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.
The Italian dynasty’s holding fund, Exor, will invest around €80 million ($96.5 million) to become majority owner of the luxury Chinese brand established by Hermès and designer Jiang Qiong Er a decade ago.
The Parisian luxury house, which previously owned 90 percent of the brand, will remain a shareholder alongside Jiang and Exor, which will invest via a reserved capital increase. Shang Xia is the first fashion brand to join Exor’s portfolio, which includes Ferrari, Italian football club Juventus and The Economist Group.
It’s a bet on a home-grown brand with major fashion backing at a time when the Chinese market is booming. Shang Xia focuses its design on Chinese culture and craftsmanship, just as European luxury brands celebrate Italian or French savoire faire.
Other luxury stalwarts have made similar moves. In 2012, Kering bought Qeelin, a Chinese jewellery brand founded by Jiang’s husband Guillaume Brochard. Richemont owned, but then sold Shanghai Tang in 2017. So far the results have been mixed, with younger Chinese consumers showing limited interest.
The LVMH-linked firm is betting its $545 million stake in the Italian shoemaker will yield the double-digit returns private equity typically seeks.
The Coach owner’s results will provide another opportunity to stick up for its acquisition of rival Capri. And the Met Gala will do its best to ignore the TikTok ban and labour strife at Conde Nast.
The former CFDA president sat down with BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss his remarkable life and career and how big business has changed the fashion industry.
Luxury brands need a broader pricing architecture that delivers meaningful value for all customers, writes Imran Amed.