PRADA sells Jil Sander AG
Private Equity Group to Buy Jil Sander Label From Prada
By ERIC WILSON
Published: February 24, 2006
Raf Simons showed his first women's collection for the embattled Jil Sander fashion label in Milan on Monday, eliciting the approval of fickle fashion editors and praise from store buyers for restoring virtue to the house. Three days later, a group of investors also saw value.
Change Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm, announced yesterday that it would buy Jil Sander from the Prada Group, after years of losses for the label and management battles that led to the resignation of its namesake designer — twice.
Patrizio Bertelli, the chief executive of Prada, said after Ms. Sander's first departure in 2000 that "lots of houses do fine without a creative designer." She returned after several months and left again in the fall of 2004.
Change Capital, a three-year-old equity group, which declined to name its acquisition price, signaled that it placed a higher value on the role of designer by giving equity in the company to Mr. Simons, along with two top managers: Gian Giacomo Ferraris, the chief executive, and Armin Mueller, the chief financial officer.
"We seek to align management interests by having them as owners in the company alongside of us," said Steven Petrow, a managing director of Change Capital, which has 300 million euros under management. It also owns H2O, a wholesaler of casual sportswear in Denmark, and the retail chain Republic in Britain.
Mr. Simons, 38, has been best known for the influential skinny cut of the men's suits he designs for his signature label based in Paris. He was hired to design for Jil Sander in July.
Despite the worldwide prestige of Prada's leather goods and fashion business, Mr. Bertelli, the husband of the designer Miuccia Prada, has had many headaches with lesser labels acquired by his company since 1999, including Jil Sander, for which it paid slightly more than $100 million. Helmut Lang, whose business was also acquired that year, left his company last year, and Prada has ceased production of Helmut Lang clothing while entertaining offers for a sale.
There had been little excitement about the Jil Sander collections designed in her absence until Mr. Simons's effort this week, which drew reactions that were both effusive and unusual. Sarah Mower, writing on Style.com, said of the clothes, "Minimal, respectful and highly erotic, they were a signal, perhaps, of something unusual Simons can bring to fashion: the touch of a heterosexual man." Julie Gilhart, the fashion director of Barneys New York and a top retailer of the label, said yesterday in Milan, "There wasn't one outfit we didn't like."
"It's not really about minimalism," Ms. Gilhart said. "It's about what's necessary, with no excess."
Ms. Sander's business, which she founded in 1975 in Hamburg, became known for its stark suits and coats, clean of embellishment. After her first departure, its condition deteriorated rapidly. Losses averaged 25 million euros a year (about $30 million) on sales that the company has reported as remaining flat, around 140 million euros. A restructuring that began in 2004 led Prada to predict that the Jil Sander brand would break even this year.
"In the mid- to late 90's this brand was doing incredibly well," Mr. Petrow of Change Capital said. "They have now returned the company to break-even, which represents a fantastic base for us to go forward." He expressed little interest in discussing the possibility of an encore performance from Ms. Sander, but had only praise for Mr. Simons.
"He has come in and effected a transition from Jil Sander herself, kept what is strong about the brand and put his own twist on it without changing the brand dramatically," Mr. Petrow said. After the show, he said, "there was a great buzz in the room, especially at the end when he came out onto the runway. It gave us a sigh of relief."
courtesy of www.newyorktimes.com
Private Equity Group to Buy Jil Sander Label From Prada
By ERIC WILSON
Published: February 24, 2006
Raf Simons showed his first women's collection for the embattled Jil Sander fashion label in Milan on Monday, eliciting the approval of fickle fashion editors and praise from store buyers for restoring virtue to the house. Three days later, a group of investors also saw value.
Change Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm, announced yesterday that it would buy Jil Sander from the Prada Group, after years of losses for the label and management battles that led to the resignation of its namesake designer — twice.
Patrizio Bertelli, the chief executive of Prada, said after Ms. Sander's first departure in 2000 that "lots of houses do fine without a creative designer." She returned after several months and left again in the fall of 2004.
Change Capital, a three-year-old equity group, which declined to name its acquisition price, signaled that it placed a higher value on the role of designer by giving equity in the company to Mr. Simons, along with two top managers: Gian Giacomo Ferraris, the chief executive, and Armin Mueller, the chief financial officer.
"We seek to align management interests by having them as owners in the company alongside of us," said Steven Petrow, a managing director of Change Capital, which has 300 million euros under management. It also owns H2O, a wholesaler of casual sportswear in Denmark, and the retail chain Republic in Britain.
Mr. Simons, 38, has been best known for the influential skinny cut of the men's suits he designs for his signature label based in Paris. He was hired to design for Jil Sander in July.
Despite the worldwide prestige of Prada's leather goods and fashion business, Mr. Bertelli, the husband of the designer Miuccia Prada, has had many headaches with lesser labels acquired by his company since 1999, including Jil Sander, for which it paid slightly more than $100 million. Helmut Lang, whose business was also acquired that year, left his company last year, and Prada has ceased production of Helmut Lang clothing while entertaining offers for a sale.
There had been little excitement about the Jil Sander collections designed in her absence until Mr. Simons's effort this week, which drew reactions that were both effusive and unusual. Sarah Mower, writing on Style.com, said of the clothes, "Minimal, respectful and highly erotic, they were a signal, perhaps, of something unusual Simons can bring to fashion: the touch of a heterosexual man." Julie Gilhart, the fashion director of Barneys New York and a top retailer of the label, said yesterday in Milan, "There wasn't one outfit we didn't like."
"It's not really about minimalism," Ms. Gilhart said. "It's about what's necessary, with no excess."
Ms. Sander's business, which she founded in 1975 in Hamburg, became known for its stark suits and coats, clean of embellishment. After her first departure, its condition deteriorated rapidly. Losses averaged 25 million euros a year (about $30 million) on sales that the company has reported as remaining flat, around 140 million euros. A restructuring that began in 2004 led Prada to predict that the Jil Sander brand would break even this year.
"In the mid- to late 90's this brand was doing incredibly well," Mr. Petrow of Change Capital said. "They have now returned the company to break-even, which represents a fantastic base for us to go forward." He expressed little interest in discussing the possibility of an encore performance from Ms. Sander, but had only praise for Mr. Simons.
"He has come in and effected a transition from Jil Sander herself, kept what is strong about the brand and put his own twist on it without changing the brand dramatically," Mr. Petrow said. After the show, he said, "there was a great buzz in the room, especially at the end when he came out onto the runway. It gave us a sigh of relief."
courtesy of www.newyorktimes.com
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