In August 2002, we entered into a transaction relating to the short sale of $190.5 million of U. S. Treasury securities. This transaction was intended to address interest rate exposure and generate capital gains that could be used to offset previously incurred capital losses. As a result of this transaction, we recorded a short-term capital gain of $4.6 million and related interest income of $0.4 million and interest expense and fees of $5.5 million for the fiscal quarter ended April 5, 2003. The net effect of $0.5 million is included in the statement of operations as interest expense. There are no present intentions to enter into any further transactions.

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Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

    The following discussion provides information and analysis of our results of operations for the 14 weeks ended April 3, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as the "first fiscal quarter of 2004") and the 14 weeks ended April 5, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as the "first fiscal quarter of 2003"), and our liquidity and capital resources. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere herein.

    We design, contract for the manufacture of, manufacture and market a broad range of women's collection sportswear, suits and dresses, casual sportswear and jeanswear for men, women and children, and women's footwear and accessories. We sell our products through a broad array of distribution channels, including better specialty and department stores and mass merchandisers, primarily in the United States and Canada. We also operate our own network of retail and factory outlet stores. In addition, we license the use of several of our brand names to select manufacturers and distributors of women's and men's apparel and accessories worldwide.

    We completed our acquisition of Kasper on December 1, 2003. The results of operations of Kasper are included in our operating results from the date of acquisition. Accordingly, the financial position and results of operations presented and discussed herein are not directly comparable between periods. Kasper operates in the wholesale better apparel, wholesale footwear and accessories and retail segments.

Termination as of December 31, 2003 of Licenses with Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation for Lauren by Ralph Lauren ("Lauren") and Ralph by Ralph Lauren ("Ralph") Brands

    The Ralph by Ralph Lauren license (the "Ralph License") with Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation ("Polo") was scheduled to end on December 31, 2003. During the course of the discussions concerning the Ralph License, Polo asserted that the expiration of the Ralph License would cause the Lauren by Ralph Lauren license agreements (the "Lauren License") to end on December 31, 2003, instead of December 31, 2006. We believe that this is an improper interpretation and that the expiration of the Ralph License did not cause the Lauren License to end.

    On June 3, 2003, we announced that our discussions with Polo regarding the interpretation of the Lauren License had reached an impasse and that, as a result, we had filed a complaint in the New York State Supreme Court against Polo and its affiliates (see "Legal Proceedings"). The complaint alleges that Polo breached the Lauren License agreements by claiming that the license ends at the end of 2003. We asked the Court to enter a judgment for compensatory damages of $550 million as well as punitive damages. On June 3, 2003, Polo also filed a complaint in the New York State Supreme Court against us, seeking among other things a declaratory judgment that the Lauren License terminated as of December 31, 2003. On July 3, 2003, Polo served a motion to dismiss our breach of contract claim. On July 25, 2003, we served papers opposing Polo's motion and also served upon Polo a motion seeking summary judgment in Polo's action for a declaratory judgment. On August 12, 2003, Polo filed a cross-motion for summary judgment in that action.

    On March 15, 2004, the Court issued a decision resolving the motions. The Court denied Polo's motion to dismiss our breach of contract claim, granted our motion for summary judgment in Polo's action for a declaratory judgment, and denied Polo's cross-motion for summary judgment in the same action. As a result, the Court dismissed Polo's action for a declaratory judgment and entered judgment in our favor in that action, while permitting our action against Polo to proceed. Polo has appealed from these rulings. In addition, Polo has filed a motion for leave to reargue and to renew its previous motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, which we have opposed.

    We assert within the complaint that Polo's actions fully discharged our obligations under the Lauren License agreements for lines to be sold after December 31, 2003. Therefore, we ceased development of Lauren products effective with the Spring 2004 season. Our Lauren business represented a significant portion of our sales and profits. Net sales of Lauren products were $165.6 million and $476.4 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2003 and 

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the year ended December 31, 2003, respectively. The termination of our exclusive right to manufacture and market clothing under this trademark in the United States, Canada and elsewhere will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations after 2003. To replace the sales of the Lauren brand, we have pursued other opportunities, including internal brands (including the new lifestyle brand under the Jones New York Signature label), acquisitions (including the Kasper acquisition) and licensing options, some of which we previously were precluded from exploring under agreements with Polo. The loss of the Lauren License will not materially adversely impact our liquidity, and we will continue to have a strong financial position.

    The expiration of the Ralph License will not be material to us in any respect. Net sales of Ralph products were $10.1 million and $30.7 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2003 and the year ended December 31, 2003, respectively.

    We and Polo have agreed that, in connection with the expiration of the Ralph License, related licenses to produce certain Polo Jeans Company and Polo Ralph Lauren products in Canada terminated as of December 31, 2003. The termination of these Canadian licenses will not be material to us in any respect. Net sales of all products under these Canadian licenses were $6.0 million and $41.3 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2003 and the year ended December 31, 2003, respectively. The dispute between us and Polo does not relate to the Polo Jeans License in the United States, and an end to the Canada Licenses does not end our longer term Polo Jeans License in the United States or otherwise adversely affect the Polo Jeans License in the United States.

    Several of our accounting policies involve significant judgements and uncertainties. The policies with the greatest potential effect on our results of operations and financial position include the estimated collectibility of accounts receivable, the recovery value of obsolete or overstocked inventory and the estimated fair values of both our goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives.

    For accounts receivable, we estimate the net collectibility, considering both historical and anticipated trends of trade discounts and co-op advertising deductions taken by our customers, allowances we provide to our retail customers to flow goods through the retail channels, and the possibility of non-collection due to the financial position of our customers. For inventory, we estimate the amount of goods that we will not be able to sell in the normal course of business and write down the value of these goods to the recovery value expected to be realized through off-price channels. Historically, actual results in these areas have not been materially different than our estimates, and we do not anticipate that our estimates and assumptions are likely to materially change in the future. However, if we incorrectly anticipate trends or unexpected events occur, our results of operations could be materially affected.

    We utilize independent third-party appraisals to estimate the fair values of both our goodwill and our intangible assets with indefinite lives. These appraisals are based on projected cash flows and interest rates; should interest rates or our future cash flows differ significantly from the assumptions used in these projections, material impairment losses could result where the estimated fair values of these assets become less than their carrying amounts.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

    Statements of Income Stated in Dollars and as a Percentage of Total Revenues

Percentage totals may not add due to rounding.

Fiscal Quarter Ended April 3, 2004 Compared to Fiscal Quarter Ended April 5, 2003

    Revenues. Total revenues for the first fiscal quarter of 2004 were $1.22 billion compared to $1.23 billion for the first fiscal quarter of 2003, a decrease of 1.3%.

Revenues by segment were as follows:

    Wholesale better apparel revenues declined primarily as the result of the discontinuance of the Lauren and Ralph businesses (a decrease of $176.3 million), partially offset by initial shipments of Jones New York Signature ($56.5 million) and the product lines added as a result of the Kasper acquisition ($108.9 million). Increased shipments of Jones New York Collection and Nine West were offset by planned decreases in shipments of Polo Jeans Company and Jones New York Sport products as well as the discontinued Rena Rowan product line.

    Wholesale moderate apparel revenues decreased primarily as a result of reduced shipments of our Norton McNaughton and Evan-Picone product lines, partially offset by increased shipments of Energie and Gloria Vanderbilt products and the new Bandolino product line (which began shipping in the second quarter of 2003).

    Wholesale footwear and accessories revenues increased primarily due to higher shipments of our Nine West and Bandolino footwear and our Nine West and Jones New York accessories product lines and the introduction of Bandolino accessories, partially offset by planned reductions in shipments of Easy Spirit footwear products and decreased shipments of our Enzo Angiolini footwear products.

    Retail revenues increased primarily due to increased sales in our Nine West retail locations and the locations added as a result of the Kasper acquisition. We began the first fiscal quarter of 2004 with 990 retail locations and had a net reduction of 13 locations during the quarter to end the quarter with 977 locations. Comparable store sales increased approximately 13% as compared to the prior period.

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    Gross Profit. The gross profit margin decreased to 37.9% in first fiscal quarter of 2004 compared to 39.0% in first fiscal quarter of 2003.

    Wholesale better apparel gross profit margins were 37.1% and 42.8% for first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The decrease was a result of the discontinuance of the Lauren product line (which carried higher margins than the historical segment average) partially offset by the addition of the acquired Kasper business (which generated lower margins than the historical segment average) and initial shipments of Jones New York Signature. Margins were also negatively impacted by the clearance of the discontinued Rena Rowan product line. Cost of sales for first fiscal quarter of 2004 included $3.8 million related to adjustments required under purchase accounting to write up acquired Kasper inventories to market value.

    Wholesale moderate apparel gross profit margins were 28.5% and 29.5% for first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The margin for the current period was impacted by a higher ratio of off-price to full-price sales than the prior period in our Gloria Vanderbilt and l.e.i. product lines.

    Wholesale footwear and accessories gross profit margins were 36.2% and 36.6% for first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The margin decrease was driven by marginally higher footwear product markdowns.

    Retail gross profit margins were 52.3% and 50.1% for first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The increase was primarily the result of lower promotional selling during the current period as a result of improved consumer response to our products.

    Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses of $299.7 million in first fiscal quarter of 2004 represented an increase of $27.3 million from the $272.4 million reported for first fiscal quarter of 2003. In first fiscal quarter of 2004, Kasper added $29.0 million to the wholesale better apparel segment, which includes $6.4 million in amortization of acquired customer orders, and $5.8 million to the retail segment. We also recorded an $8.4 million writeoff of unamortized bond discounts and debt issuance costs in the wholesale better apparel segment resulting from the redemption of all our outstanding Zero Coupon Convertible Senior Notes due 2021 (the "Zero Coupon Notes"). These increases were partially offset by an $18.5 million reduction in royalty and advertising expenses resulting from the discontinuance of the Lauren and Ralph businesses.

    Operating Income. The resulting operating income for first fiscal quarter of 2004 of $161.9 million decreased 22.5%, or $47.1 million, from the $209.0 million for first fiscal quarter of 2003, due to the factors described above.

    Net Interest Expense. Net interest expense was $11.7 million in first fiscal quarter of 2004 compared to $14.1 million in first fiscal quarter of 2003. This was primarily a result of lower overall borrowings in the current period and a favorable interest rate differential resulting from replacing our Zero Coupon Notes with short-term borrowings under our Senior Credit Facilities.

    Provision for Income Taxes. The effective income tax rate was 37.5% for first fiscal quarter of 2004 and 37.7% for first fiscal quarter of 2003. The difference is primarily driven by a favorable change in the state and local effective tax rate resulting from various legal entity reorganizations and business initiatives.

    Net Income and Earnings Per Share. Net income was $94.4 million in first fiscal quarter of 2004, a decrease of $27.4 million from the net income of $121.8 million earned in first fiscal quarter of 2003. Diluted earnings per share for first fiscal quarter of 2004 was $0.73 compared to $0.90 for first fiscal quarter of 2003, on 5.3% fewer shares outstanding.

    Our principal capital requirements have been to fund acquisitions, pay dividends, working capital needs, capital expenditures and repurchases of our common stock on the open market. We have historically relied on internally generated funds, trade credit, bank borrowings and the issuance of notes to finance our operations and expansion. As of April 3, 2004, total cash and cash equivalents were $31.9 million, a decrease of $318.1 million from the $350.0 million reported as of December 31, 2003.

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    Operating activities used $83.3 million and $167.8 million in the first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The change was primarily due to a smaller increase in accounts receivable during the current quarter (due to an improvement in accounts receivable turns) and a decrease in inventories in the current quarter compared to an increase in the prior period (primarily due to reductions in our moderate wholesale apparel inventories as a result of reducing inventory levels to correspond with anticipated shipments).

    Investing activities used $51.3 million and provided $12.3 million in the first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. The decrease was primarily due to payments related to the Kasper acquisition.

    During 2003, we entered into a sale-leaseback agreement for our Virginia warehouse facility. The gross sale price was $25.9 million, which resulted in a net gain of $7.5 million that has been deferred and is being amortized over the 20-year term of the lease agreement (which has been recorded as a capital lease). In connection with this transaction, we repaid $7.4 million of long-term debt related to the Virginia warehouse facility.

    Financing activities used $183.5 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2004. The primary uses of cash were to redeem our outstanding Zero Coupon Notes, repurchase our common stock and pay dividends to our common shareholders. Financing activities used $33.1 million in first fiscal quarter of 2003, primarily to repurchase our common stock.

    On February 2, 2004, we redeemed all of our outstanding Zero Coupon Notes at a redemption price (inclusive of issue price plus accrued original issue discount) of $554.41 per $1,000 of principal amount at maturity for a total payment of $446.6 million, which was financed primarily through our Senior Credit Facilities. As a result of this transaction, we recorded a charge of $8.4 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2004, representing the writeoff of unamortized bond discounts and debt issuance costs. The securities carried a 3.5% yield to maturity with a face value of $805.6 million ($1,000 per note) and were convertible into common stock at a conversion rate of 9.8105 shares per note.

    We repurchased $34.5 million and $27.7 million of our common stock on the open market during the first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively. As of April 3, 2004, a total of $698.2 million had been expended under announced programs to acquire up to $800.0 million of such shares. We may make additional share repurchases in the future depending on, among other things, market conditions and our financial condition. Proceeds from the issuance of common stock to our employees exercising stock options amounted to $20.3 million and $3.1 million in the first fiscal quarters of 2004 and 2003, respectively.

    At April 3, 2004, we had credit agreements with several lending institutions to borrow an aggregate principal amount of up to $1.4 billion under Senior Credit Facilities. These facilities, of which the entire amount is available for letters of credit or cash borrowings, provide for a $700.0 million three-year revolving credit facility (which expires in June 2006) and a $700.0 million five-year revolving credit facility (which expires in June 2004 and will be replaced by a similar facility in the second quarter of 2004). At April 3, 2004, $312.5 million was outstanding under the three-year revolving credit facility (comprised of $45.5 million in cash borrowings and $267.0 million in outstanding letters of credit) and $250.0 million in cash borrowings were outstanding under our five-year revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the Senior Credit Facilities may also be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including permitted acquisitions and stock repurchases. The Senior Credit Facilities are unsecured and require us to satisfy both a coverage ratio of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent to interest expense plus rents and a net worth maintenance covenant, as well as other restrictions, including (subject to exceptions) limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, prepay subordinated indebtedness, make acquisitions, enter into mergers and pay dividends.

    In addition to these committed facilities, we have unsecured uncommitted lines of credit for the purpose of issuing letters of credit and bankers' acceptances for McNaughton and Kasper. As of April 3, 2004, $177.5 million in letters of credit were outstanding under these lines of credit.

    At April 3, 2004, we also had a C$15.0 million unsecured line of credit in Canada, under which no amounts were outstanding.

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    On December 1, 2003, we completed the acquisition of Kasper. The aggregate cash purchase price was $259.5 million, of which $37.8 million was paid in the first fiscal quarter of 2004.

    On April 27, 2004, we announced that the Board of Directors had declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share to all common stockholders of record as of May 7, 2004 for payment on May 21, 2004.

    We have two joint ventures with HCL Technologies Limited to provide us with computer consulting, programming and associated support services. On August 31, 2004, we are obligated to contribute approximately $1.0 million of additional capital to the joint ventures in the form of cash or assets. As of April 3, 2004, we have committed to purchase $17.3 million in services from these joint venture companies through June 30, 2007.

    We also have a joint venture with Sutton Developments Pty. Ltd. ("Sutton") to operate retail locations in Australia. We have unconditionally guaranteed up to AU$7.0 million of borrowings under the joint venture's uncommitted credit facility and up to AU$0.4 million of presettlement risk associated with foreign exchange transactions. Sutton is required to reimburse us for 50% of any payments made under these guarantees. At April 3, 2004, the outstanding balance subject to these guarantees was approximately AU$1.0 million.

    On March 23, 2004, MSC Acquisition Corp., our indirect wholly owned subsidiary ("MSC"), commenced a $20.00 per share cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, together with the associated preferred stock purchase rights, of Maxwell Shoe Company Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Maxwell"). Based on the latest publicly available information, as of April 12, 2004, Maxwell had approximately 14.8 million shares of Class A common Stock outstanding, giving the tender offer a total equity value (excluding stock options) of approximately $297 million. The tender offer will expire on May 17, 2004, unless further extended. We currently expect that the offer will be extended until the principal conditions to the offer are satisfied. We plan to pay for the Maxwell shares and related transaction fees and expenses with either cash on hand and/or borrowings under our existing credit facilities. We cannot assure you whether we will be able to complete the tender offer on the terms described above or at all.

    On March 23, 2004, we filed a preliminary consent solicitation statement with the SEC relating to the solicitation of written consents from stockholders of Maxwell to take certain actions to facilitate the tender offer, including nominating five individuals to replace the current members of Maxwell's Board of Directors. On April 9, 2004, we filed a revised preliminary consent solicitation statement with the SEC. On April 21, 2004, we filed a definitive consent solicitation statement with the SEC and commenced our consent solicitation.

    In connection with the tender offer and the consent solicitation, several lawsuits have been filed and we may become party to additional lawsuits in the future.

    We believe that funds generated by operations, proceeds from the issuance of notes, the Senior Credit Facilities and the McNaughton, Kasper and Canadian lines of credit will provide the financial resources sufficient to meet our foreseeable working capital, dividend, capital expenditure and stock repurchase requirements and fund our contractual obligations, our contingent liabilities and commitments and our potential acquisition of Maxwell.

    The market risk inherent in our financial instruments represents the potential loss in fair value, earnings or cash flows arising from adverse changes in interest rates or foreign currency exchange rates. We manage this exposure through regular operating and financing activities and, when deemed appropriate, through the use of derivative financial instruments. Our policy allows the use of derivative financial instruments for identifiable market risk exposures, including interest rate and foreign currency fluctuations. We do not enter into derivative financial contracts for trading or other speculative purposes.

    The primary interest rate exposures on floating rate financing arrangements are with respect to United States and Canadian short-term interest rates. We had approximately $1.6 billion in variable rate facilities at April 3, 2004.

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    At April 3, 2004, we had outstanding Canadian foreign exchange contracts to purchase a total of US$6.0 million through August 2004. We believe that these financial instruments should not subject us to undue risk due to foreign exchange movements because gains and losses on these contracts should offset losses and gains on the assets, liabilities, and transactions being hedged. We are exposed to credit-related losses if the counterparty to the financial instruments fails to perform its obligations. However, we do not expect the counterparty, which presently has high credit ratings, to fail to meet its obligations.

    For further information see "Derivatives" in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

    As required by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(b), we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Operating and Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon this evaluation, our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Operating and Financial Officer concluded that both our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal controls and procedures are effective in timely alerting them to material information required to be included in our periodic SEC filings and that information required to be disclosed by us in these periodic filings is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms and that our internal controls are effective to provide reasonable assurance that our financial statements are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

    There have been no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during our most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

    The Ralph License with Polo was scheduled to end on December 31, 2003. During the course of the discussions concerning the Ralph License, Polo asserted that the expiration of the Ralph License would cause the Lauren License agreements to end on December 31, 2003, instead of December 31, 2006. We believe that this is an improper interpretation and that the expiration of the Ralph License did not cause the Lauren License to end.

    On June 3, 2003, we announced that our discussions with Polo regarding the interpretation of the Lauren License had reached an impasse and that, as a result, we had filed a complaint in the New York State Supreme Court against Polo and its affiliates and our former President, Jackwyn Nemerov. The complaint alleges that Polo breached the Lauren License agreements by claiming that the license ends at the end of 2003. The complaint also alleges that Ms. Nemerov breached the confidentiality and non-compete provisions of her employment agreement with us. Additionally, Polo is alleged to have induced Ms. Nemerov to breach her employment agreement and Ms. Nemerov is alleged to have induced Polo to breach the Lauren License agreements. We asked the court to enter a judgment for compensatory damages of $550 million, as well as punitive damages, and to enforce the confidentiality and non-compete provisions of Ms. Nemerov's employment agreement. On June 3, 2003, Polo also filed a complaint in the New York State Supreme Court against us, seeking among other things a declaratory judgment that the Lauren License terminated as of December 31, 2003. On June 25, 2003, we filed an amended complaint adding a claim against Ms. Nemerov for conversion, which alleges that Ms. Nemerov wrongfully took and possesses documents containing confidential information regarding us.

    On July 3, 2003, Ms. Nemerov filed a motion to stay our claims against her and to compel arbitration of those claims. We opposed that motion. Additionally, on July 3, 2003, Polo served a motion on us to dismiss our breach of contract claim, and to stay our claim regarding inducement of Ms. Nemerov's breach of her employment agreement pending the outcome of arbitration. On July 8, 2003, we served papers opposing Nemerov's motion. On July 25, 2003, we served papers opposing Polo's motion and also served upon Polo a motion seeking summary 

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judgment in Polo's action for a declaratory judgment. On August 12, 2003, Polo filed a cross-motion for summary judgment in that action.

    On March 15, 2004, the Court issued a decision resolving the motions. The Court denied Polo's motion to dismiss our breach of contract claim, granted our motion for summary judgment in Polo's action for a declaratory judgment, and denied Polo's cross-motion for summary judgment in the same action. As a result, the Court dismissed Polo's action for a declaratory judgment and entered judgment in our favor in that action, while permitting our action against Polo to proceed.

    The Court also denied Nemerov's motion to compel arbitration of our claim against her for inducing Polo to breach the Lauren Agreements, but granted her motion to compel arbitration of our remaining claims against her. The Court granted Polo's motion for a stay of proceedings relating to our claim against Polo for inducing Nemerov to breach her employment agreement while those claims are arbitrated by us and Nemerov.

    Polo and Nemerov have appealed from these rulings. In addition, Polo has filed a motion for leave to reargue and to renew its previous motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, which we have opposed.

    In connection with our tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, together with the associated preferred stock purchase rights, of Maxwell, and our solicitation of written consents from Maxwell stockholders, there is one lawsuit currently pending that was commenced by us on March 31, 2004 in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against Maxwell seeking equitable relief. In addition, Maxwell filed a lawsuit against us on April 1, 2004 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking equitable relief. We believe Maxwell's suit to be totally without merit and intend to defend against it vigorously. No damages are being sought by either party, and we are unable to predict the outcome of either of these suits.

    We have been named as a defendant in various actions and proceedings arising from our ordinary business activities. Although the amount of any liability that could arise with respect to these actions cannot be accurately predicted, in our opinion, any such liability will not have a material adverse financial effect on us.

    The following table sets forth the repurchases of our common stock for the fiscal quarter ended April 3, 2004.

    These repurchases were made under a program announced on July 29, 2003 for $150.0 million. This program has no expiration date.

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Item 5. Other information

Statement Regarding Forward-looking Disclosure

    This Report includes, and incorporates by reference, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements regarding our expected financial position, business and financing plans are forward-looking statements. The words "believes," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also include representations of our expectations or beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including those associated with the effect of national and regional economic conditions, lowered levels of consumer spending resulting from a general economic downturn or generally reduced shopping activity caused by public safety concerns, the performance of our products within the prevailing retail environment, customer acceptance of both new designs and newly-introduced product lines, financial difficulties encountered by customers, the effects of vigorous competition in the markets in which we operate, the integration of the organizations and operations of any acquired businesses into our existing organization and operations, our foreign operations and manufacturing, changes in the costs of raw materials, labor and advertising, and our ability to secure and protect trademarks and other intellectual property rights. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Report, including, without limitation, the statements under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," are forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such expectations may prove to be incorrect. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations ("Cautionary Statements") are disclosed in this Report in conjunction with the forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements.

Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

(a) Exhibits

    See Exhibit Index.

(b) Reports on Form 8-K

    During the fiscal quarter ended April 3, 2004, we filed the following Current Reports on Form 8-K with the SEC.

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    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

JONES APPAREL GROUP, INC.
(Registrant)

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EXHIBIT INDEX

____________
* Filed herewith.
⁺ Furnished herewith.

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