Esprit / Billabong - new models needed Beautiful models sell anything. No surprise then that fashion retailers" reports look like catalogues. But anyone reading the recent efforts of Billabong (surfer babes) and Esprit (Gisele Bündchen) should focus on the other sort of figures. Both have new bosses brandishing plans to turn them round and now both have launched rights issues. That does not mean that both, or either, will succeed. Billabong is further along, having appointed Launa Inman in May and raised A$225m in June to reduce debt, yet it only produced a turnround strategy in August. Jose Martínez, meanwhile, joined Esprit a month ago, but a year into a transformation plan that he supports. That makes this week's unexpected HK$5.2bn rights issue a bigger deal. With net cash and no sign the plan needed funds, the only conclusion is that it expects conditions will weaken still further. Investors have been forgiving of Esprit. Its shares are virtually flat over the past year - a contrast to Billabong's three-quarters drop. With no certainty that either can turn round, investors can only go on the merits of their plans. These are very different. Billabong has been brutally honest, scattering unfavourable numbers - a fifth of its styles produce four-fifths of sales, for example - and including damaging comparisons with rivals of its supply chain and stock system. At least the numerical hostages to fortune give investors a yardstick. Esprit has a bigger brand rebuild to do - a fuzzier concept, admittedly - but it has its own supply issues and has been far less forthcoming on targets. Both companies" shares have lost more than 90 per cent over the past five years. Those investors hanging in there should demand all the numbers they can get. Even then, Gisele and the surfwear babes shouldn't distract from the fact there are far hotter-looking companies in this sector.