Fashion Groups

[*sayan]

It's strange that a company like Prada, with so much talent and a strong(or is he) business leader didn't manage to build the Prada group. It was definitely an amazing selection they had started. Unfortunate.

 

[gius]

the groups are basically just holding companies which control each of the listed labels... e.g. LVMH is in control of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, etc.
They generally try to exercise a lot of control over the designers.. and if the designers aren't profitable the directors can sack the designersm etc. There are some exceptions of course, apparently when Alaia was bought out by the Prada group they were excellent with letting him do what he wanted. However they sold the label fairly soon after... at the end of the day they want to make money.

wow i didn't it was possible to just buy and take over someone else's business. surely the original maker of the business has a choice whether to sell it or not? or does he have no say at all

 

[irresistable_loz]

... well i guess it depends. I think usually it goes something like this:

small fashion business trying to make the big time starts making a name for themself..

small fashion business doesn't have funds to grow the business further...

big company comes along waving their millions of dollars of backing in small designers face...

small designer thinks, 'hey.. they can't be too bad, right?'

that and the fact that (especially a couple of years ago) the market fell massively... masses of designers were losing money.

of course there must be some designers where it has worked... i just have happened across lots of interviews where it hasn't.

 

[xoxoal]

it seems so sad though

 

[JJohnson]

Doesnt AEFFE manufactures JPG stuff? I think I read that somewhere ...

That's what I thought...I believe it's on their website too.

 

[JJohnson]

LVMH also owns Thomas Pink and Gucci owns Boucheron (I love boucheron!!)

 

[JJohnson]

... well i guess it depends. I think usually it goes something like this:

small fashion business trying to make the big time starts making a name for themself..

small fashion business doesn't have funds to grow the business further...

big company comes along waving their millions of dollars of backing in small designers face...

small designer thinks, 'hey.. they can't be too bad, right?'

that and the fact that (especially a couple of years ago) the market fell massively... masses of designers were losing money.

of course there must be some designers where it has worked... i just have happened across lots of interviews where it hasn't.

Or it can be an established company already and they just do a buyout. Arnault was trying to take over Gucci Group before, but the Dutch courts denied him. Gucci Group is based in the Netherlands

 

[ETROsexualJ]

mmmm.. some of the fashion now is definitely outdated. The Prada Group Sold Helmut Lang, Alaia and Jil Sander...quote]


I thought Prada still owned Alaia and part of Car Shoe.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

The devil owns them all really, so it makes little difference.

 

[style_expert]

Or it can be an established company already and they just do a buyout. Arnault was trying to take over Gucci Group before, but the Dutch courts denied him. Gucci Group is based in the Netherlands

yes that's correct. They're officially based in Amsterdam because of fiscal reasons. (just like U2 being based here )

 

[BerlinRocks]

mmmm.. some of the fashion now is definitely outdated. The Prada Group Sold Helmut Lang, Alaia and Jil Sander... not sure about P&G.. is it that they simply produce the valentino, etc? Because on the Valentino Group website which i assume is current they own valentino, hugo, missoni, etc.

i said this infos come from FashionNow #1 so from 2002!!... i wanted just to name the big names and underline the changes since then...

 

[irresistable_loz]

you certainly showed the changes, thanks berlinrocks

Etro I'm not sure about Alaia... i thought I read somewhere that they had sold it... but I can't be sure. And as prada doesn't believe in having information on their websites its hard to track

... sounds like Arnault is trying to take over the (luxury) world..

 

[Alexandra8715]

it seems so sad though

i know what you mean. So this means that potentially, if a designer is part of one of these groups, they're going to be compromising their design for commercial success more than they would if they were independent. or would it be the other way round as they could take greater risks in design as they're more financially secure being part of a group?

 

[ultramarine]

McQueen keeps on saying that he's getting a lot of freedom ever since acquired by Gucci group .. of course, after that he launched McQ and the Puma collaboration

 

[style_expert]

I don't think the designers really complain about it..as long as their paycheck contains at least 6 figures ..

the independent designers on the other hand.....I can imagine they're having a hard time

 

[it-boy's nature]

hi it-boy...

the groups are basically just holding companies which control each of the listed labels... e.g. LVMH is in control of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, etc.
They generally try to exercise a lot of control over the designers.. and if the designers aren't profitable the directors can sack the designersm etc. There are some exceptions of course, apparently when Alaia was bought out by the Prada group they were excellent with letting him do what he wanted. However they sold the label fairly soon after... at the end of the day they want to make money.

thanks a ton,irresistable_loz

 

[Ghost]

organisation chart from diorfinance.com

As of June 1, 2003, Financire Jean Goujon, a French socit anonyme ("Jean
Goujon"), owned of record 207,821,325 or 42.42% of the issued share capital of
LVMH. This amounted to 33.55% of LVMH's fully diluted share capital, after
taking into account outstanding stock options to purchase treasury Shares. Jean
Goujon controlled 58.63% of the voting rights attributable to these Shares at
such date.



As of June 1, 2003, Jean Goujon was owned 100% by Christian Dior S.A., a
socit anonyme organized under the laws of France ("Christian Dior"). Christian
Dior is controlled by Semyrhamis SAS, a company organized under the laws of
France, itself controlled by Financire Agache, a socit anonyme organized under
the laws of

 

[xoxoal]

this is really important. i have to do a paper on a debatable topic. i want to do the topic "fashion groups buying out small designers is losing some of the control worth the money, is it selling your self and soul out" i was just wondering if yopu know any books, articles, internet things, and/or interviews i can use as sources?

 

[londoneffect]

What if I said, that some of the best known fashion brands are own by one company?

I have always been convinced that fashion is a more or less a free business... Well of course it is controled, but mainly by the general public - the buyers, or so I thought. However, it turns out that fashion brands can easyly manipulate us instead. (please read till the end)

Tell me, wich of these brands do you like/dislike/love/hate/always buy/would never wear? Here is the list:
1. Gucci
2. Bottega Vaneta
3. Yves Saint Laurent
4. Boucheron
5. BEDAT&CO
6. YSL Beaute
7. Balenciaga
8. Stella McCartney
9. Alexander McQueen
10. Sergio Rossi

Did you think about your choice? Now what if I said that all of these brands are owned by one company called Gucci Group? Because they are...

So, tell me is it a good thing? Doesn't it influence the designers to act (create) unnaturally? Maybe we could even spot some striking simmilarities in their work? Help me keep an eye on these companies and lets see what happens! B)



Picture taken from (unsurprisingly www.guccigroup.com

 

[Salvatore]

Well yes, but this is nothing new though. There are actually many several different groups and at here you can see the different companies. I think it's good in a way as it provides backing, but also the backing comes with a price. For example, the dreadful commercial Alexander McQueen collections from a few seasons back that were probably done at the demands of Gucci Group.