Prada indicates selling off JIL SANDER AG
- Thread starter Andro
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Andro said:
I know many people dislike (or at least 'not care for') her, but I saw some pictures of her and she looks (at least) like a nice, sweet lady....and it makes me have a soft side for her
If only there weren't nylon bags near that picture of her..
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It does make sense that Patrizio would take on a rising star like Simons so that the Sander company has some design leverage when it comes time to sell it- unlike Lang which was just a fiasco. I think the corporate buyout trend is really at a close now. Designers just have to face the financial hills alone and not worry so much about the short term yet volatile success brought on by major conglomerate money. Prada buying out the rest of the "minimalist school" competitors when that ethos was waning showed some major lack of judgement (and a lot of greed). I suspect Ms. Sander has had enough of the fashion industry to start all over again at this point. Piccato.
I think it would have been smarter for Prada to have only bought either Sander or Lang, but not both. If this was the case, perhaps maybe the could have injected more funds into the brand. And at the same time, they could have seen what their competition was and analyze their strategies better. 
Rumors were, though, that Mr. Bertelli and Miuccia Prada were fascinated by Jil Sander's minimalist aesthetic... And had been obsessed with purchasing the company from Ms. Sander ever since 1995. The truth is that Mr. Bertelli contacted Jil Sander many times before the brand was finally purchased in 1999... Before the Prada buyout, Jil Sander's company had steadily been increasing it's profits by an average of 10% per year. 
Diorling said:
This is not an exact amount, as Prada never officially released the numbers, But professional analyst determined the new technologies, displays, space, and operating costs of the Soho Epicenter, probably costed the group an estimated $40000000 to $50000000 USD.
I saw this funny write up at The Sartorialist http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/
Maybe I Have Been Watching Too Much Law & Order And CSI
I was reading in WWD today that Prada has separated Jil and Helmut's financial results from the rest of the Prada group. The statement states that Prada is isolating "nonstrategic brands (Jil Sander and Helmut Lang) from the core group with a view to their subsequent disposal."
Wouldn't a Conspiracy Theorist postulate that Prada bought Jil and Helmut (at the time Prada's main competitors) just to run them into the ground? Think about it, with Tom Ford gone from Gucci and Prada now predicting $1.83 billion in sales by 2010, didn't Bertelli come out the big winner? Can't you imagine a "Ripped from the Headlines" L&O with Glen Close as a Fatal Attractionish Jil Sander going murderess on a Dennis Hopper's Patrizio Bertelli.
Maybe I Have Been Watching Too Much Law & Order And CSI
I was reading in WWD today that Prada has separated Jil and Helmut's financial results from the rest of the Prada group. The statement states that Prada is isolating "nonstrategic brands (Jil Sander and Helmut Lang) from the core group with a view to their subsequent disposal."
Wouldn't a Conspiracy Theorist postulate that Prada bought Jil and Helmut (at the time Prada's main competitors) just to run them into the ground? Think about it, with Tom Ford gone from Gucci and Prada now predicting $1.83 billion in sales by 2010, didn't Bertelli come out the big winner? Can't you imagine a "Ripped from the Headlines" L&O with Glen Close as a Fatal Attractionish Jil Sander going murderess on a Dennis Hopper's Patrizio Bertelli.
D
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iLove said:
I would think twice. While it is very common for companies to buy out their competetion and dispose of them it is not when the company does so at a huge financial loss. Helmut Lang's departure and the labels less than pleasant sales have just meant more loss for Prada. If that was their business strategy then it was a very bad one. There are doing what they can to salvage Jil Sander but even that is indefinate, Helmut Lang has become a 40 million dollar disaster. I don't think this was done on purpose, not if Bertelli likes the numbers as much as we think he does.
So, speaking of Lang (yes, I know this thread is about Jil, but I just can't resist), what's the latest on HL-art? I've been keenly watching the Lang thread for weeks and no news.
John
p.s. If it would make you feel better in replying about Helmut to say something about Jil, so the thread isn't hijacked, you can perhaps postulate on what Jil's favorite ice cream flavor might be. I'd bet rum raisin.
John
p.s. If it would make you feel better in replying about Helmut to say something about Jil, so the thread isn't hijacked, you can perhaps postulate on what Jil's favorite ice cream flavor might be. I'd bet rum raisin.
Mutterlein said:
As I can understand your viewpoint about the group injecting capital amounts into these two brands... It's hard to image from a designer's role(that would be Prada in this case), as a creator, the importance of building a name and identity with a consumer. Prada had the benefit of being in business for 83 years before they started to make clothes. As a result, the brand already had a following and legacy, that made it simple for the media and consumers alike, to recognize.
Sander and Lang did not have the idea of becoming fashion designers when they started working in their early 20's. Nor did they know that their ideas would become the defining moment of 90's fashion. I almost 100% sure that Prada wouldn't have made as much success in the last 15 years, if Jil Sander and Helmut Lang didn't lead the way in minimalism, 25 years ago. Before Prada ever made it's venture.
Sander and Lang did not have the idea of becoming fashion designers when they started working in their early 20's. Nor did they know that their ideas would become the defining moment of 90's fashion. I almost 100% sure that Prada wouldn't have made as much success in the last 15 years, if Jil Sander and Helmut Lang didn't lead the way in minimalism, 25 years ago. Before Prada ever made it's venture.
D
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Andro said:
I see what you mean. Helmut Lang and Jil Sander were the leaders of the minimal aesthetic that ruled the 90's. Prada capitalized on it with nylon handbags and cheaply made but aptly priced sportwear.
I saw a prada nylon handbag in....SAMS's CLUB!!! It was kept in a glass case among the "finer" things.
Andro
I agree that Helmut and Jil helped Prada but only in creating a movement that was the force of the late 90's. Lets not make Jil a visionary saint just yet, I still have her lookbooks from 1990 in which her collection looked more like Armani than later day Calvin.
Jil saw minimalism as an opportunity and she did it very well, she saw the stock market as an opportunity and listed her company. Jil is very smart but Prada is more a true visionary and was smart enough to marry the man that could build a company and that did not have to look for outside money to grow.
Jil and Helmut knew what they were getting into but never accepted it.
Patrizio has a big ego? Jil and Helmut are his equal.
I agree that Helmut and Jil helped Prada but only in creating a movement that was the force of the late 90's. Lets not make Jil a visionary saint just yet, I still have her lookbooks from 1990 in which her collection looked more like Armani than later day Calvin.
Jil saw minimalism as an opportunity and she did it very well, she saw the stock market as an opportunity and listed her company. Jil is very smart but Prada is more a true visionary and was smart enough to marry the man that could build a company and that did not have to look for outside money to grow.
Jil and Helmut knew what they were getting into but never accepted it.
Patrizio has a big ego? Jil and Helmut are his equal.
we have discussed the 'conspirancy theory' in the past, its pretty obvious Prada bought their 'competitors' at the time they were threatening, nothing too weird about this..
now its time for 'Pat' to take his money back, the sooner the better
now its time for 'Pat' to take his money back, the sooner the better
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iLove said:
I completly disagree with those statements above. Just let me break it down for you a bit.
- " ... I still have her lookbooks from 1990 in which her collection looked more like Armani than later day Calvin. " FACT: Company Jil Sander formed in 1973. This is before Armani started his, so technically wouldn't that mean Armani looked more like Sander?
- " ... Jil saw minimalism as an opportunity... " FACT: Jil Sander worked hard to gain respect from the media when she first showed in Paris in the early '70s for her minimalist approach. It wasn't until the Japanese invaded France in 1983 that her designs became acknowledged... I'm sure Sander hardly saw this as an 'opportunity', but infact as a fundamental approach of her collections.
- " Jil is very smart but Prada is more a true visionary and was smart enough to marry the man that could build a company and that did not have to look for outside money. " FACT: Jil Sander has never married and single-handedly built up her brand into a successful hundred million dollar fashion empire... Independtly, does that mean Ms. Miuccia Bertelli is smarter for having a vision of egotistical men with deep pockets that threaten to urinate on her handbags?
- " Jil and Helmut knew what they were getting into but never accepted it. " FACT: Jil and Helmut knew their purchased companies would be supported and funded to expand and develop new products and stores. Jil and Helmut didn't know the group would open 3 Prada Epicenters, estimated at about $40-50million dollars each, while the company lowered their quality with cheaper production methods to cut costs of the conglomerate's own heavy spending sprees.
The French Couture Syndicate officially acknowledged Jil Sander as a respected designer of tailoring and workmanship. In addition to much admiration and international acclaim from the fashion media, I believe she is a true ' Visionnaire '. As I mentioned in the Raf Simons thread on an earlier post--- the best way to describe her collections are:
" impecably cut and tailored clothing thats seductingly alluring, which has a subtlely mysterious appeal, with a certain level of haunting modernity. "
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