Prada Confirms Lang Will Not Show

[faust]

Good points, Faust. I guess that I naturally think of their menswear first... since that is with what I've had the most contact.

John

yea, so do I. I had to bend my mind to womenswear for that post.

 

[Lena]

Part of an article cut-out.

Following lead in other companies in a popular trend of large labels to absorb as many other fashion houses as possible, Prada took on large debts to take on the financially floundering Rome-based house of Fendi in the early 1990's. Prada shared shares in Fendi with the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH) company. Prada was unable to turn around/support the money losing Fendi label, and sold its shares to LVMH. Prada is still to recover from this debt.

aha.. thanks for making this clear kanzaki

on the discussion regarding Lang and Prada's strategies, you could also try related links featured on the bottom of this page.. i could talk about this forever.. totaly agree that it was a 'set up' a bit costly, but at the end of the day it worked quite well ensuring Prada's own interests

 

[kanzaki]

No problem at all Lena.

The full article is available here but it did not mention anything on Helmut Lang.
http://www.answers.com/topic/prada

The end result definately worked well for their house brand's interest but it also landed Prada in great debts.
I came across this article previously which states the amount of debt Prada is in. $785 million!
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/prada/

I was lucky that i bought a nice piece of Helmut Lang jacket last season. But its a sad thing what Prada has done to it. Im still a Prada fan though.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I read an article somewhere (Suzy Menkes???) that took the position that the sole reason for these two acquisitions was to "eat" the competition. From that perspective, it's no surprise that Lang and Jil have been "killed off" and their own names presumably unusable by them ... (if it were me negotiating the contract, I would have the name revert to me when the label had been dead x number of years)

If true, they were acts of cowardice, and probably ultimately short-sighted, because the growth (rather than constriction) of the minimalist genre favors all its members. Rarity is all very well, but after that comes extinction

 

[kanzaki]

Agreed!

I very much believed that its the business and marketing strategy of Miuccia's hubby. But theres always a limit to how much they can do afterall.

 

[Lena]

^ exactly ..Prada DID 'eat up' their competition but it seems they got digestion problems when the bill came

 

[faust]

I read an article somewhere (Suzy Menkes???) that took the position that the sole reason for these two acquisitions was to "eat" the competition. From that perspective, it's no surprise that Lang and Jil have been "killed off" and their own names presumably unusable by them ... (if it were me negotiating the contract, I would have the name revert to me when the label had been dead x number of years)

If true, they were acts of cowardice, and probably ultimately short-sighted, because the growth (rather than constriction) of the minimalist genre favors all its members. Rarity is all very well, but after that comes extinction

You don't buy your competition to run them into the ground - you buy your competition to make money off of them.

And no sane lawyer would give you a contract you are describing. A corporation is a going concern, meaning it can not just die - unless the owner chooses to dissolve it. And why would Bertelli do that?

 

[Mr-Dale]

You don't buy your competition to run them into the ground - you buy your competition to make money off of them.

And with that you ban competition out, because you just make the competion your own and enlarge your market share. So in a way, competition is ran into the ground.

Anyway, sad to hear that Lang will not be showing. But it is not expected. Only bad news has struck Lang lately, so I was kind of prepared...

 

[kanzaki]

Which explains why LVMH is ever-growing.

 

[faust]

And with that you ban competition out, because you just make the competion your own and enlarge your market share. So in a way, competition is ran into the ground.

Not in a monetary way, which is the bottom line. Do you think a Helmut Lang customer will now turn around and buy Prada to fill the void? I don't think so.

 

[fashionista-ta]

You don't buy your competition to run them into the ground - you buy your competition to make money off of them.

And no sane lawyer would give you a contract you are describing. A corporation is a going concern, meaning it can not just die - unless the owner chooses to dissolve it. And why would Bertelli do that?

It's actually quite a common practice to buy and kill competitors. But I'm not going to get into a head-butting contest over this. Perhaps an important point to bear in mind is that every truth is a paradox. Anytime you hear anyone shouting "I'm right and you're wrong," generally they are shouting a half-truth at best

 

[faust]

It's actually quite a common practice to buy and kill competitors. But I'm not going to get into a head-butting contest over this. Perhaps an important point to bear in mind is that every truth is a paradox. Anytime you hear anyone shouting "I'm right and you're wrong," generally they are shouting a half-truth at best

show me a company that benefited from losing money after buying their competitors and I'll say you are right.

 

[softgrey]

hey you guys...
we have had this discussion here ad nauseum...

why not agree to disagree......

we will never actually know the 'truth'...
it's ALL speculation...even on the part of suzy menkes...
cause she's not in bed with bertelli...

 

[softgrey]

Not in a monetary way, which is the bottom line. Do you think a Helmut Lang customer will now turn around and buy Prada to fill the void? I don't think so.

hmm...i think they already are...
...a huge part of lang's clientele are rather conservative men with some style who bought his clothes for the office...

but i also think it's bad business to buy and destroy your competition rather than just feed off of them...
i think that was a badly calculated mistake actually...

it doesn't make sound business sense...
other competitors will follow...you can't kill them all off...

 

[fashionista-ta]

hey you guys...
we have had this discussion here ad nauseum...

why not agree to disagree......

we will never actually know the 'truth'...
it's ALL speculation...even on the part of suzy menkes...
cause she's not in bed with bertelli...

Oh my goodness ... did you have to bring us that visual

Absolutely, I am all about agreeing to disagree.

Btw, I think Suzy was saying the "eating" was subconscious ... I'm not sure about the sub. But you're right, the only way we'll know is if someone talks or leaks memos or something like that ...

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Well regardless of what their business strategy was Prada now has a rather exspensive problem on their hands. I doubt anyone would touch the brand without Helmut Lang aboard. The only other way I could see making Helmut Lang desirable without actuallly having Helmut Lang there is if they had a similar, well known designer at the helm. However we have yet to see how that idea will turn out as for all we know Raf Simons could suck balls at Jil Sander. Once Art is up and going there are going to be some REAL issues. I mean I would never buy "fake" Helmut Lang if the actual designer had a different line.

 

[rach2jlc]

Well regardless of what their business strategy was Prada now has a rather exspensive problem on their hands. I doubt anyone would touch the brand without Helmut Lang aboard. The only other way I could see making Helmut Lang desirable without actuallly having Helmut Lang there is if they had a similar, well known designer at the helm. However we have yet to see how that idea will turn out as for all we know Raf Simons could suck balls at Jil Sander. Once Art is up and going there are going to be some REAL issues. I mean I would never buy "fake" Helmut Lang if the actual designer had a different line.

Agree completely. If Helmut had retired and left the scene, perhaps they could make the label work with a new designer. But, if he is working elsewhere, then nobody is going to buy it. That is the one reason that Jil Sander might work with Raf (although, as you mentioned, it might suck)... Jil is tending her garden in Germany and not designing.

John

 

[bleedoll]

ha u can't blame them though. majority of the Singaporean wear sh*ts and don't appreciate the avantgardism.

and i think there are rare pieces of helmut langs at club21 boutique only.

anyway where was it by the way? hilton shopping gallery? and is issey miyake stilll there? haven't visit there for ages.

I nebber step into CLUB21 for a long long time! haahaa
But CLUB21 is still at Hilton Hotel Gallery and I think Issey is still there.
Seriously i am disappointed on how most SIN dress these days... ESP to town

 

[morgan38]

I saw it coming, but still it's quite sad that they won't be showing. The show is always one of my favorites.

But let's look on the bright side guys...at least we have Beyonce.

 

[CharlottefromCA]

But let's look on the bright side guys...at least we have Beyonce.

shhh... don't say that too loud or Prada might just buy House of Dereon...

but when that happens we'll have bigger news to report.. Flying Pigs