US fashion retailer J Crew has revealed its owner and CEO, Millard Drexler, is to step down from the company.

UK fashion retailer Joules has said it expects full-year profit to be “comfortably” ahead of its previous expectations thanks to growth of almost 20% in sales and improved gross margin, combined with continued cost discipline.

UK fashion retailer New Look has warned it expects trading conditions for the coming year to remain challenging despite reducing its pre-tax losses by more than 50%.

What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here …

• • The Irrelevant Week schedule is set. The annual local celebration of the last pick in the NFL draft, Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly, taken No. 253 (and last, yep) overall by the Denver Broncos, begins with Kelly’s arrival at John Wayne Airport the evening of June 29 and really gets going June 30 with the Lowsman Banquet at the Balboa Bay Resort (Lakers play-by-play man and ESPN Radio host John Ireland again is the master of ceremonies). Also included in the fun is a beach party July 1.
  • Irrelevant Week, started in 1967 by local legend Paul Salata and now led by daughter Melanie Fitch, is a major charity fundraising event. All of the pertinent information, like schedules of the multitude of Irrelevant Week activities and more, can be found at irrelevantweek.com.
  • Kelly, 6-foot-2 and 224 pounds, is a nephew and godson of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. A draft analysis of Kelly at NFL.com included, “Don’t be surprised if (he) makes the final cut as Denver’s No. 3 QB.”
  • Colorado Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado provided the funds for the installation of a roof over the batting cage at his alma mater, El Toro High in Lake Forest. Arenado regularly stops by El Toro’s baseball facility to hit and hang out during the off-season or when there is a opportunity during the season.

This guy stopped by for some cage work and Congratulating @eltorobaseball on their Championship @Rockies @MLB #nolanbeingnolan 🏆#2008 🏆#2017 pic.twitter.com/m1EeWBkAJC

— chargers (@eltorobaseball) June 6, 2017

• The visual memory here of 17-season MLB veteran Jimmy Piersall, who died Saturday, is of Piersall as an Angel in 1966 shagging flies during batting practice at Anaheim Stadium and tossing balls he caught to kids in the stands. He was the first player I saw regularly throw baseballs to kids.
• The Major League Baseball Draft is June 12-14. Baseball America’s latest draft projections have the Minnesota Twins using their No. 1 overall pick on Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Kyle Wright. Baseball America has shortstop Royce Lewis, of JSerra High in San Juan Capistrano, going to Tampa Bay as the No. 4 overall pick, and Huntington Beach High first baseman/outfielder Nick Pratto being drafted by the Mets at No. 20 overall.
• UCLA right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning, who went to Santa Margarita High in Rancho Santa Margarita, is projected by Baseball America to be selected by the Orioles as the No. 21 overall pick.
• Baseball America has the Angels, with the No. 10 pick, taking University of Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley. The Dodgers are projected to use their No. 23 pick to take Mobile, Ala. high school outfielder Bubba Thompson … and isn’t that the perfect name for a hot-shot athlete from Alabama?
• Ex-Angels pitcher Bartolo Colon, now with the Braves, is the MLB active leader in career wins, with 235. The big fella is struggling, though – 24 runs allowed over his last 11 innings.
• Before Albert Pujols slammed his 600th career home run Saturday, it had been six years since a player hit his 600th – Jim Thome, in 2011. That was the longest gap between players reaching 600 homers since the 31-year gap between Hank Aaron (1971) and Barry Bonds (2002).
• Pujols’ 445 homers with the Cardinals are second in that franchise’s history. Stan Musial hit 475 with the Cards.
• The Angels were 14-15 in May. The AL West-leading Houston Astros were 22-7 in May.
• The Dodgers went 19-9 in May.
• The Dodgers are 4-5 this season against the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers next play the Rockies in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, June 23-25.
• Then come four Angels-Dodgers games – June 26 and 27 at Dodger Stadium, and June 28-29 at Angel Stadium. All four are night games.
• According to your contract you can take a very long lunch break Wednesday, June 7, and go to the Dodgers’ afternoon home game against Washington. The scheduled starting pitchers are Clayton Kershaw (7-2, 2.28 ERA) and Stephen Strasburg (7-1, 2.91 ERA). They have never pitched against each other.
• ESPN’s MLB power rankings has the Astros at No. 1. Others: 2. Washington; 3. Dodgers; 5. Colorado; 6. Arizona; 19. Angels; and at No. 30, and last, Philadelphia.
• One of the all-time great baseball annual publications, “Who’s Who in Baseball,” was not published this year. It had a 101-year run. That handy book provided the statistics, both majors and minors, and transactions history of every player in the majors that particular season.
• Orange High alum Steve Johnson, a rising star in men’s tennis, is doing his best dealing with the sudden death of his father Steve Sr. last month. Johnson managed to advance to the third round of the French Open, where he lost to Australia’s Dominic Thiem. Johnson, 27, already is in Stuttgart, Germany, where he has some family visiting as he prepares to play there in the ATP Mercedes Cup that begins June 12.
• Santa Anita of course has all sorts of ticket packages on Saturday for its simulcast of the Belmont Stakes. And the beautiful track in Arcadia (ace trainer Bob Baffert said it’s the most beautiful track in the nation, and that’s good enough for me) has plenty of Father’s Day plans. Go to SantaAnita.com for the information.
• ABC should have the score displayed whenever it cuts to commercial. ABC shows a big FINALS logo but the score is never incorporated as the telecasts transition to commercials.
• LaVar Ball won’t be a problem in the NBA because NBA coaches and executives will look at him as just some nutty NJB dad.

After months of renovations, the anticipated opening of the revamped Laguna Woods Community Center board room arrived at the Golden Rain Foundation meeting on Tuesday, June 6, showcasing its technology upgrades and refurbishments.

GRF Director Tom Sirkel said he thought the first meeting in the renovated board room went well.

“It’s a great room, they did a great job,” Sirkel said. “It’s easy to sit up there, see things and find things, so I’m very happy with it. I think most of the board members did better than they thought.”

Chuck Holland, Village Management Services information services director, said board members, staff and residents alike should enjoy the new technology and added features. He said the project, which used Granicus technology for most components, did not exceed its budget of $301,000.

“The existing board room had technology and features that were probably pretty state-of-the-art back then, but 15 years ago smartphones didn’t even exist,” Holland said. “The technology that we utilize today didn’t exist. Having the existing board room in the state that it was in was not functional for what we want to do in the information age.”

Holland said technology upgrades include visual enhancements with hearing loops for people who need assistance, a new audio system and microphones, high definition cameras and other tools to streamline board meetings.

“Right now, when we have a visitor, or people, to speak at open comments, there wasn’t really any way for board members to control or pay attention to how long they’re speaking,” Holland said, noting the three-minute time limit. “Now when they speak, they will immediately be recorded and be able to see exactly how long they have to speak and how much time there is left.”

Board members can request to speak on queue, so instead of raising their hands they will press a button to be added to the queue. They also will be able to motion and vote on individual screens, Holland added.

“We’re going to be able to efficiently and accurately capture these motions and the things that are being voted on,” Holland said. “I know in the past the board moves so fast, they’re making motions, they’re voting, and the corporate secretary is trying to take notes, roll call – all of this stuff manually – now the system’s going to capture all of that information.”

Features to come “very soon” include an online site for agendas, live-streamed board meetings and archives, Holland said. Residents will be able to make comments on the agenda prior to the meetings and submit a request to speak at the same meeting.

Holland said the technology upgrades are primarily to maintain and improve transparency within the community.

The Ducks signed depth center Sam Carrick to a two-year contract extension Tuesday.

Carrick, 25, served as an extra forward during their playoff run and has yet to make his debut with the team. His two-way deal is worth $650,000 each season when he is in the NHL and he’ll earn an American Hockey League salary of $200,000 in 2017-18 and $225,000 in 2018-19.

Carrick had three goals and eight assists in 15 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls before adding another four goals and three assists in 10 Calder Cup playoff games.

The Ducks acquired Carrick and forward Spencer Abbott from Chicago on March 1 for forward prospect Kenton Helgesen and a seventh-round pick.

MISSION VIEJO A grand total of 661 participants tried their hands – and legs – at the 10th Annual OC Triathlon-Duathlon last weekend at Lake Mission Viejo, raising $11,000 for the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s in the process.

Officials said more donations will be accounted for and sent to the Davis Phinney Foundation at the end of next week.

Of the participants who signed up for the annual event, 553 finished their respective races, which included the triathlon, duathlon, tri-male relay, tri-female relay, tri-coed relay and the charity challenge relay.

Alexander Romanenko, 21, of Aliso Viejo, took the top spot among all competitors in the triathlon with an overall time of 1:56:36, 44 seconds faster than Dylan McNeice, 32, who finished second at 1:57:20 in the Elite Men’s Division.

Stefanie Cullingford’s time of 2:17:12 was best among female competitors. The 29-year old from Lake Elsinore beat out Kylie Chevalier – competing in the Elite Women’s division – by more than three minutes.

Former Olympians Michellie Jones, Julie Ertel and Joanna Zeiger teamed up for the Charity Challenge Relay, each completing one leg of the course. Ertel completed the swim, while Jones completed the bicycle portion and Zeigler finished it off with the run. They finished in 2:10:54.

Ertel and Jones earned silver medals in the 2000 Olympic Games – Ertel with the water polo team and Jones – an Australian – in the Triathlon. Zeiger finished fourth in the Triathlon in 2000 and is a seven-time Olympic Trials qualifier in marathon, triathlon and swimming.

Not all competitors had reached the finish line before the roads were reopened to traffic, Sunday, but that didn’t mean all the competitors gave up on the course.

Bike and run coordinators with the event continued to monitor the progress of two male competitors from Bakersfield – Gregory Heyart, 60, and Abdul Alas, 41 – who were determined to finish the race. Officials said they were able to rally the troops specifically for the final two competitors to allow them a finish line atmosphere back at Lake Mission Viejo where they earned their medals.

The course started with a swim in Lake Mission Viejo, followed by a bicycle ride up Santiago Canyon Road and back before a six-mile run took competitors along the Aliso Creek trail and El Toro Road before cutting back in through North Mission Viejo neighborhoods to get back to the lake for the finish.

An estimated 4,000 people are expected to show up in Newport Harbor, this weekend, for the annual Wooden Boat Festival, an event that pays homage to the unique vessels.

There will be boats built in the 1920s, and some created just two years ago. There will be tiny boats just 4 feet long, and massive ones in the 100-foot range. In all, about 50 boats will be on display.

The free event, Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11, at the Balboa Yacht Club, was founded four years ago by Ralph Rodheim as “a legacy event with national stature and the finest showcase of wooden boats on the West Coast,” according to an announcement. “The Festival salutes the passion, time and effort the owners have put into their vessels to preserve the heritage and timelessness of seafaring adventure.”

The festival is always held the second weekend in June, just after most yacht clubs have had their summer season kick-off parties.

A cannon will sound at 10 a.m. Saturday, signaling that the festival is open to the general public. Shuttles will run from 1600 Corporate Plaza, Corona del Mar, to the Balboa Yacht Club. There also will be a water taxi service to the yacht club from Discovery Cube’s Ocean Quest, Balboa Bay Club, Lido Island, and Balboa Island.

There will be exhibitor booths showcasing local artists, an area for children to build toy boats, and a silent auction to benefit youth sailing. Tickets will be on sale for a two-hour tour aboard the 82-foot schooner Curlew. Cost is $40 for children $65 for adults.

A 90-minute Wooden Boat Parade around Newport Harbor will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit newportbeachwoodenboatfestival.com.

Hanako Maeda’s mind turned to ballet and modern dance for resort, injecting her soft, feminine lineup with thoughtful design centered around fluid movement.
She had collaborated with choreographer Robert Binet in 2015 to design costumes for his piece “The Blue of Distance” for the New York City Ballet’s fall fashion gala. The show was on repeat performance this year, and had Maeda again thinking about how movement and garment coexist.
The collection was as much about movement as it was on celebrating the female form. “I wanted to make clothing that molds to your body and shows the natural curves of the woman’s body and allows her to move in different ways,” the designer said at a preview. She achieved this namely through a pleated crepe she made in her native Japan. The fabric was cut into a loose, asymmetrically draped pastel blue gown and used as ruffle trim on a blue top paired refreshingly with a cool pastel lime long-sleeved top. It had a stretch akin to a ribbed knit to flatter any body type. A gingham dress with off-set shoulders further highlighted a sense of seduction.
Elsewhere, Maeda played with the idea of layered dimension, pairing bright colors with translucent organza

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Since she started her brand, Victoria Beckham’s collection has always been an extension of her ideal wardrobe. That said, she is particularly fond of pre-collections because “it’s really about what I desire and what I want to wear,” she said during a preview of resort. Presumably she meant that without having to ramp things up for runway drama, she can focus on purely reality-based clothes. In that sense, the collection was stocked with beautiful everyday gear for a woman with a taste for refined, modernist femininity.
The pieces felt cool and easy but also quite special. For example, a tailored tan coat had delicate chain details draped across the front on one side. A similar detail dangled from the hem of a navy dress. A wool blazer had a soft, fluid back. Sharp black leather pants had red rear pockets and a matching waistband. Some of the plaid she featured on her fall runway carried over in warmer, brighter colors — green, pink, orange, blue — that were accented nicely on both ends of the spectrum with rich neutrals and neon shoes and bags. Beckham noted that she had slimmed her silhouette with nice body-skimming dresses, liquid tops and trousers that

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