2013 was indeed an eventful year for luxury giants LVMH and former PPR – symbolically renamed Kering last March, which, despite the recession, made significant acquisitions, while several of their designers swapped labels.
After sealing a major deal with prestigious jeweller Bulgari in 2011, last July, LVMH purchased eighty percent of Loro Piana, another Italian family-led business well known for its high-end cashmere sweaters, for two billion euros. LVMH also bought a majority stake in celebrated British shoe brand Nicholas Kirkwood for an undisclosed sum this year, in view of helping the designer expand internationally while developing an accessories line. Similarly, LVMH invested into Irish-born J.W. Anderson’s label, while appointing the talented young designer to head its Spanish leather brand Loewe.
On the other hand, Kering, which owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent Paris among many others, acquired a majority stake in Italian jewellery group Pomellato last April, after buying fifty-one percent of Scottish designer Christopher Kane’s brand, thus adding another UK brand to its portfolio, which already includes the Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney labels. Kering made another noticeable move by purchasing a small share of French-American designer JosephAltuzarra’s brand, earlier this year.
The luxury conglomerates have been increasingly investing in made-to-measure menswear with LVMH’s acquisition of French high-end luxury maison ARNY’S in 2012, which was added to traditional shoe brand Berlutti, owned by the group since 1993, while Kering purchased Italian house Brioni in 2012. Ermenegildo Zegna, which offers ‘Su Misura’ suits along with its luxury ready-to-wear ones, remains one of the few menswear ‘gems’ that is still family owned and managed.
Furthermore, following last year’s trend, numerous designers switched brands in 2013. 2012 was marked by Raf Simmons’ arrival at ChristianDior, former Dior Homme designer Heidi Slimane’s appointment at Kering-owned label Saint Laurent Paris and American designer Alexander Wang’s replacement of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga. In 2013, LVMH announced that Marc Jacobs would leave his position as head designer at Louis Vuitton after sixteen-years, to focus on expanding his eponymous label, which LVMH also has a major stake in. It was recently announced that Nicolas Ghesquière would replace Jacobs at Louis Vuitton.
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Moreover, relaunching long-forgotten prestigious Maisons also seems to be a recurring trend. After Vionnet’s revival in 2009 and Goga Ashkenazi’s acquisition of the brand in 2012, it was announced that Christian Lacroix would act as a guest designer and produce a Couture collection for Schiaparelli this year. Diego Della Valle, who owns the Tod’s brand and rights to the Schiaparelli name, then appointed former Rochas designer Marco Zanini to head the brand.
Mugler, which is owned by the Clarins Group, was also in the spotlight last month with the appointment of London-based designer David Koma to replace Nicola Formichetti as new creative director.
In addition, Donatella Versace welcomed upcoming Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello to work with her on the Versus line, following previous collaborations with Christopher Kane and J.W. Anderson.
Last but not least, both female designers Jil Sander and Ann Demeulemeester announced their departure from their eponymous labels in 2013.
Louise Kissa
