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Brazil Considers Pushing Sanctions on
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Calida's Net Profit Doubles
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The Bra Ball
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Ask Kevin
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Agent Provocateur Fined
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Crocheted
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Jones Apparel Reports 33% Drop in Profit
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Page 3
Calida's Net Profit
Doubles
Garment maker Calida Holding reported a more than doubled net profit during the first half of the year, boosted by the integration of Aubade sales.
Profit was CHF3.6m (US$2.91m) during the first half compared to CHF1.4m previously. Sales, meanwhile, grew 61% to CHF98.8m.
It was the first time sales from acquisition Aubade were included in Calida’s financial report.
7/12
The Bra Ball
Wall, 38, of Laurel, designed his own brassiere - or "manssiere" after the term popularized by Seinfeld - from two 7.5-inch round blades, which he displays proudly over his overalls. The blades are adorned with battery-powered red and blue jewelry. The pieces are shaped like stars and, when they light up, the overall effect is one of tasteful patriotism.
"I haven't got this thing motorized yet," Wall says, "but I'm working on it. I thought it would look cool if they rotated. I'm going for blue-collar fabulous."
We dare say he'll achieve it. Assuming, that is, that the rotating sharp blades
don't' kill him.
"When people ask me about my manssiere or about one of my other costumes, I always tell them that it's just something I had in the closet," Wall says while showing a visitor some of the lingerie on display at the American Visionary Art Museum. "Sadly, that's usually true. I have a very liberal interpretation of gender roles."
Odd as it might sound, Wall and his manssiere probably won't look especially out of place Saturday night, when he attends the museum's first and possibly only Bra Ball.
The event aims to draw 500 guests and raise $20,000 for AVAM's educational programs and mammographies for poor women. It will feature a fashion show, an auction of roughly 30 bras created by area artists and a chance for participants to show off their own over-their-tops creations.
AVAM officials guarantee the ball will be an uplifting experience.
"Cross my heart," says Pete Hilsee, the museum's marketing coordinator, his tongue firmly in cheek. "So many of us wear our creativity on the inside, next to our underwear. What better way to bring your creativity out than to wear it on top of your clothes?"
Each year, AVAM has a great, big, gaudy costume.
Museum organizers were inspired by a new acquisition, the Bra Ball by Emily Duffy, a California artist. The sculpture consists of more than 20,000 donated bras, often accompanied by notes expressing the significance of the particular item being contributed. The sculpture weighs about 1,800 pounds and is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, about the height of the average woman.
The Bra Ball isn't for sale, but other creations will be, including a bra formed from two yarmulkes and attached to a sock monkey; a bra made from pieces of orange, red, yellow and green mirrors; and a bra that appears to have been formed from the split shells of a bomb casing.
Wall's bra (or "bro,") wouldn't even necessarily win a prize for most dangerous undergarment.
That honor might belong to Renee Tantillo, 38, of Baltimore. Her "Hellbrazin Bra" was made from two metal cups shaped with a torch. She applied "highly caustic" chemicals to the surface, forming a green patina. The bra is studded with 2-inch rusty nails.
"No, I've never worn it," Tantillo says with a perfectly straight face. "It's a little bit small for me."
The bra's name was inspired by a welding class in which the artist participated years ago. The students were learning the technique of brazing, or the process of melting two pieces of metal to join them together. 
Jenny Campbell, Tantillo's friend and a fellow artist, gazes at the piece admiringly.
"I do like the heavy-dutiness of what you've got going," she tells Tantillo. "Since we practically need an engineer with a crane to hoist these things up, why not go heavy metal?"
For at least 55 centuries, a bra of some type has been around to provide support for women whose cups runneth over. Around 3500 B.C., the women belonging to Bronze Age Germanic tribes tied cloths or animal skins around their chests while working, according to Bra: A Thousand Years of Style, Support and Seduction by Stephanie Pedersen.
But while binding the breasts enabled women to exercise or engage in physical labor and remained in use for millennia, it wasn't until elastic was invented in the early 20th century that bras became widely popular.
Pedersen's research is exhaustive, but it still prompts the question: Since when did a 44DD become art?
At least they might as well be buying Campbell's art. The 41-year-old Baltimorean has designed dozens of bustiers and bras over the past two decades. They include a bustier formed from painted screens (including a stunningly detailed rendition of Baltimore rowhouses); a bra made from the pages of a high school yearbook; and a corset composed of the silver pull-tabs on cans of beer and soft drinks.
"I wasn't a tomboy when I was growing up, but I didn't want to wear a bra," she says. "I knew that once you put one on, you had to wear it for the rest of your life. I fought it and fought it.
"So I thought, 'If bras make me this uncomfortable, I ought to find a way to have fun with them.' Making these pieces has been very liberating."
It's fair to say women have an ambivalent relationship with the joined cups of pastel-colored nylon that sit in their bureau drawers. Bette Midler once described her bra as an "over-the-shoulder boulder holder."
But if bras are a nuisance for women, for men they often are an unsolvable puzzle, symbolizing everything about the opposite sex that they fear they never will understand.
"The bra is such a mystery to most men," Wall says. "They pride themselves on being able to get it off quickly, but they don't want to have anything more to do with it. What are all those straps? And why do they hook at the back? You'd think someone would have come up with an engineering solution to make them more comfortable."
23/24
www.delicateillusions.com
Dreamgirl Unveils 2006 Fall/Holiday Lingerie Collection
Christopher Scharff, CEO, of Dreamgirl International unveiled Dreamgirl’s 2006 Fall/Holiday Lingerie Collection at the Company’s European Sales Meeting.
“The line opened to overwhelming buyer response in Europe” cited Scharff. “We have more than doubled the size of the line in one year because of the enthusiastic reception which we have received from buyers across the continent who are looking for the latest and most innovative fabrications used by Dreamgirl’s team of designers,” mentioned Scharff.
Inspired by images of the James Bond film, “From Russia with Love”, the Dreamgirl 2006 Fall/Holiday Collection catalog provokes the mood and feel of those cold yet cozy Eastern European Winter nights. Highlights of the Collection include “Venetian Vixen” which is reminiscent of the detail work in Renaissance architecture and elaborate stained glass windows; this elegant group provides juxtaposition between intricately embroidered lace and smooth chiffon with Stretch Velvet Ribbon Trim.
Other groups include “Va Va Velvet” which was created in response to the prominent Embroidered Embellishments trend in both the sportswear and
 lingerie markets. This group explores sensual styling and gives crushed velvet and chiffon a dazzling new life for the season.
Dreamgirl International is one of the fastest growing lingerie manufacturers in the world with 12 US Sales Representatives and over 20 International distributors. In the past three years, the company has increased its sales six fold with revenue growth expected to exceed 70% for its 2006 Financial Year. “Our organization continues to execute its business plan across all product categories and in all markets. I am extremely proud of our management, employees, sales representatives, distributors and vendor partners for their dedication and hard work in pursuit of our goals and vision,” cited Scharff at the company’s European Sales Meeting.
15/24
Blonde on the Sun
A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day.
The Russian said, "We were the first in space!"
The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"
The Blonde said, "So what? We're going to be the first on the sun!"
The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads. "You can't land on
the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!" said the
Russian.
To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you know. We're going at night!"
1/3
"Ask Kevin"
For all of your website questions...
Kevin and his wife have been retailing lingerie and adult products since 1988. They believe that a large portion of their business success came from the
addition of their websites to their retail store and that in today's fast paced
market, internet marketing goes hand in hand with any business.
Kevin's personal site design experiences include all levels of internet marketing and design including secure server ordering processes, merchant account integration, HTML editing, photo editing, graphic design and banner
advertisements. All of which are needed on a business style website.
Kevin also designs websites and consults clients who want to do more business online.
Kevin welcomes your questions and comments regarding website design, internet marketing, photo editing, domain registrations hosting and more. For serious website entrepreneurs, he recommends this course for complete Internet marketing training. Internet Marketing & Site Optimization Tips:
http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/848190
You can ask Kevin your questions at
Kevin@mcpetesez.com
The "Ask Kevin" Column is an opinion Column and may
not necessarily reflect the views of
McPete Sez.
Good Vibrations Announces
an Online Interactive
Customer Training Program
Good Vibrations, the Bay Area¹s legendary retailer and distributor for sex
toys, personal care products, books and videos announces the opening of the
schoolhouse doors for our wholesale customers to receive the same elite sex ed sales training that until now has been available only to Good Vibrations
staff. The new GVU training program is an online interactive training program broken down into specialized modules designed to help businesses grow. A high-speed Internet connection and a phone is all that is needed to train the staff.
The Good Vibrations wholesale sex education sales training, GVU, is the brainchild of Dr. Charlie Glickman, Education Program Manager and one of the company¹s three doctors of human sexuality. In 1999, Dr. Glickman took over the Sex Education Sales Associate (SESA) training from Staff Sexologist, Dr. Carol Queen for Good Vibrations employees and has been managing the program for the last two years. Renowned in most sex expert circles, the SESA training program is considered to be one of the best in the country championing non-judgmental sex positivity. The training modules for wholesale customers available to date are: Vibrators, Condoms and Lubrications, Dildos and Harnesses. According to Dr. Glickman, several new modules will be added by August 2006. The training program modules are available to all existing and new Good Vibrations wholesale customers.
"Education has always been the cornerstone of our business philosophy since opening our first store almost thirty years ago. Our training program, available only to Good Vibrations employees until now, is reputed world-wide as one of the most extensive programs existing," affirms Jonathan Plotzker, Senior Director of Merchandizing and Operations with Good Vibrations.
"We know the value of sex education to the selling of sex products. Sharing our
educational tools with our wholesale customers is a natural next step in assuring multiple turns of our products on their shelves."
In lending the Good Vibrations legendary name and reputation to other retailers, dealers and resellers, the wholesale division is comprised of exclusive in-house developed products and our perennial best sellers and includes a well-rounded line of vibrators, silicone dildos, anal plugs, lubrications, condoms, sleeves, bath and massage, gift items, and a full assortment of educational books and videos. The only missing component was education.
"We are thrilled to have the ability to reach and share our expertise with sister retailers and wholesale customers,
" affirms Dr. Carol Queen, staff sexologist Good Vibrations and co-founder and director of the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco.
"Our sex education programs revolutionized the industry, which formerly didn¹t see the need for a component that emphasized accurate, up-to-date information, advocacy of sexual pleasure, and overall
sex ed excellence. They thought these things would take care of themselves, but if a customer doesn't have accurate knowledge of sexuality, she won¹t get as much from her purchase."
rwilson@goodvibes.com
www.goodvibes.com/wholesale
About Center for Sex and Culture
The Center for Sex and Culture was founded in 2000 to provide a non-judgmental, sex positive sexual educational support to diverse
populations by means of classes, workshops, cultural events, social
gatherings and practical skills-building events. The center also houses a large library and archive of publicly accessible sex education books, periodicals, and significant papers. It attracts sex education scholars, journalists, writers and researchers worldwide.
www.sexandculture.org
Hey Sales Reps !!!
Would you like to write an article for this newsletter? we are
looking 
for information for our readers and if you have anything to
contribute please e-mail me.
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