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 Independents is continuing its M&A spree.
The communications giant has acquired two production agencies, Atelier Lum and INCA Productions, bolstering its expertise and reach within the experiential sector. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The Independents was founded in 2017 after a merger between PR firm Karla Otto and Asia-based experiential marketing and events agency K2. Now, with the addition of Atelier Lum and INCA Productions, the firm has nine companies across creative services, talent partnerships, influencer marketing and events production in its portfolio.
Bolstering its events expertise has been a strategic focus for the group, which acquired a majority stake in Paris and Shanghai-based fashion events production company Bureau Betak last year, before snapping up Prodject, the New York-based creative agency behind the Met Gala, in March.
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Atelier Lum, which is based across Paris and Dubai, produces experiences for luxury brands with an emphasis on scenography, the creation of theatrical scenery, and architectural design. INCA Productions produces events for clients in the luxury and entertainment sectors. In addition to fashion clients, the firm has produced events for names like Netflix, Meta, and the Professional Footballers’ Association.
”[These] two great assets come not only to complement the experiential offer of the group but also to reinforce our entrepreneur-driven ecosystem of services,” The Independents CEO Isabelle Chouvet said in a statement.
Learn more:
Alexandre de Betak to Become Creative Chairman at The Independents
The move comes as Karla Otto-owner The Independents, which acquired Bureau Betak in 2021, raises $400 million in funding to fuel ambitions to double in size by 2025.
The designer — whose bright, arty clothes earned him a place in the 2021 LVMH Prize Finals, and a guest designer post for Louis Vuitton — curated a set at the Netflix Is a Joke Festival this weekend, the latest example of his creative approach to building brand awareness.
Practitioners of this historically behind-the-scenes profession are building powerful followings, riding a wave of interest in how the fashion sausage is made. But even the highest-profile PRs caution that the client still has to comes first.
Join us for a BoF Professional Masterclass that explores the topic in our latest Case Study, “How to Create Cultural Moments on Any Budget.”
When done effectively, a cultural partnership can rightfully earn its own place in the zeitgeist. But it’s not so easy as just hiring a celebrity to star in an ad campaign; brands must choose a partner that makes sense, find the format that fits best and amplify that message to consumers.