Helmut Lang sold to Link Theory

[rach2jlc]

We've got a thread on this already... just scroll down a few and you'll see it.

John

 

[softgrey]

merged

 

[rach2jlc]

The more I think about this purchase and the more it becomes apparent that Lang won't be designing it (as he is working on his own projects), the more worried I get about the Lang brand.

I'm afraid that I just don't see who the customer for Lang will be, especially if Lang is designing elsewhere.

The only thing that I can see working for the new Japanese buyers is something I dread: proliferation of Helmut Lang Jeans to the point of super-saturation and brand image dissolution. Make some quick money off the popularity and excellence of Lang's signature jeans and tshirts. Knock some money off the retail price (they used to be $225, let's make them now $129.95), drop the quality (produce them in China at the Uniqlo factories out of the same denim... keeping in mind that the Japanese purchasers of Lang also have ties with Uniqlo), put the Lang name on them, and sell them until the name is dissolved.

Of course, if Lang is designing elsewhere, it really doesn't matter to me much as I'll be buying there... but I'd hate to see the brand that got me through college looking cool (haha) being diluted.

John

 

[*sayan]

Any ideas what project's HL is doing now?

 

[kimair]

more on the future of helmut lang, from wwd...

Helmut Lang's new owner, Tokyo-based Link Theory Holdings Co. Ltd., has ambitious plans to revive the label on the contemporary level and is in the hunt for a designer to help make that happen.

On Friday, Prada Group agreed to sell the Helmut Lang brand to the Japanese company, which also owns the Theory business in Japan and in the U.S.

As for a designer, the company issued a warm appeal to the namesake Austrian who left his company last year, but it's seen as a long shot for Lang to rejoin the label at this point. Nevertheless, its new owner seems favorably disposed to some kind of relationship. "[He's] always welcome if Mr. Lang is interested in working with us," Hidetsugu Onishi, Link Theory's chief financial officer told WWD. "We hope that we can have a good relationship with him in the future."

Onishi stressed that the company hasn't decided on a designer yet, but he dropped a few clues. He said Link Theory prefers "younger talents" but declined to comment on a recent report that Alexandre Plokhov, designer of men's wear line Cloak, was headed to the label. He also declined to say whether the company has been in contact with Helmut Lang himself.

Onishi said his company has yet to outline a business plan for the brand in terms of investments and future store openings. He did say that a "very small" Helmut Lang collection of women's and men's apparel will bow for 2007. Distribution will kick off through a "very selective" ring of retailers.

Rosen added: "We have got to let the smoke clear, the dust settle and decide on these things."

i wonder who designed that collection...

 

[Caffeine]

there is also an article on IHT.com indicating that Lang might go to the new company and design for this brand. The company also plan to open a studio in NYC and show FW07 collection there (if I remembered correctly)

 

[faust]

The more I think about this purchase and the more it becomes apparent that Lang won't be designing it (as he is working on his own projects), the more worried I get about the Lang brand.

I'm afraid that I just don't see who the customer for Lang will be, especially if Lang is designing elsewhere.

The only thing that I can see working for the new Japanese buyers is something I dread: proliferation of Helmut Lang Jeans to the point of super-saturation and brand image dissolution. Make some quick money off the popularity and excellence of Lang's signature jeans and tshirts. Knock some money off the retail price (they used to be $225, let's make them now $129.95), drop the quality (produce them in China at the Uniqlo factories out of the same denim... keeping in mind that the Japanese purchasers of Lang also have ties with Uniqlo), put the Lang name on them, and sell them until the name is dissolved.

Of course, if Lang is designing elsewhere, it really doesn't matter to me much as I'll be buying there... but I'd hate to see the brand that got me through college looking cool (haha) being diluted.

John

Hopefully this won't happen. I don't think Helmut's name is popular enough to go this route - it does not sound like a good business decision (I think Prada got hammered on this - they made distribution so wide that it was never a problem for me to buy Helmut's jeans for $40). Bringing Helmut would be absolutely the best decision. Hiring a promising designer with a buzz is another (i.e. Plohov) - but I am with you on not wanting to spend my money on it... but some others might...

 

[kimair]

there is also an article on IHT.com indicating that Lang might go to the new company and design for this brand. The company also plan to open a studio in NYC and show FW07 collection there (if I remembered correctly)

yes...here's the blurb on that from the wwd piece

"We like that the brand is kind of clean without any negative assets," said Onishi, whose company has been in contact with Prada for the last six months. He envisions the new Helmut Lang brand as a contemporary label, like Theory, rather than a luxury one. He declined to give a sales forecast.

Andrew Rosen, president of New York-based Theory, said he will run the Helmut Lang business initially and assemble a team and structure to position it for future growth. Helmut Lang will continue to be based in New York, though not in the brand's original SoHo headquarters. Theory plans to move to new headquarters in the Meatpacking District before the end of this year, but Rosen said the Lang business will be located elsewhere. "Lang is a totally separate strategy from Theory, and it will have its own organization and identity," Rosen said.

 

[Arturo21]

So it's going to be a label along the same lines as theory? Noooo!

Helmut Lang, was, for me, the one and only label that if I were to choose just one single label to wear - it would be Helmut Lang.

Can anyone explain the HL Art?Does anyone think that there will be problems with Helmut Lang (the man) going back into the business since his name is already in use?

 

[faust]

Oh no !!!

 

[rach2jlc]

After reading that, I doubt that Lang will do much there except for possibly act as a consultant. If the brand is a "contemporary brand, not a luxury one" it is doubtful that Lang would spend too much time there. They certainly would not be able to compensate him to the extent that he would be expecting (after all, didn't he buy a $15 million dollar home in the Hamptons after the Prada buyout?) And, it would certainly be quite a downward move, to go from Prada Group and one of the quintessential personal, understated luxury brands to a "contemporary" brand not unlike Theory.

John

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Ideally I would like to see Lang supervising the design team at his old label while continuning to make luxury clothes with his HL Art company. He gets the best of the both worlds and no one has to compromise their values or agenda. The new Theory ran Helmut Lang would have to have the man participate somehow if they want to get my dollars.

 

[runner]

from iht.com

Helmut Lang's new theory
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2006



TOKYO "If Helmut wants to come back, the door is always open," said Chikara (Ricky) Sasake, president and CEO of Link-Theory Holdings Company, which bought the Helmut Lang brand from Prada Group last week.

Sasake, who said he had lunched with Lang last year, well after the designer had resigned from his company, sees Lang's image as an exact fit with Theory's "upper-class, unique, contemporary brand." He was speaking as the fast fashion company gave its "first and probably the last" runway show during Japan Fashion Week.

Whether or not Lang would agree that the sleek, trend-following show, with its dresses over cropped leggings, snug jackets, knitted shawls wrapped with a pin and empire waistlines, fits with his modernist message, Sasake is steaming ahead with relaunching Helmut Lang. He is already searching for a designer, planning to open a studio in New York and to show a spring/summer 2007 collection in that city in September.

 

[The Leviathan]

Can anyone explain the HL Art?Does anyone think that there will be problems with Helmut Lang (the man) going back into the business since his name is already in use?

hl art is top secret. i know one of the employees but he is not at liberty to discuss it in any way shape or form. we will have to just wait and see.

 

[Lena]

no wonder Helmut wants little to do with his name been swifted towards Theory's 'contemporary' apparel strategies ..

another interesting extract from the long wwd article

Undoubtedly, Link Theory also likes the transition because it's not assuming debts or other financial obligations related to Helmut Lang. In 2004, Prada had to account for 15 million euros, or $18.8 million, of devaluations on Helmut Lang. Despite Prada's attempts to develop the brand worldwide, Helmut Lang's sales declined through the years to 24.8 million euros in 2004 — the most recent figure available — from 46.3 million euros in 2001.

 

[Miss Galliano]

no no no too expensive

[]
he deed a lot of nice things but he wasn't n grandmaster of fashion .. the clothes were too expensive but now it is the proove that he isn't the best of doing his best for his fans ...gone is he

 

[rach2jlc]

I'm not sure that I gather exactly what you mean, but I don't think that anything that has been said hitherto "proves that he isn't the best of doing his best for his fans." I assume you mean by this that he let everybody down with his final collections and, as such, was losing his touch. This "loss of touch" therefore accounts for a lack of sales.

I don't think this is the case or that the two go hand in hand. Critically and conceptually, I think his final collections were among his best. Commercially, however, they weren't necessarily conducive to high sales (I mean, I thought the peek-a-boo holes were interesting, but I could never pull off wearing them).

Anyway, gone he is NOT. He is currently at work and will be back. And, what do you mean that his clothes "were too expensive." What designers clothes AREN'T? That seems to be the excuse of choice for any designer whose work we don't like.

I'm not trying to be overly critical, I just don't see the point of what you said in your post.

John

 

[JJohnson]

Is this Theory company the same that makes the jeans? Im sure this is a stupid question, but I really want to know. Thx

 

[faust]

I'm not sure that I gather exactly what you mean, but I don't think that anything that has been said hitherto "proves that he isn't the best of doing his best for his fans." I assume you mean by this that he let everybody down with his final collections and, as such, was losing his touch. This "loss of touch" therefore accounts for a lack of sales.

I don't think this is the case or that the two go hand in hand. Critically and conceptually, I think his final collections were among his best. Commercially, however, they weren't necessarily conducive to high sales (I mean, I thought the peek-a-boo holes were interesting, but I could never pull off wearing them).

Anyway, gone he is NOT. He is currently at work and will be back. And, what do you mean that his clothes "were too expensive." What designers clothes AREN'T? That seems to be the excuse of choice for any designer whose work we don't like.

I'm not trying to be overly critical, I just don't see the point of what you said in your post.

John

Indeed

And, for the record, Helmut's price points were among the lowest in the league - I don't know where that came from

In any case, I don't think the problem with Helmut was selling per se, I think it was brand dilution (by it I mean producing way more than being able to sell). There are plenty of Helmut's items that were flying off the shelves (and went into the fashion canon or at least have become collectibles - just look at the prices people are willing to pay for his handcuff accessory on Ebay ), but one can only sell so many $220 jeans and sweatshirts to a public that mostly walks in to buy suits.

 

[rach2jlc]

Great point, Faust. I always wondered about that, because it seemed as you said... that some items always were sold out (the handcuffs, also the silver leather accessories, bags, shoes, etc.) but then there was always the talk about losing money. So, what you said makes perfect sense.

Also, if you look at yoox, there are generally VERY few Lang accessories that last on the site more than a few hours before selling out. But, the jeans and tees can be found easily during the final markdowns. Regardless of their saturation, I still love the jeans and am thus more than happy to pick up a few pairs for $48 or so.

John