Christian Lacroix: life after LVMH *updated

[softgrey]

from wwd...excerpt...


Christian Lacroix: It’s official: Christian Lacroix has new owners. The Florida-based brothers Simon, Jerome and Leon Falic of Falic Group sat front-and-center at Lacroix’s couture show, the day after completing their purchase of the house from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity,” Simon Falic, the company’s chairman, said. “Christian Lacroix is a tremendous designer, and I see tremendous opportunity for growing the business.” Though Lacroix was not part of the negotiations and is sans contract, Falic vowed “no radical changes” to the business. He voiced optimism about signing Lacroix, and noted that his firm intends to carry on with couture.

In an interview with WWD last March, Lacroix expressed frustration over what he considers a bad rap, one he felt existed in-house. “Mr. Arnault was sure I was against money and commercial success,” Lacroix said. “I’m not. I’m 53. I have no time to waste.”
... and attributed his company’s financial malaise to LVMH’s lack of investment. “I’ve always thought it’s the hen and the egg,” he explained. “Which comes first? Mr. Arnault is crazy about bags. I can do bags, too. But how can I succeed without the means? [Dior’s] Lady Di bag was nice, a wonderful bag. But maybe it would not have been so successful without the support.”
Lacroix said what he viewed as an increasingly bureaucratic atmosphere within LVMH felt antithetical to the spirit of Lacroix. He acknowledged being “upset with the lack of elegance” LVMH displayed in negotiating the sale while keeping him essentially in the dark — “after 18 years, you can’t treat a house in such a rude way” — and mused that Arnault may be tiring of fashion overall, preferring to focus on the spirits side of the business.
Although his own future chez Lacroix has yet to be finalized, like Falic, the designer expressed hope for a vibrant, new relationship, one that will provide the opportunity to succeed on his own terms. “Our strength is our difference,” he said.
For now, however, Lacroix won’t wear his heart too openly on his sleeve. “I have to be very careful about my own feelings — like a bride in an arranged marriage,” he said. “I have to fold the veil back and see who these people are.” And no doubt the veil is fabulous.

 

[Lena]

Christian Lacroix: life after LVMH

Photo: Stephane Feugere

Christian Lacroix is actually celebrating his untangling from LVMH by rejuvenating his structure and re-focusing in a new post LVMH era

After 18 years under LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton ownership, the last few particularly disquieting, Lacroix said things are going well with Falics his new 'parent' and that he feels energized and inspired anew.

"It's a totally new culture," the designer said this month over coffee at the Bristol hotel here. "At last, we have some chemistry with people who are on the same wavelength."

In a wide-ranging interview, Lacroix disclosed fresh details about his new store concept, announced plans to speed development of men's wear and described a step-by-step approach to bolster women's ready-to-wear, the core of his brand.

"It wasn't buying a couture house just for the sake of buying a couture house — and then putting it on a diet," he said, alluding to the specter of layoffs that often haunt businesses after a takeover.
The designer stressed that his house is still untangling itself from LVMH, and that the spring-summer collection shown last month was still produced under its auspices. Yet, "We worked at it with a new spirit, so much lighter," he said, citing a 5 percent increase in orders.
The company is zeroing in on a location for a New York flagship that should open in the second half of 2006, at which time the historic Paris location on Faubourg Saint-Honorι is also slated for a facelift.
The U.S. is a priority for the Falics, who aim to grow its share to account for 35 percent of sales, compared with the current 10 percent.

The designer confessed he simply found it easier and more rewarding to work outside LVMH, and he will honor commitments to design more hotels and theater costumes, including for a Mozart opera in Brussels that opens a few days after his couture show and a production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" at La Comιdie-Franηaise here next spring.

But now, also freed of his duties as the creative director of LVMH-owned Emilio Pucci — an awkward tie he severed last September — Lacroix said he's pouring all his efforts into his signature house.

In fact, he has already finished designing his fall-winter 2006 collection, which will be unveiled to the trade in January, and will now plunge into the couture, a prospect he relishes.

"The idea that I'll be in the couture house until midnight every night is as pleasant for me as waking up and realizing, 'Oh, it's Saturday,'" Lacroix said. His enthusiasm is reflected in growing sales at the couture. Despite fewer weddings this year in the Middle East, orders for his winter couture collection, shown last July, were up 10 percent, the house said.

Men's wear, lingerie and swimwear are all areas Lacroix considers development priorities, and he would like to enter the eyewear business soon.

And while he has not yet poured his heart into the fragrance business, Lacroix said he relishes the prospect. "For the future, I'm very confident, too. If (the Falics) know something, it's fragrance

extracts & photos from the wwd article of today

 

[saann]

Thanks for the articles both of you

I think this is good news
It's good that Christian now feels free and that he's working with people that he feels are at the same wavelenght as him

it's not good for a designer if he feels that he have to do stuff he doesn't feel for especially when he feels that he doesn't get the support he wants, the result is so much better when he feels comfortable at where he is

designers are like artists in a way that you shouldn't put rules on what they can do or tell them what to do, otherwise the result just isn't honest

 

[irmati]

This must be good for him.

 

[Mr-Dale]

This must be good for him.

It is! I can't wait to see the results, personally
Thanks for the articles!

 

[manolocraver]

But Lacroix is still with House of Pucci right?

 

[Lena]

But Lacroix is still with House of Pucci right?

no, not anymore manolocraver

btw, welcome to tfs