Fashion News Alert: Jessica Alba Defends Sunscreen Company, Sears’ Sales Reach Three-Year Low, and Goodbye Arnold Scaasi

Once the largest retailer in the US due to revenue, Sears’ stores sales was down  in the second quarter. This downward trend sends the megastore’s shares down by 8 percent, resulting in a three-year low. For over 20 quarters, Sears has seen a precipitous drop in store sales.

Retailers have preferred to shop at Target and Walmart stores in recent years causing Sears to shrink operations, close stores, and exit underperforming categories. Still, same-stores sales fell 10.9 percent in the first quarter, the biggest decline in five years.

“[Sears] is flush with cash, but we expect that balance to be used to fund $1 billion plus of operating losses annually. [Sears’] “shrink to win” strategy is unlikely to result in positive cash flow, and in our view, a liquidity event is a matter of when, not if,” says Evercore ESI anyalist, Greg Melich.

As of Friday, July 31, Sears’ stock had fallen 28 percent for 2015.

Stand by your brand

Loyalty is a noun that Jessica Alba understands.  In spite of photos of sunburned  heads, backs and chests posted on Twitter over the last couple days, Jessica Alba is defending her Honest Company’s sunscreen.

“Our sunscreen lotion was tested, by an independent third-party, against the protocols prescribed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) monograph for over-the-counter sunscreen products. The results showed that our product is effective and safe for use …,” the company said as reported in a recent fashionmag.com article

An investigation by NBC Chicago revealed that while most sunscreens contain about 18 to 25 percent of zinc oxide, The Honest Company reformulated their sunscreens, decreasing levels to 9.3 percent.

Arnold Scaasi transitions

Canadian fashion designer Arnold Scassi passed away today at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Arnold Scaasi developed a successful career as a fashion designer by bringing the techniques of French couture to American women. His celebrity client base included Barbra Streisand, Diahann Carroll, Joan Crawford, former First Lady Barbara Bush, Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Tyler Moore, and Joan Rivers.

Known for his bright colors, prints and embellishments Scaasi once said, “Clothes with some adornment are more interesting to look at and more fun to wear.” One of his long-time clients was Barbra Streisand who wore Scaasi’s sequined translucent pantsuit to the 1969 Academy Awards where she won an Oscar for “Funny Girl.”

Arnold Scaasi opened his atelier on East 56^th Street in the Sanford White townhouse in 1969, designing made-to-order clothes for New York City socialites. In 1996, Scaasi was honored by the CFDA with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Scassi is survived by his longtime partner and husband, Parker Ladd.

—William S. Gooch