Fashion was hit by brand management tremors on Wednesday as two new fault lines opened up, further cracking the industry’s status quo.
Modebranchen blev ramt af rystelser i brandstyring onsdag, da to nye sprækker åbnede sig og yderligere krakelerede branchens status quo.
Marquee Brands inked its deal to buy control of Roberto Cavalli. Heath Golden, chief executive officer of the intellectual property expert, described Cavalli as a “true capital L luxury brand” and said in an interview that it would remain so.
Marquee Brands underskrev sin aftale om at købe kontrollen over Roberto Cavalli. Heath Golden, administrerende direktør for IP-eksperten, beskrev Cavalli som et “ægte luksusbrand med stort L” og sagde i et interview, at det fortsat ville være sådan.
And Jamie Salter figured the third time might be the charm and revealed that the company could go public in the next 12 months, after starting the process two other times but ultimately bringing in more private equity investment instead, he said on CNBC.
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Salter, who founded Authentic in 2010, said he’d also step up to executive chairman to focus on closing more deals — chasing the dream he laid out at WWD’s Apparel and Retail CEO Summit last year to grow annual retail sales from $38 billion to $100 billion in five years. Matt Maddox, the former Wynn Resorts executive who joined Authentic as president last year, will become president and CEO, in charge of the day-to-day managing of all that growth.
Salter, som grundlagde Authentic i 2010, sagde, at han også ville træde op som administrerende formand for at fokusere på at lukke flere aftaler — jagte drømmen, som han skitserede ved WWD’s Apparel and Retail CEO Summit sidste år om at øge de årlige detailomsætninger fra 38 milliarder til 100 milliarder i løbet af fem år. Matt Maddox, den tidligere topchef hos Wynn Resorts, som tiltrådte som præsident hos Authentic i fjor, bliver præsident og CEO, ansvarlig for den daglige håndtering af al den vækst.
The market is also still digesting last week’s Marc Jacobs blockbuster, which has LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton selling the designer brand to WHP Global and producer G-III Apparel Group at a roughly $925 million valuation.
Markedet fordøjer også stadig sidste uges Marc Jacobs-sensation, hvor LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton sælger det designerbrand til WHP Global og producenten G-III Apparel Group til en skønnet værdi på omkring 925 millioner dollars.
The brand management companies — which scoop up intellectual property and work with partners who make and distribute the goods — were already doing more than nibbling around the edges.
Brandstyringsfirmaerne — som opkøber intellektuel ejendom og samarbejder med partnere, der fremstiller og distribuerer varerne — gjorde allerede mere end blot at nappe omkring kanten.
Since the pandemic, fashion dealmaking that involves anything other than the latest, greatest growth brand seems to start and often end with the brand management crowd.
Siden pandemien ser modeforhandlinger, der involverer andet end den nyeste, største vækstbrand, starte og ofte ende hos brandmanagement-kredsen.
From WHP’s Vera Wang deal and Blue Star’s acquisition of Dickies to Authentic’s deal to buy Guess and Marquee’s Stance acquisition, the branded crowd is everywhere and reaching out further.
The immediate success of the model is clear, even if the long-term ramifications are murkier. If Authentic does go public, the world will get a close look at its books. And if they look sustainable, more IPOs could be in the offering.
Umiddelbart er modellens succes klar, selvom de langsigtede konsekvenser er mere uklare. Hvis Authentic går offentligt, vil verden få et tæt indblik i dets regnskaber. Og hvis de ser bæredygtige ud, kan flere børsnoteringer være i horisonten.
“What Authentic’s been doing is essentially a licensing model,” said Nora Kleinewillinghoefer, luxury and fashion lead in Kearney’s consumer practice. “It buys a distressed company, pulls them in and it’s given them a lot of interesting leverage. But the problem is how large you can scale it is within the portfolio becomes a dilution problem.”
“Hvad Authentics tilgang i praksis går ud på, er i bund og grund en licensmodel,” sagde Nora Kleinewillinghoefer, leder af luksus og mode i Kearneys forbrugerpraksis. “Det køber et nedslidt firma, integrerer dem, og det giver dem en masse interessant gearing. Men problemet er, hvor stort man kan skalere det inden for porteføljen, hvilket bliver et udvandingproblem.”
And then if the company is looking to continue to buy more brands, it becomes more “challenging” to manage, something Maddox can help with, she said.
Og hvis selskabet fortsat ønsker at købe flere brands, bliver det mere “udfordrende” at styre, noget Maddox kan hjælpe med, sagde hun.
But with Authentic both looking at owning brands that drive $100 billion in retail sales, and doing so under the klieg lights of Wall Street, the company is going to face more scrutiny than ever.
Men med Authentic, der både sigter mod at eje mærker, der driver 100 milliarder dollars i detailomsætning, og gøre det under Wall Streets projektørlys, vil selskabet stå over for mere granskning end nogensinde.
“I feel like Authentic started with a few brands and then it became a few more brands and it kind of just started happening,” Kleinewillinghoefer said. “And there wasn’t a lot of oversight, there wasn’t a lot of visibility to it other than, ‘Oh, OK, you bought that.’ This is going to be a big shift for them, both their managerial strategy and what their goals are.
“Så hvis målet er at nå hundrede milliarder dollars, hvordan vil I gøre det, og hvor meget bygger I offentlig tillid ind i den del af rejsen?” sagde hun.
Antony Karabus, a veteran strategic retail adviser, said the brand management companies are using two different models.
Antony Karabus, en erfaren strategisk detailrådgiver, sagde, at brandmanagementfirmaerne bruger to forskellige modeller.
“Salter has picked up a number of brands that were in distress and it looks to me like he’s trying to build enormous scale — and rapidly — in advance of an IPO,” Karabus said. “I think the jury is still out on whether those formerly troubled brands will be successful.
“Salter har samlet en række mærker, der var i vanskeligheder, og for mig ser det ud til, at han forsøger at opbygge enorm skala — og hurtigt — forud for en IPO,” sagde Karabus. “Jeg tror, dommen er endnu ikke afsat om, hvorvidt de tidligere pressede mærker vil få succes.”
“The Marquees and the WHPs, they’re doing it very surgically,” he said. “They’re not running and grabbing everything in sight and they’re understanding what the real value is.”
“Marquee og WHP’erne gør det meget kirurgisk,” sagde han. “De løber ikke rundt og griber alt i sigte og de forstår, hvad den reelle værdi er.”
But both approaches are building the kind of scale needed in fashion today.
Men begge tilgange opbygger den nødvendige skala for modebranchen i dag.
“What’s going on with AI and technology and talent, these small to midsized brands, they don’t have the ability to invest in the technology the way a larger company can,” Karabus said.
“Hvad der foregår inden for AI, teknologi og talent, disse små til mellemstore mærker har ikke mulighed for at investere i teknologien, som et større firma kan,” sagde Karabus.
Having a whole bunch of brands is not new, of course. In luxury, LVMH rules with its massive stable of well-heeled brands. But where their business model is built around the idea of growing the value of the brands, Kleinewillinghoefer said the IP experts are “extracting brand value, more so — not exclusivity, but more so.”
At have en hel række mærker er naturligvis ikke nyt. I luksus-sektoren regerer LVMH med sin enorme stabel af velbevarede mærker. Men hvor deres forretningsmodel er bygget på at øge mærkets værdi, sagde Kleinewillinghoefer, at IP-eksperterne “udvinder mærkeværdi, mere end eksklusivitet.”
That’s a sentiment skeptics have aired for some time.
Det er en holdning, som skeptikere har luftet i noget tid.
Still, the brand management companies are saying the right thing and making the right investments, winning over the likes of Marc Jacobs.
Alligevel siger brandmanagementfirmaerne de rette ting og foretager de rette investeringer og vinder anerkendelse hos mærket Marc Jacobs.
This week, Jacobs explained to WWD how his deal came together.
Denne uge forklarede Jacobs til WWD, hvordan hans aftale kom i stand.
“I met with Yehuda [Shmidman, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of WHP] a few months back and I found him to be really nice,” the designer said. “I enjoyed meeting him and speaking to him, and he seemed to have a real genuine love and interest in this company….I felt very positive about that first meeting, and I still feel very positive.
“Jeg mødte Yehuda [Shmidman, grundlægger, formand og administrerende direktør i WHP] for et par måneder siden, og jeg fandt ham virkelig venlig,” sagde designeren. “Jeg nød at møde ham og tale med ham, og han virkede at have en virkelig ægte kærlighed til og interesse i denne virksomhed… Jeg følte mig meget positiv omkring det første møde, og jeg føler mig stadig positiv.”
“There are no guarantees of anything in life, but I do feel like my instincts are usually pretty good,” Jacobs said.
“Der er ingen garantier i livet, men jeg føler, at mine instinkt normalt er ret gode,” sagde Jacobs.
Shmidman has not spoken at length about the deal, or his skill as a designer whisperer, but he’s not the only one gaining a touch for the high end.
Shmidman har ikke talt i detaljer om aftalen eller sin evne som designer-kyndig, men han er ikke den eneste, der får et snusek til den højeste ende.
In the interview, Golden, Marquee’s chief, said he knows what he’s picked up with the Cavalli business and is going to take care of it.
I interviewen sagde Golden, Marquees chef, at han ved, hvad han har erhvervet med Cavalli-virksomheden, og at han vil tage sig af det.
After all, If the brand management players have a keen eye for anything, it’s brands.
Alligevel, hvis brandmanagement-aktørerne har et skarpt øje for noget, er det mærker.
“Cavalli, unlike many, is led by fashion and has a very well-developed home business,” Golden said. “It has strong codes, strong DNA and is incredibly strong in Southern Europe.
“Cavalli er, i modsætning til mange, drevet af mode og har en meget veludviklet hjemmearbejdsmodel,” sagde Golden. “Det har stærke koder, stærk DNA og er utrolig stærkt i Sydeuropa.
“We’re not buying this brand to take it down market,” the CEO said. “We’ve been very intentional about putting luxury players around it. Participating now in this luxury business will open up other avenues” for Marquee.
“Vi køber ikke dette mærke for at sænke det i markedet,” sagde CEO’en. “Vi har været meget målrettede i at placere luksusaktører omkring det. At deltage nu i denne luksusforretning vil åbne andre veje” for Marquee.
As is typical in brand management dealmaking, Marquee lined up a number of partners ahead of time so it had a sense of how big a business it could build. While there aren’t so many companies positioned to jump in and start churning out luxury goods and manage high-end retail, they are enough.
Som det er sædvanligt i brandmanagement-forhandlinger, havde Marquee forud stillet en række partnere for at få en fornemmelse af, hvor stor en forretning, det kunne blive. Selvom der ikke er så mange virksomheder, der er gearet til at hoppe ind og begynde at producere luksusvarer og styre high-end detailhandel, er der nok.
“There are skilled, multibrand players who know how to work with luxury brands and treat them like luxury brands,” Golden said, noting that Cavalli’s “product engine” was going to be based out of Milan.
“Der er dygtige, multibrand-aktører, der ved, hvordan man arbejder med luksusbrands og behandler dem som luksusbrands,” sagde Golden og bemærkede, at Cavallis “produktmotor” ville være baseret i Milano.
Marquee teamed up with The Level Group, which will act as its core operating partner and lead development, manufacturing and distribution of the Cavalli’s women’s and men’s collections. TLG will also operate the brand’s retail, e-commerce operations and wholesale businesses in Europe and the U.S.
Marquee indgik et samarbejde med The Level Group, som vil fungere som deres kerneopererende partner og lede udvikling, produktion og distribution af Cavallis dam- og herremodeller. TLG vil også drive mærkets detailhandel, e-handel og engroshandel i Europa og USA.
Cavalli’s current owner, Dubai-based luxury real estate developer DAMAC Group, retains a stake in the business and the rights to continue to grow the associated branded residences and hospitality projects.
Cavalli’s nuværende ejer, Dubai-baserede luksusejendomsudvikler DAMAC Group, beholder en andel i virksomheden og rettighederne til fortsat at udvide de tilknyttede branded boliger og hotelprojekter.
“Roberto Cavalli is one of the most distinctive luxury brands in the world,” said Hussain Sajwani, founder of DAMAC. “After several years of solidifying the brand’s foundation, we set out to find a strategic partner with the skill set to take the brand to the next level. We are confident Marquee Brands is the right partner to do so.”
“Roberto Cavalli er et af verdens mest karakteristiske luksusmærker,” sagde Hussain Sajwani, grundlægger af DAMAC. “Efter flere år med at styrke mærkets fundament satte vi os for at finde en strategisk partner med det rette kompetencesæt til at bringe mærket til næste niveau. Vi er overbeviste om, at Marquee Brands er den rette partner til at gøre det.”
Once the deal closes, which is expected during the second quarter, Marquee plans to accelerate the brand’s growth with new categories, services and experiential touch points around the world.
Når aftalen lukkes, hvilket forventes i andet kvartal, planlægger Marquee at accelerere mærkets vækst med nye kategorier, services og oplevelsespunkter rundt om i verden.
“I don’t think there are tons of brands of the caliber of Roberto Cavalli,” Golden said. “I don’t think it’s a double-digit number” of brands. “Cavalli is a really powerful brand that has been built over the decades.”
“Jeg tror ikke, der findes et væld af mærker i samme kaliber som Roberto Cavalli,” sagde Golden. “Jeg tror ikke, det er et tocifret antal mærker. Cavalli er et virkelig stærkt mærke, som er bygget op gennem årtier.”
The big luxury houses hold many of those brands — and lately have been looking hard at their portfolios.
De store luksushuse indeholder mange af disse mærker — og for nylig har de kigget grundigt på deres porteføljer.
“These global conglomerates are generally net sellers because the brand management model is the winning model in today’s fragmented, geopolitically complicated world,” Golden said. “Are there other luxury brands that some of the larger luxury groups are looking to offload? Yes, we’ve seen some [deals], perhaps there will be more. We encourage them to call us.”
“Disse globale konglomerater er generelt nettosælgere, fordi brandmanagement-modellen er den vindende model i dagens fragmenterede, geopolitiske komplekse verden,” sagde Golden. “Findes der andre luksusmærker, som nogle af de større luksusgrupper overvejer at afstå fra? Ja, vi har set nogle [aftaler], måske vil der komme flere. Vi opfordrer dem til at kontakte os.”
