various parties—including Lincoln Center, its constituent organizations, Fashion Week producer IMG Fashion, designers, sponsors and community members—involved in the event.

To that end, several designers have signed on to present in Lincoln Center venues beyond the Damrosch Park tents. Designers like Chris Benz, Christian Cota and Catherine Malandrino (none of whom previously showed at Bryant Park) will display their wares at locations normally occupied by New York City Ballet, New York City Opera or the New York Philharmonic.

Ms. Malandrino will use the grand promenade and portico of Avery Fisher Hall, for example, and Jill Stuart will present her runway show on the promenade of the David H. Koch Theater. Mr. Cota will hold his show in the David Rubenstein Atrium on Sept. 11., and Mr. Benz will utilize the same space two days later. Nautica and Rachel Roy will stage their presentations at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Ms. Wolkoff encouraged designers to make use of those venues out of an interest in combating what she saw as Fashion Week’s increasing decentralization during its years based in Bryant Park, when many designers opted to host shows off-site.
“It’s about engaging them and showing them that the industry is localized and centralized and modernized here,” Ms. Wolkoff said. “I want them to think of this as a destination and a campus, instead of a place to stop in and then leave.”

The Rubenstein atrium will also host a public exhibition of work by young designers, intended to commemorate Fashion Week’s inaugural run at Lincoln Center. That exhibition will remain open from Sept. 14 to 16.

Lincoln Center is also planning fashion-focused events, like lectures and film series, scheduled to take place after the tents come down. On Oct. 14, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will open “On Stage in Fashion,” an exhibition exploring collaborations between fashion designers and performing artists, including Calvin Klein and Halston for Martha Graham, Isaac Mizrahi for Mark Morris and Marc Jacobs for Lar Lubovitch. Garments included in the show will come from the Museum of the City of New York, which is co-curating the exhibition, as well as from opera and dance companies.

“I really do think that it’s going to be very important that fashion at Lincoln Center becomes a year-round initiative,” Ms. Wolkoff said.

The deal reached late Thursday evening scuttles the specter of picketing or pamphleting at Fashion Week, threats raised previously as options for the union, Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Negotiations between the union and the producer, IMG Fashion, began Monday following an emergency board meeting held by the union last week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“IMG Fashion and Local One IATSE have reached an agreement regarding Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center,” the two groups said in a joint statement. “The agreement, which runs through the February 2013 event, will ensure IMG Fashion’s ability present this premier event using world class talent from the New York theatrical industry. We are pleased with the outcome and will continue to coordinate efforts as the event gets underway in September.”

The union had been engaged in a dispute with the producer over whether IMG should be required to hire union labor for all Fashion Week events held at Lincoln Center, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The union’s contract with the performing-arts complex gives it jurisdiction over many events on the Lincoln Center campus, but it does not require the use of union labor for events that take place on the plaza or surrounding areas — including Damrosch Park, the site where Fashion Week began pitching its tents last weekend.

Both Lincoln Center and the city’s parks department had told IMG that the union has no jurisdiction over the park property, according to a person familiar with the matter.

New York Fashion Week will hold its inaugural run at Lincoln Center beginning Sept. 9. It was previously held at Bryant Park.

The machine isn’t there to give shoes a final polish before their wearers exit onto one of Rome’s most ancient streets, but to collect gold dust.

The rising price of gold is a worry, says Bulgari Chief Executive Francesco Trapani, a scion of the family that founded the company in 1884. Wholesale gold prices rose to $965 a troy ounce last week, four times higher than in 2001.
But with rising costs comes creative opportunity. The surge “has made some form of combination of materials, such as gold and ceramic, or gold and steel, more strategic than before,” as it allows Bulgari to sell them for less, says 53-year-old Mr. Trapani, elegant in a cream-colored suit and seven-fold Bulgari tie.

He points enthusiastically to items such as a new version of Bulgari’s best-selling Bzero1 ring in gold and ceramic, which has a selling price of around €800 ($1,000). In contrast, jewels in its high-end range start at €70,000. These lower-priced products are the biggest source of Bulgari’s jewelry revenue, which accounted for almost half the company’s €443.3 million total revenue in the first six months of this year.

Though jewelry lies at the heart of Bulgari’s business, Mr. Trapani’s decision to diversify into watches, perfumes and accessories over the past 20 years has “radically changed” the company he joined in 1981, he says. These lines now account for almost 50% of the company’s sales.

But the watch division—once a star performer—has been losing ground in recent years. In the first half of 2010, sales fell 1.2% on the year. Mr. Trapani acknowledges this trend, saying Bulgari’s watches sold well in the 1990s because the designs were appealing, but “we were making quartz watches and weren’t identified as part of the high end.” This, he says, left the company vulnerable to competition from fashion labels, such as Gucci, which also moved into mid-priced watches.

In response, Mr. Trapani says, his strategy in the segment has been to control the whole watch-making process, acquiring companies such as prestigious Swiss watch-makers Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta. From September, these names will co-branded on Bulgari watches.

This is the latest step in Bulgari’s long-term strategy to raise the artisanal component of the watch division by several notches. It has also involved shedding “a bunch of low-end products,” Mr. Trapani says.

“Watches have been a disappointment but we have clear ideas about where to go,” Mr. Trapani says. “We’re halfway there, and have yet to profit fully from the new focus on high-end products.”

New products include a remake of Bulgari’s classic Serpenti watch for women, he adds. Though the new ranges may not have a big impact on this year’s financial results, “in 2011 Bulgari will benefit from a product assortment significantly larger than in 2009,” he says.

In future, though, Mr. Trapani says he expects watches and accessories to grow more strongly than jewelry or perfume, because the latter have already seen a big expansion. Bulgari’s jewelry sales rose almost 15% in the first half, to €202.5 million.

One key rule in jewelry design is to not create items so expensive that customers can’t afford them. The risk, Mr. Trapani says, “is that one ends up making beautiful objects for museums” rather than for clients.

“If you mix together some precious stones but don’t add some brilliant pavé to the structure, you are being stupid,” he says. “Doing it properly adds only modestly to the production cost while the outcome is much more appealing and [being cheaper] easier to sell.”

Mr. Trapani says he is confident about Bulgari’s prospects even if his uncle, the company’s 72-year-old chairman and creative force Paolo Bulgari, retires.

He says he wants customers to see Bulgari as “a whole and self-sustaining world, a kind of style advisor.” And while the company doesn’t tailor products to local markets, it is highly aware of their differing tastes, he says.

“Russian people love flashy jewels,” he muses. The Chinese, he says, are more focused on a product’s craftsmanship than customers in Japan.

And variations can be even more local. In Italy, where Bulgari makes 11% of its total revenue, residents of Milan and the north of the country “tend to be minimalist; they like white gold more and also classical styling,” he says. In contrast, “more flashy products are in vogue around Rome,” Mr. Trapani says.

India and Brazil are proving tougher markets to crack. “Importing into Brazil is impossible because with import duties and luxury taxes, the cost [to the customer] almost doubles, and the lack of infrastructure in India makes it hard to find locations for new stores,” Mr. Trapani says. For now, he says, Bulgari will focus on trying to sell perfumes in those markets.

Despite the regional variations, “the [financial] crisis hasn’t changed anything in jewelry purchasing trends,” Mr. Trapani says, though clients are better-informed and demand more in terms of quality and price—a trend bolstered by the Internet, in his view.

Mr. Trapani is steering Bulgari back into the black, after a tough 2009, when it posted a €47.1 million loss and cut its dividend. The company returned to a modest net profit in the second quarter of this year, and if everything goes in the right direction, Mr. Trapani says, Bulgari should see an “aggressive rise in profits” in the full year, even if its total revenue rises only modestly. The consequent strong cash generation should also allow Bulgari’s board to raise the dividend on its shares, he says.

Mr. Trapani acknowledges that Bulgari is often reported to be a potential acquisition target; last year, for example, Swatch Group AG was said to be interested. He says other luxury groups might be more logically interested than Swatch but that there have never been concrete talks.

“Nobody has ever made an offer,” he says. “The company is not for sale. The family has no intention of selling this company we have proudly built and managed for 125 years.”