PORTS INTERNATIONAL

ator alumnus scores top job: [ONT Edition]

Morra, Bernadette. Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 15 Jan 2004: E03.

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The new Ports is aimed at, “the professional high achiever who wants trends,” [Richard Lockhart] says. “Traffic has been slow here on Bloor because we’re new,” but the Ports boutique in Vancouver has quickly built a hip clientele of, “lawyers, advertising people and vice- presidents who are looking for newness but don’t want to pay Chanel or Dolce prices.”

“It’s been fabulously successful,” Lockhart says. There are now 250 Ports shops in China and the company employs 2,800 workers, including 1,300 at its factory in the southern city of Xiamen. Design is looked after by a team of seven, headed by Vancouver’s Tia Cibani. In November, Ports made what Reuters called, “a dazzling stock market debut in Hong Kong” raising $65 million (Cdn.) to finance further growth and the purchase of a new factory north of Milan.

From Ports’ fall and winter collection, left, honeycomb coat with velvet ribbon belt, and crewneck sweater with Lurex trim, below right. A green belted mini-trench from the Gap’s spring 2004 collection headed by [Pina Ferlisi] who oversees a team of 60. From Ports’ fall and winter collection, left, honeycomb coat with velvet ribbon belt, and crewneck sweater with Lurex trim, below right.

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The woman trusted with bringing fashion to Gap is … Canadian?

Even better.

Pina Ferlisi was one of the first residents of the Fashion Incubator, the City of Toronto-backed support facility for budding talent which opened in 1988.

The Incubator’s mission was to help design graduates get their businesses rolling by providing shared production facilities, business support and a private studio for a low monthly fee.

After graduating from Sheridan College then producing her own label for three years, Ferlisi left for New York to work, for free, for designer Gordon Henderson, whom she had met at a Holt Renfrew trunk show. That one gutsy move has paid off in spades.

Ferlisi has since emerged as one of the fashion game’s top players. She was creative director at Marc by Marc Jacobs where she launched the label in 2000, and played major roles at Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Tahari and Theory.

Now, she has landed what will likely be the biggest job of her career.

Ferlisi oversees a team of 60 at Gap, where she is senior vice- president of adult product development and design. With 987 adult stores in the U.S., that means a Canadian will be setting the style tone for much of America.

The 38-year-old mother of two, who is married to a restaurateur, is also one of the company’s first designers ever to be pushed into the limelight – she was the subject of recent profiles in WWD and the New York Times. It’s all part of a finely honed plan to give item-driven Gap a more cohesive fashion personality.

Ferlisi‘s touch will first appear in the spring collection hitting Gap stores next month. Expect lots of cropped pants, pint- sized polo tops and pretty colours.

By the way, the Incubator is still up and running and likely touting Ferlisi as one of their great successes. The Sheridan College fashion design program hasn’t fared as well. It was phased out in 1997.

NEW YEAR, NEW REASON TO SHOP Have you kept your New Year’s resolution?

I’ve kept mine, though I suppose I shouldn’t be too smug about it, since it didn’t involve starvation, nicotine withdrawal or a gym.

My New Year’s resolution was to visit the Ports store at 151 Bloor St. W. The Toronto flagship opened last fall but for some reason I never made it in. Then last week, when Flare editor Suzanne Boyd told me that one of her recent acquisitions was a Ports black chiffon wrap with Art Deco beading, I was determined to pay a visit.

So there I was breezing across the threshold to be welcomed by the friendly staff, elegant decor and signs reading “take an additional 25 per cent off.” This after the whole store had already been marked down by 50 per cent.

Oh, joy.

I dropped my little black Prada tote, zipped off my ski jacket and beelined for a charcoal double-breasted cashmere coat with silk lining. Originally $1,500, it was now fully justifiable at $560. So was the cashmere track jacket, down to $225 from $600. And the nubby tweed Chanel-style suits slashed to less than $500.

While I was marvelling at the deals, Ports director of retail operations, Richard Lockhart, was selling me on the merits of the collection.

“This bears no resemblance to the old Ports,” he trilled. The collection founded by Toronto’s Luke Tanabe in 1961 centred on classics like the crisp Ports blouse that became a ’70s status symbol.

The new Ports is aimed at, “the professional high achiever who wants trends,” Lockhart says. “Traffic has been slow here on Bloor because we’re new,” but the Ports boutique in Vancouver has quickly built a hip clientele of, “lawyers, advertising people and vice- presidents who are looking for newness but don’t want to pay Chanel or Dolce prices.”

They also demand better quality than what a Zara or Club Monaco might offer. Take a look inside a Ports garment and you’ll find bound seams, silk linings, and beading that is stitched, not glued. I tried on a double face wool pea jacket that was as comfortable as a cardigan.

And the trends? All present and accounted for, right down to the Marc Jacobs-inspired miniskirt with leather trim, now $131.25 down from $350.

Ports has been absent from the Canadian market since its owner, Alfred Chan, who bought the brand in 1989, left to focus on China.

In the meantime, the Bloor St. store awaits. I may pay a second visit, since all I allowed myself the first time was an Alexander McQueen-ish pink silk chiffon blouse with pleated collar and cuffs trimmed in brown velvet ribbon. It was marked down to $93.75. So how could I not?

GUERLAIN GIRL Another item on my to-do list was to visit the Guerlain boutique at 110 Bloor St. W. for a facial. This after a friend raved about the treatment she had there over the holidays.

Esthetician Rosa Malek Hovesphianse recommended the Absolute Serenissima facial which the brochure promised to, “act on each layer of the skin to satisfy every need.”

The 90-minute treatment was performed with a soothing touch and motherly concern. After Hovesphianse gently scolded me for using Retina-A because it would, “make the skin sensitive and thin,” she caressed me with a long, lovely massage into a blissful sleep. My skin glowed after.

Prior to the treatment, I thought having a facial in the back room of a store would be noisy and not at all chic. I was wrong. And it was refreshing not to have to venture into the bowels of a hotel, store my clothes in a locker, and flip through magazines with terry- robed strangers in a waiting room. The luxe little shop and single treatment room offered convenience and privacy.

Guerlain facials range from $75 to $95. Call 416-929-6114 for an appointment.

Bernadette Morra is the Star’s fashion editor.

Illustration

From Ports’ fall and winter collection, left, honeycomb coat with velvet ribbon belt, and crewneck sweater with Lurex trim, below right. A green belted mini-trench from the Gap’s spring 2004 collection headed by Pina Ferlisi who oversees a team of 60. From Ports’ fall and winter collection, left, honeycomb coat with velvet ribbon belt, and crewneck sweater with Lurex trim, below right.

Credit: Toronto Star

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