Helmut Lang Sold

[nqth]

Is Jil also owned in 100% by Prada? And she keeps doing great collections (after she came back) .

Hope that Helmut Lang will make it too:-)

 

[Acid]

well selling up when you're on a high is definately the way for a BIG lump sum!

i guess its very tempting but its still selling your soul......you dont even own your name anymore

 

[Theory]

It isn't just this season. Prada has had disastrous effect on both Helmut and Jil's brands. The quality and brand aestehtic has eroded to the point where many core fans have long abandoned the brand and even Jil's return hasn't brought back the pizazz everyone expected. I think Helmut is smart and sees a sinking ship and is cashing out now. Many people noticed the quality changes years ago at both brands and wondered what was going on (one of the main reasons Jil had problems with Prada). Prada uses cheaper fabrics, production techniques, etc.....producing 100% virgin wool products and fine cashmere don't always work well when you have the big wigs over your head, looking to cut costs in any way possible....

They have to design within the constraints of a Prada budget and many have remarked how Prada isn't a stickler for the minor details, etc. It should be interesting to see how this plays out...mainly if Prada can leverage her name enough to attract enough new customers to these others brands...because the longtime fans aren't coming back anytime soon....

Originally posted by faust@Oct 4 2004, 02:27 PM
Helmut is cashing in. I wonder if he's thinking about retiring.

BTW, I just got back from the HL store. Such a disappointment. Except accessories nothing caught my eye. AND I think the quality of this collection is pretty bad. The leather is thick and rough, lots of cotton Gap-looking sweaters, lots of fleece and sweatshirts. A big change from the quality of the last collection (which wasn't superb to begin with, but still good). Helmut, what are you doing?!

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[softgrey]

...what's going on????....

 

[Lena]

Originally posted by Theory@Oct 5 2004, 03:14 AM
I think Helmut is smart and sees a sinking ship and is cashing out now. 

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i agree with everything Theory said, much more on Helmut being smart, he's a genious when it comes to the business part, he always knows what he's doing.
Plus i think he's seriously bored of taking care of less than 50% of his business.

Its too hard when you have to face a board of investors, much more Italian investors.

ps: Jil is owned 100% by Prada

 

[PrinceOfCats]

The fact that Bertelli was pawning knockoff Prada from his second-rate factory when Miuccia met him, speaks volumes...

 

[runner]

Prada Ups Stake in Helmut Lang to 100%

October 04, 2004 - Paris

The Prada Group has agreed to acquire the remaining 49% stake in Helmut Lang it did not already own, giving it full control of the fashion forward New York-based design company.

Neither Lang nor Prada made available the terms of this agreement. The Italian group first acquired a 51% stake in the Austrian designer’s business back in 1999. The terms of that first deal were also not made available, though reports at the time suggested that Prada had valued Lang’s business at $60 million.

The deal will, in part, be seen as the latest step in Prada’s careful build-up for its planned public listing. By taking over 100 percent of Lang, Prada makes the group’s organization more comprehensible to potential investors.

That flotation, which was derailed two years ago by concern about the luxury group’s net indebtedness, is planned for the first half of next year. Prada has been working hard, and apparently successfully, to significantly reduce its net debt. It ended 2003 at 675 million Euros, but is now projected to end this year at 300 million Euros.

In a press release, Prada Group CEO Patrizio Bertelli, said: “Taking complete control of the Helmut Lang Group is a clear demonstration of how strongly we believe in the potential of the brand. We have enjoyed a solid relationship with Helmut over the past several years and look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration in the years to come.”

“I am pleased with the development and look forward to continuing my role as Creative Director,” Lang said in the same statement.

Lang will continue as Creative Director of the company he founded. However, going on past performance by luxury groups, Prada will very move quickly to install its own choice of CEO at Lang. Donna Schauer, a personal appointee of Lang himself, currently holds that position.

Moreover, the deal will allow Prada to far more actively leverage the Lang brand, expanding it into areas not necessarily those desired by Lang, who perhaps has a more exclusive vision of the brand, particularly in distribution.

Lang’s house has not exactly been a booming affair. Sales fell by one third in 2003 to 27.7 million Euros, from 41.8 million Euros in 2002. Insiders attributed this to the decision to eliminate wholesalers and independent clients, and to finish the separate Helmut Lang Jeans collection.

However, while Lang has studiously avoiding any public criticism of Prada and its CEO Bertelli, insiders have long been aware of the designer’s growing unhappiness with Prada’s business development of his creative potential.

Lang was apparently very disappointed by the lack of expansion of the Lang retail network, specifically the long-awaited Los Angeles flagship that never opened. The designer also announced with great fanfare a men’s tailoring made-to-measure business, based in his new 142 Greene Street headquarters, which appears never to have got off the ground for lack of financing. Sources told FWD that Lang’s choice to head the tailoring atelier quietly returned to Vienna without his salary being paid.

Moreover, the designer was believed to have been incensed by what he perceived as Bertelli’s direct interference with his creative output.

Even more publicly, every publisher in fashion was highly aware of the radically reduced, and frequently last minute approved, Lang advertising budget for fall/winter 2004, which had been slashed ruthlessly by Prada.

Aside from Lang, the Prada Group fully controls its own signature line, Miu Miu, Genny and Azzedine Alaia, and 51 percent of Car Shoe. The Italian luxury mini conglomerate also owns 100% of the voting shares of Jil Sander, and has been slowly buying up the privileged non-voting shares of Sander quoted on the German stock market, to a point where it now owns 98% of those shares.

FWD

 

[Lena]

Originally posted by PrinceOfCats@Oct 5 2004, 08:51 AM
The fact that Bertelli was pawning knockoff Prada from his second-rate factory when Miuccia met him, speaks volumes...

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so true

thanks for the article runner,
of course Bertelli will want to expand HL on his own terms,
prices are already quite very affordable from HL winter collection,
he'll be ruining the brand in no time.

Helmut did the right thing..

 

[ignitioned32]

If Helmut, by selling 100% of his business to Prada, means the craftmanship of his clothes will deteriorate and will have less creative control and will have no control over distribution sucks like hell.

 

[mikeijames]

Originally posted by Lena@Oct 5 2004, 03:36 AM

prices are already quite very affordable from HL winter collection,

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i've always thought of lang as one of the bargain brands out there. i mean it takes a relatively small amount of money to get the lang look (you buy one lang strap-ridden jacket and any minimalist wardrobe looks like a helmut lang wardrobe)...

i thought that there was some talk about mr. lang getting into more like custom dress making? i wonder how this will impact that.

 

[faust]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Oct 5 2004, 08:54 AM
i've always thought of lang as one of the bargain brands out there. i mean it takes a relatively small amount of money to get the lang look (you buy one lang strap-ridden jacket and any minimalist wardrobe looks like a helmut lang wardrobe)...

i thought that there was some talk about mr. lang getting into more like custom dress making? i wonder how this will impact that.

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I don't know what you guys are talking about; even a cotton jacket with straps was around $900 last season - not exactly a bargain.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Oct 5 2004, 08:54 AM
i've always thought of lang as one of the bargain brands out there. i mean it takes a relatively small amount of money to get the lang look (you buy one lang strap-ridden jacket and any minimalist wardrobe looks like a helmut lang wardrobe)...

i thought that there was some talk about mr. lang getting into more like custom dress making? i wonder how this will impact that.

[snapback]385993[/snapback]​

it talks about that in the article...about the custom tailoring business going bust...

 

[Acid]

well some Lang items are cheap i agree......like you can get a nice vest top for £40 but then again......they are SO SIMPLE it shouldnt be very expensive

they just have a nice edge to them and they wash really well

 

[saturnine]

I hope this doesn't mean future collections will be Prada-fied.

I love Helmut.

 

[Acid]

my friend is doing the show tomorrow......he is so lucky