Alexandre Vauthier Seeks Buyer As House Enters Administration

[LadyJunon]

Alexandre Vauthier is in search of a buyer as his Coutute house enters judicial administration:

Couture house Alexandre Vauthier seeks buyer amid difficulties
Amidst significant financial challenges, the illustrious couture house Alexandre Vauthier is currently in search of an acquirer, as initially reported by the economic investigative media outlet, L’Informé. A judicial administration procedure was initiated by the Commercial Court of Paris on Tuesday, February 13.

By Emma RUFFENBACH
Translated by Roberta HERRERA
Published Feb 21, 2024

Renowned for its radical silhouettes and voluminous work, the eponymous Parisian label has been led for 15 years by its creator, designer Alexandre Vauthier (a disciple of Thierry Mugler, he graduated from ESMOD thirty years ago). It has been listed on the official calendar of the Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion for the past ten years.

The house has been in default since November 20, 2023. It transitioned into judicial administration in mid-February and is now seeking buyers. The deadline for submitting offers is set for Friday, March 8. Maître Hélène Bourbouloux (heading the Parisian firm FHBX) is the judicial administrator for this procedure.

Owned by its founder Alexandre Vauthier, the company based in the 16th arrondissement of the capital, which employs 36 staff members, will be under observation until August 13.

When contacted, the Alexandre Vauthier house declined to comment on the situation. The brand achieved a turnover of 12.7 million euros at the close of the fiscal year (as of March 31, 2023) according to accounts filed with the Commercial Court of Paris.

Its women's ready-to-wear and haute couture collections, leather goods, and shoes are sold via its website, as well as through its network of multi-brand retailers such as the Neiman Marcus chain in the United States, the flagship store of Mytheresa in Munich, and the Parisian boutique Biondini located in a gallery on the Champs-Elysées.

Last July, the house showcased its Fall/Winter 2023-2024 haute couture creations at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, infused with a festive sobriety. The brand, which was announced on the official calendar for the upcoming Paris Fashion Week dedicated to women’s fashion, has withdrawn and will ultimately not present this season.

Source: Fashion Network

 

[Cocteau Stone]

WHAAAAAT!?!?!? This can't be serious? Hopefully he can find a buyer/investor because his work is just too good to disappear in such a way.

Does also make me think why he wasn't offered another Creative Director gig elsewhere alongside this (say Alaia) not just for the sake of it making sense, but to also support actual independent designers and not the usual fodder. Because frankly, I'd also rather see him on the calendar than the likes of Jacquemus, Peter Do, Kim Jones et al.

 

[TerraVera]

only 12.7 million euros by march 2023? why isn't he selling anymore?

it explains why things have been toned down a bit. i'm not sure where he could go as a creative director; he seems most fit in his own lane, but since that's having issues, then i see why it might be hard to snatch a good position somewhere in the meantime.

accessories usually carry a house, so what would need to be improved for his house to be solvent?

 

[AnaD]

accessories usually carry a house, so what would need to be improved for his house to be solvent?

Probably an accessory line at a lower price point. Fragrance and makeup could help too, even if they're guest collection makeup collabs.

I really hope his brand finds a buyer, he's one of my faves. No one does Haute Couture like him.

 

[philophile]

This is sad, he's a great designer. I've always browsed enthusiastically through his collections. I think a lot of independent fashion designers are not doing very well nowadays, since a lot of them are not even in the calendar or even showed at pre-fall. Others just showed very modest lookbooks. I honestly think that it's due to the current economic crisis unleashed mainly by the pandemic that has a lot of designers uninspired and mainly sticking to essentials. It's a time of scarcity, yet, ironically, there's in contrast so much sumptuosity, decadence and pompousness going on at the same time that it makes one wonder if this is a similar scenario to pre-Great Depression era.

 

[perhydrol]

It's such a sad news, I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed for Vauthier, he's too talented to just go into administration, and there is some actual potential of growth in his brand. He just needs a proper investor and their resources.

 

[Urban Stylin]

Unfortunately this is going to be inecitable for the true fashion brands. The industry is now more about hype, famous collabs, insta/tiktok reach and having a billion items being pushed under the brand umbrella or worst case scenario operating under a conglomerate.

 

[Lola701]

It’s a bit sad and rather surprising. I know he is very close to the people at Chanel. Bruno Pavlovsky’s wife is involved in his business…
Apparently, it wasn’t enough.

Haute Couture might be a profitable operation for a lot of house, it’s not enough to actually support a house. He needs a strong RTW business and I really can see his brand expand to beauty. He is talented and his brand has a strong identity.

This brand has a big potential. I think EXOR, the Qataris or even the Clarins family could do things with him.
On paper, everybody would expect LVMH or Kering but I don’t see them taking the bet…Even if the house is so small that it could be an interesting opportunity.

I think that Alexandre has done quite well so far. I hope those issues will be solved before the end of the year.

 

[tourbillions]

i cant at boring "designers" handling big houses while talents like Vauthier enters administration. Hopefully someone offers him something

 

[Salvatore]

That explains why he didn't show during haute couture week and why his shows have been less flashy/more muted than in the past. I am so upset over it as he's super talented and there's definitely a place for him and his viewpoint in the fashion world. Someone better buy it and save it !

 

[Nimsay]

Larsa Pippen appears to be wearing his cropped shoulder pad button down on Miami Housewives. I think he needs RTW and definitely has a strong enough voice for it. I think he will quickly build a reputation for style and quality and become a big label. I can see him becoming like Balmain or McQueen and considered a go-to for that high fashion look.

 

[Lola701]

Larsa Pippen appears to be wearing his cropped shoulder pad button down on Miami Housewives. I think he needs RTW and definitely has a strong enough voice for it. I think he will quickly build a reputation for style and quality and become a big label. I can see him becoming like Balmain or McQueen and considered a go-to for that high fashion look.

He has RTW and Giuseppe Zanotti is doing his footwear. He has already a nice range of products for such a small, almost niche brand.
I think at some point you just needs investment to expand.
He has quite a few retailers but it’s very difficult to exist in this market.
We saw it. Couture week passed and I think it’s only here that I saw people asking about Alexandre Vauthier.

This is someone who doesn’t have a marketing machine. All his marketing is for his shows, his visuals (he woks with major people) and he sends clothes to celebrities.

It’s a bit like the Schiaparelli situation but the difference is that, Schiaparelli has an owner who will support the loss of the brand, have a strategy and invest money into the development of the brand. And that includes having interesting stockist, create events and push the products to the right clientele.

And I’m not sure there’s that much brand awareness around Vauthier.
Hopefully someone will buy the brand, create a strategy and all.
I hope he will still be able to have at least 10% ownership if it happens.

French fashion has experienced a lot of success stories with it contemporary brands like Isabel Marant, AMI and now Jacquemus. The French high-street brands like Maje, Sandro and others are very successful but this is a reminder that High Fashion is a different affair.

 

[badgalcrush]

That so sad but not surprising I think he did quite well so far. To be honest I think Anthony Vaccarello would have experienced the same issue if he did continue his eponymous brand.
I just hope he find to right people to inject cash on his brand and rethink a bit on the strategy they adopt

 

[tourbillions]

Anyone buy the house yet?

 

[LadyJunon]

It's an absolute shame, because he's one of the industry's better designers. Haute Couture can be profitable, but it's such a fragile operation because of how expensive it can be to run, especially when using Chanel-tier resources.

I hope that he finds a buyer who can support that without trying to turn it into a huge luxury company. That said, they could easily take advantage of Vauthier's niche cult-label status and create a business like Alaïa.

I feel that the best thing to do with Vauthier would be to merge the couture and ready-to-wear into one collection, find a designer to create the bag and shoe lines, and develop a perfume.