The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
TOKYO, Japan — Unlike China, where vast fortunes can be made and lost overnight, it usually takes Japanese billionaires much longer to recover losses.
Tadashi Yanai, founder of Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co., has bucked the trend after the firm's shares surged more than 75 percent over the past year. His wealth has almost doubled since April 2016 to $25.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Yanai, 69, is the chairman of Fast Retailing, the world's second-largest apparel maker by market value behind Zara. The company's stock was dragged down two years ago when it reported slower sales growth. It has since made a comeback, helped by steady expansion in overseas markets and endorsements deals with tennis star Roger Federer and golfer Adam Scott. That's made Yanai $4.8 billion richer this year, pushing him to 30th worldwide on the Bloomberg index.
Yanai’s rise contrasts to the fortunes of other billionaire shareholders in fast-fashion businesses, which face growing competition from online rivals as consumers feel more comfortable receiving clothes at home.
Amancio Ortega, 82, the Spanish founder of Zara-owner Inditex SA, has seen his wealth drop by more than 13 percent this year to $65.4 billion, including a $3.5 billion fall on Wednesday, according to the index.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.