Phillips-Van Heusen to License BCBG Max Azria Dress Shirts and Neckwear

Business Wire, Oct 23, 2003

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2003

Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (NYSE:PVH) today announced that it had entered a licensing agreement with the BCBG Max Azria Group to manufacture and distribute dress shirts and neckwear under the BCBG Max Azria brand.

Allen Sirkin, Vice Chairman, Dress Shirts of PVH said that the PVH Dress Shirt Group, and The Designer Group led by Al Moretti, "are extremely enthusiastic about our new licensing partnership. We believe that the BCBG Max Azria Group's passion and leadership in contemporary product fills an important void in the better Dress Shirt and Furnishings market, which is continually eager for newness in fashion dressing. Our relationship is a perfect blending of core competencies and resources which will bring their macro-vision for the BCBG Max Azria brand to this viable consumer market."

According to Max Azria, Designer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the BCBG Max Azria Group, "The timing to enter this partnership with a corporation of the caliber and integrity of Phillips-Van Heusen was excellent. We have perfected our core women's wear business and felt ready to bring our fashion philosophy and expertise to the menswear market by offering the contemporary male innovative designer clothing at affordable price points."

The new BCBG Max Azria dress shirt and neckwear collection will be a combination of European sophistication and American spirit. The progressive, timely merchandise will represent contemporary, trend-setting fashion, which is the signature style of Max Azria. The BCBG Max Azria dress shirt and neckwear collections will be launched for Father's Day 2004. PVH will market four collections a year...Spring, Father's Day, Fall and Holiday. Retail price points for both dress shirts and neckwear are expected to range from $40.00 to $80.00. Distribution is targeted to prestige department and specialty stores in classification sections and designated areas within BCBG Max Azria branded shops.

Created in l989, the BCBG Max Azria name came from the Parisian phrase "bon chic, bon genre", meaning "good style, good attitude". The BCBG Max Azria Group has developed a global empire under its BCBG Max Azria brand, including women's ready-to-wear, evening dresses, denim, eyewear, swimwear, footwear, handbags, small leather goods, fragrance and over 150 free-standing boutiques worldwide. The corporation's additional brands include BCBGirls Parallel, To The Max! and Herve Leger.

Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation is the world's largest shirt company and one of the leading apparel and footwear companies. It markets goods under its own brands, Van Heusen, Calvin Klein, Izod, and G. H. Bass, and its licensed brands Geoffrey Beene, Arrow, Kenneth Cole New York, Reaction by Kenneth Cole and DKNY.