Demna Gvasalia - Designer, Creative Director of Gucci

[PDFSD]

BOF

Raf Simons Starts at Calvin Klein, Marking Strategic Shift

In a bold and widely anticipated move, Raf Simons has been named chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, bringing his signature minimalist aesthetic to the iconic American brand, the company has confirmed.

www.businessoffashion.com

The appointment appears to mark a distinct shift in the Calvin Klein playbook. Ready-to-wear contributes less than $10 million a year to the company's $2.9 billion in annual revenue and has long been seen as a mere marketing platform for the wider brand.

"It's not a business that contributes to the bottom line and it probably never will be," Tom Murry, former president and chief executive of Calvin Klein, told BoF in 2011. "For us, it's a marketing expense." Currently, PVH operates just one Calvin Klein Collection retail store on Madison Avenue in New York City.


In 2015, Calvin Klein's reported revenue was $2.9 billion, up 2.2 percent from 2014 on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis. A significant part of that comes from royalties attached to its fragrance license, which has been held by Coty since 2005 when the beauty manufacturer bought Unilever's global fragrance business for $800 million. Coty also owns the Calvin Klein colour makeup license, which it acquired in 2010 from Markwins International, although a 2012 launch of a "CK One Color" makeup line seems to have been put on hold.

If Calvin Klein is indeed going to put more emphasis on Collection — and pay Simons a reported salary of $18 million a year — the question becomes how this diverse array of businesses, with their different models, can operate in harmony under one creative umbrella.

Is Raf Simons too expensive for Calvin Klein?​

By Is Raf Simons too expensive for Calvin Klein?

Published July 23, 2016,

As the fashion world awaits his arrival there — where it’s assumed he’ll soon be appointed creative director and pull in $18 million a year — some are questioning whether Simons’ price tag is simply too high for a business that makes most of its money selling underwear, fragrances and jeans. Simons’ résumé is tilted towards couture.

Widely seen as a fashion visionary, Simons left Christian Dior as creative director last fall. At Calvin Klein, owned by PVH Corp., he’d be in charge of the elite Calvin Klein Collection, a small business that brings in roughly $6 million to $8 million, along with the rest of the brand’s products.

“It’s an enormous contract,” one industry insider said to our Lisa Fickenscher, “and it makes you wonder what PVH plans to do with the collection.”

Added another insider, “Whatever PVH is doing with Raf is a total waste if it doesn’t hire more people. You don’t go into luxury with just one person. They are signing to be a player.”


i am not surprised if they overpaid him in USA at that time like a stunt to have him ...bet you his Dior days he was not getting that

 

[LadyJunon]

BOF

Raf Simons Starts at Calvin Klein, Marking Strategic Shift

In a bold and widely anticipated move, Raf Simons has been named chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, bringing his signature minimalist aesthetic to the iconic American brand, the company has confirmed.

www.businessoffashion.com

The appointment appears to mark a distinct shift in the Calvin Klein playbook. Ready-to-wear contributes less than $10 million a year to the company's $2.9 billion in annual revenue and has long been seen as a mere marketing platform for the wider brand.

"It's not a business that contributes to the bottom line and it probably never will be," Tom Murry, former president and chief executive of Calvin Klein, told BoF in 2011. "For us, it's a marketing expense." Currently, PVH operates just one Calvin Klein Collection retail store on Madison Avenue in New York City.


In 2015, Calvin Klein's reported revenue was $2.9 billion, up 2.2 percent from 2014 on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis. A significant part of that comes from royalties attached to its fragrance license, which has been held by Coty since 2005 when the beauty manufacturer bought Unilever's global fragrance business for $800 million. Coty also owns the Calvin Klein colour makeup license, which it acquired in 2010 from Markwins International, although a 2012 launch of a "CK One Color" makeup line seems to have been put on hold.

If Calvin Klein is indeed going to put more emphasis on Collection — and pay Simons a reported salary of $18 million a year — the question becomes how this diverse array of businesses, with their different models, can operate in harmony under one creative umbrella.

Is Raf Simons too expensive for Calvin Klein?​

By Is Raf Simons too expensive for Calvin Klein?

Published July 23, 2016,

As the fashion world awaits his arrival there — where it’s assumed he’ll soon be appointed creative director and pull in $18 million a year — some are questioning whether Simons’ price tag is simply too high for a business that makes most of its money selling underwear, fragrances and jeans. Simons’ résumé is tilted towards couture.

Widely seen as a fashion visionary, Simons left Christian Dior as creative director last fall. At Calvin Klein, owned by PVH Corp., he’d be in charge of the elite Calvin Klein Collection, a small business that brings in roughly $6 million to $8 million, along with the rest of the brand’s products.

“It’s an enormous contract,” one industry insider said to our Lisa Fickenscher, “and it makes you wonder what PVH plans to do with the collection.”

Added another insider, “Whatever PVH is doing with Raf is a total waste if it doesn’t hire more people. You don’t go into luxury with just one person. They are signing to be a player.”


i am not surprised if they overpaid him in USA at that time like a stunt to have him ...bet you his Dior days he was not getting that

This aged like fine wine.

 

[Creative]

Some articles about Raf at CK:

https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/pvh-soon-to-name-raf-simons-creative-director-of-calvin-klein/2016080112261

Raf Simons, 18 million dollar man

Finally, the worst kept secret in fashion has been confirmed. Having waited out his non-compete with Dior, Raf Simons has been announced as the Chief Creative Officer of Calvin Klein. It’s a major …

www.disneyrollergirl.net

First two that popped up. At the time I read it in several places too.

This was 2016 at Calvin Klein.


Of course it’s not crazy that Demna is getting around the 40M TEN f**** years later at one of the biggest houses in the world that’s desperate for success. 🤣


Oh wait, but how on Earth if Karl was getting paid 10M the insufferable RAF was getting double? not possible even if BOF reported it lmao.

You guys…

 

[PDFSD]

If you google, many articles mention the 20M of Raf Simons in 2016, 10 years ago.

In 2016 Dior was not even a top5 brand, for instance, and Gucci was way far away of the huge business it was 3 years ago.

I know someone very close to Tisci that told me he was getting paid more than Raf at CK. It would make total sense.

Being Gucci a top5, it would not surprise me AT ALL that he is getting paid around 40M.

any ways 40M for damaged goods is allot :-)

on a negotiation point of view it's not like he has the strongest cards coming in its more a case of the wounded helping the disabled affair.

it's a risky move they are hoping it pays of both sides know it .

 

[Creative]

Non comparable; in some sectors CEOs are paid less than some heads of department or CEOs of crucial subsidiaries. It happens all the time in banking for instance.

But in fashion as well. There are fashion advisors that can get 300k per year depending on what they sell. Much more than some regional managers at small brands.

any ways 40M for damaged goods is allot :-)

on a negotiation point of view it's not like he has the strongest cards coming in its more a case of the wounded helping the disabled affair.

it's a risky move they are hoping it pays of both sides know it .

Hmm, I think Gucci had a very hard time finding a new CD, it’s lot of pressure for Demna and he is super smart.

 

[Creative]

Also, the Vsaglia brothers are incredibly rich… but incredibly rich, to a point you guys can’t imagine.

He is not gonna do Gucci for 10M.

 

[PDFSD]

But in fashion as well. There are fashion advisors that can get 300k per year depending on what they sell. Much more than some regional managers at small brands.


Hmm, I think Gucci had a very hard time finding a new CD, it’s lot of pressure for ademan and he is super smart.

genuine question : he is super smart is based on what ? ( because people say the same thing about elon per example )

 

[Creative]

genuine question : he is super smart is based on what ?

Money wise.

 

[PDFSD]

Money wise.

i know he initially studied international economics and his family founded vetements etc

maybe he is smart with money he did after all move to Switzerland as a company and private citizen and it was for tax reasons :-)

 

[Creative]

i know he initially studied international economics and his family founded vetements etc

maybe he is smart with money he did after all move to Switzerland as a company and private citizen and it was for tax reasons :-)

Yeah, they take very smart decisions in terms of their own businesses and they are great in dealing. They live a life that Valentino close to them is working class, so by no means 48M sounds crazy to me.

You want me at Gucci? okay, then pay me.

 

[Lola701]

Gotta give it to Raf.
He drained those PVH accounts while making no profits. The best hold-up of the decade.

Also, the Vsaglia brothers are incredibly rich… but incredibly rich, to a point you guys can’t imagine.

He is not gonna do Gucci for 10M.

He can do Gucci for 10M. Once again, I’m talking fixed salary, without advantages, bonuses, stock options and all.
The big chunk of the money a CD can make is not on a fixed salary but on advantages and bonuses.

Karl is not a good example because he had fixed Salaries at Chanel & Fendi and Royalties at Karl Lagerfeld. On top of that the companies were also his clients as he photographed all the campaigns. And he had advantages. On top of that, all the side gigs he did for Coca Cola and others.

American companies and French/Italian companies are different and salaries are highly different.

That’s why so many of us mention the advantages and bonuses because that’s where they can really get rich. If the revenues increases after one year, you can have a bonus the half or more of your yearly salary added.

Someone like Hedi Slimane could ask for 10/12M but when you consider that he photographs everything, is credited in the conception of everything, of course he is more around 20M.

They are desperate at Kering but they are not losing sight. Because if next year, Gucci sales are increasing, Demna can totally review his initial contract or ask for even more.

 

[NYLA22]

what on earth are you on about? even karl lagerfeld, at the height of his powers, wasn't being paid anywhere close to 40 million per annum. 20 million for raf at calvin klein? absolute bullsh*t. nowhere near. most creative director positions are within the 2-5 million euro range. demna won't ever see more than 10 mill a year in his lifetime. 48 million is pure nonsense.

It's not bullish*t. I can't speak on the others, but it's common knowledge here in NYC that Raf was paid close to $20 million per year at CK, which is one of the main reasons he left...he was simply too expensive. Multiple publications have quoted the $18 million figure as well, including BOF, GQ, etc.

 

[tourbillions]

im sure mass market brands like ck would offer their designers a lot more than the most presitigious luxury brands. There's really no reason to go to a brand like ck/sara/lacoste if it wasnt for the money.

Anyway this thread's a mess... no matter how much they are making if they are making oversized shirts and leather potato chip bags, i dont want any of it.

 

[HiHelloHowAreYou]

It’s likely impossible. Raf in 2012 was not worth 10M.
Remember that they asked MJ to take over Dior and he asked 10M and it was too much.

The status of Riccardo leaving Givenchy to join Burberry, where his ex-CEO was is totally different from Raf coming to Dior from Jil Sander.

Designers don’t have insane contracts. What makes their contracts interesting are advantages but then again, it’s incomparable to others fields.

Riccardo left Givenchy turning the brand over to more than 500M. He got his contract renewed 3 times.

They were not in the same league from that aspect. The same way Jonathan Anderson will make more than MGC now at Dior than her. However, the success of Valentino allowed MCG to make more than she did at Valentino.

However, designers get bonuses. So yes, you can have a 10M contract worth 20M with the advantages and bonuses.

European companies are not like Americans. Even more when it comes to France and Italy.

It’s not so much about the brand than the designer.

They asked Michael Jackson to take over Dior?

 

[LadyJunon]

They asked Michael Jackson to take over Dior?

Marc Jacobs.

 

[LadyJunon]

This is a red flag:

Pressed to clarify when Demna will show his first collection for Gucci, as he is expected to present his Balenciaga couture swan song in July, Cantino smoothly dodged the question, saying that the cruise collection “is a continuum that will lead to the most visible” signs of Demna.

“I don’t want to think of a date. From the day we announced his arrival [in March] I have asked for his thoughts. It will be a progressive growth.” In any case, the executive underscored that Gucci has a history that spans more than a century and “its own strong identity,” highlighting the general “narrative and we will work hand in hand.”

WWD

 

[jeanclaude]

All that money, and they are unable to create interesting and desirable clothes...not to mention actually design something (no, a copy is not "designing", Demna darling) .

 

[PDFSD]

This is a red flag:

WWD

But he started already to work with the design team of his version of Gucci, Cantino is playing the mystery game because they don't want like Bellatini said to await Demna products to be i store inorder to drive positive sales numbers.

So for them makes more sense to play with the idea maybe Demna did something or not in people's mind as part of the discourse on social media for hype building up to official show.

Cantino is a Fox (the italian kind )he did this stuff for year at Prada playing spinning things for press its is speciality above all thats why he is aloud to talk now :-)

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

I don't believe in Demna's alleged 40M at Gucci.
Mathieu is getting (allegedly) 5M at Chanel.

I see Demna's move as an internal evolution inside the same group. Obviously they offer him more than at Balenciaga. But not soooo much more. At Balenciaga he was not earning 20M or 30M.

Plus, all this next September generation of designers are interesting for conglomerates for two reasons:
they have a corporate mindset (they design very product oriented)
and they are cheaper (they don't ask for a Lagerfeld's salary because they know they are no Lagerfeld).

 

[tourbillions]

the cruise collection is obviously by demna.. they are trying if his balenciaga will work in gucci without saying it so that investors dont panic and sell shares even further after the cruise collection. If the cruise collection fails, Demna will run in panic to make another vision for gucci and present it for his first official collection.