LVMH & Hermes Battle, Lilly Pulitzer Gets Bought

In the chess game of fashion brand buyouts, Lilly Pulitzer gets acquired by Oxford, while LVMH ups its stakes in Hermes, with some hostility. To start with the juicier bit, luxury-brand rivals LVMH Moët Hennessy and Hermes don't exactly get along, especially when the former crosses the 20-percent-share mark through some seemingly sneaky financial tactics. While such actions would suggest a hostile takeover, analysts told WWD that was unlikely, given the family stronghold on Hermes, which controls roughly 70 percent of the company. The drama of investments by the makers of investment handbags and goods is intriguing, with accusations of malintention and denials being thrown around like it's a political race. It makes 'Birkin or Speedy?" a very loaded question. But of course, the preppy staples of East Coast country clubs would put on a friendlier face. Oxford Inudstries, the owners of Tommy Bahama, Ben Sherman and Lainier clothing brands plan to welcome a lady to the mix, with plans to buy Lilly Pulitzer for a rough total of $80 million. Oxford representatives cited e-commerce as their main focus for growth--bringing what started as a Palm Beach socialite's uniform while running a juice stand quite a long way from its colorful roots.

Kodėl dizainerių aksesuarai tokie brangūs?

Tikriausiai visos esate girdėjusios apie „Hermes“ rankines, kurios ne tik atrodo itin patraukliai, bet ir jų vertė yra itin „patraukliai“ įvertinta. Už tokį grožį gali tekti sumokėti apie 7,5 tūkst. dolerių, o jei ji dar ir bus pasiūta iš krokodilo odos, dekoruota įvairiausiais kristalais, deimantais ar kitomis prabangiomis detalėmis, tuomet jos kaina gali būti ir keletą ar net keliasdešimt kartų didesnė. Turbūt dauguma bent kartą svajojote apie originalią „Hermes“ ,,Birkin“, „Kelly“ ar kokio kito šios firmos modelio rankinę. Tačiau, tikriausiai, tik nedidelė dalis ją turite. Kodėl prabanga tokia brangi? Ir ar išvis tai galime vadinti prabanga? Galbūt žmonės moka tik už garsų vardą? Pabandykime susipažinti su „Hermes“ rankinių gamyba. Tam, kad meistras galėtų gaminti minėtąsias rankines, jis turi mokytis keletą metų. Dauguma „Hermes“ meistrų mokėsi Paryžiuje esančioje mokykloje Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi, kurioje mokoma, kaip dirbti su oda ir įgyjama daug patirties, siuvant būtent rankines ar panašius dalykus. Bet mokyklą baigti nepakanka. Po to dar reikia 15 savaičių tobulintis „Hermes“ gamykloje, kur tenka gaminti laikrodžių apyrankes, rankenas ir pan. Tuomet jau galima pradėti gaminti rankines. Tačiau, norint išmėginti ir krokodilo odą, reikia 5 metų patirties. „Hermes“ gamykloje yra apie 2 tūkst. meistrų ir kiekvienas jų kuria tik keturių formų rankines.

LVMH Lifts Stake in Hermès

French luxury-goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has increased its stake in rival Hermès International to more than 20%, increasing the tension in an unwelcome assault on the French maker of pricey handbags, scarves and other luxury goods. In a filing Tuesday with the French stock market regulator, LVMH said it now owns 20.2% of family-controlled Hermès. On Tuesday, LVMH left the door open to the further purchases of Hermès shares. In the filing, the company reiterated that its swoop on Hermès is friendly and it supports the strategy of the fashion house, which is known for its leather goods. The company characterized its stake as "strategic and long-term," and that it doesn't seek control of the company, which got its start making saddles back in 1837. But the family behind Hermès doubts the sincerity of LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, who has expanded his luxury-goods empire by pouncing on family businesses, dividing the clans and seizing control. LVMH is the world's largest luxury-goods company, measured by sales. Bertrand Puech, who heads one of the main branches of the Hermes family, has asked Mr. Arnault to sell his shares. Hermès Chief Executive Patrick Thomas called Mr. Arnault "an intruder in our garden." Mr. Arnault, one of France's most aggressive corporate raiders, surprised the family behind Hermès two months ago by announcing he had racked up a 17.1% stake in their company. LVMH bought its new shares on and off the market, the company said in the regulatory filing with the Autorite des Marches Financiers, or AMF. In addition, LVMH said it owns equity swap contracts worth another 0.2% of Hermès. Mr. Arnault used equity swaps to stealthily build up his initial stake in Hermès over the past several years, a move that caused the AMF to open an investigation last month into LVMH's move. The family, which says it controls 73% of the maker of Kelly and Birkin handbags, is determined to remain independent. A limited partnership that is open only to direct descendants of Hermes' founders protects the company from an unwanted takeover. But despite this shield, the family earlier this month announced plans to reinforce its defense by creating a separate holding firm comprising more than 50% of the company.

Hermes Wins AMF Ruling on New Holding Company, Strengthening LVMH Defense

Hermes International SCA’s founding family can pool their shares in a holding company without having to bid for the rest of the luxury-goods maker, France’s stock market regulator said, bolstering its defense against LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Family members, who own more than 70 percent of the shares, proposed the structure after LVMH, the world’s largest luxury- goods maker, announced in October it had acquired a 17.1 percent stake in Hermes via equity swaps. LVMH said on Dec. 21 it raised the holding to 20.2 percent, fueling takeover speculation even though it repeated it wasn’t seeking a board seat or control. Hermes fell as much as 3.7 percent in Paris trading after the Autorite des Marches Financiers ruled today that the three branches of the family don’t have to make a full bid. The AMF granted 31 waivers on mandatory tender offers in 2009, 22 of which were in similar cases, according to the regulator’s annual report for that year, the most recent information available. The new holding company will have more than 50 percent of the capital and have first right of refusal on the remaining shares held directly by the family, Hermes said Dec. 5. The family shareholders need a mechanism to allow them to sell without LVMH swooping on the stock, a person familiar with the matter said last month. Hermes shares fell as much as 5.80 euros to 152.25 euros and traded at 156.35 euros as of 3:26 p.m., giving the company a market value of 16.5 billion euros ($21.7 billion). About 7 percent of the stock is freely traded. Acting in Concert The founding family, which has previously stated it doesn’t act together, considers the holding company a reclassification of its shares. Colette Neuville, president of minority investor group Adam, had said a formal alignment of the relatives’ shares meant they would be acting in concert under AMF rules, obliging them to make a bid for the rest of the stock. “The proposed operation puts itself in total contradiction with information given to the market since its public listing,” Neuville wrote in a Jan. 4 letter to the AMF, arguing against the waiver. The family’s proposal “doesn’t respect the principle of equal treatment for shareholders” and “will have harmful consequences for minority investors,” she wrote. Neuville represents Hermes investors in Belgium, the U.S. and Switzerland in the matter and will discuss with them a possible appeal of the AMF decision, she said today by phone.

Ooh, eBay Goes Glossy!

EBay, the virtual junk shop (okay, okay, "online marketplace") we all know and sometimes love, is planning to revamp its image, apparently. The world's most famous auction site has recruited former magazine editor, Andrea Linett, to be Creative Director of eBay Fashion. Apparently, sites like net-a-porter (and its soon-to-be-launched brother site, Mr Porter) which have more editorial content and better presentation in general have prompted this change. It’s thought that by taking inspiration from these high-production-value sites that eBay can maximise its potential with a spot of a makeover. Linett’s plans include added flash sales and exclusive collections with designers like Derek Lam - available this spring as well as glossy imagery to bring the general experience upmarket a bit. ‘It is the same kind of shopping experience,’ Ms. Linett said, ‘except that it’s a marketplace instead of a magazine.’ So far, so good. It has also been mentioned that one way they would improve the site would be to make it easier to navigate and easier to find items on there by searching. But this, in our opinion, would be to tamper with the very DNA of the site. If eBay simplified its labyrinthine systems, then it would completely lose its USP and become just another online shop, like any other. Surely the whole point of it is to provide us with those elusive goals in life, that tantalising day, which hasn’t happened yet but surely will, where we manage to buy an Hermes Constance bag for 50p AND offload all our old tat at a vast profit.

Still spending, but not so fast

Among Christmas shoppers, the talk is of ‘caution’ and ‘holding off for the sales’. But the death of Irish retailing has been exaggerated if we’re to believe Dublin’s biggest department stores, which are ticking along nicely with sales of €4,000 bags, Louboutin shoes and iPads THIS YEAR, for the lucky ones with cash, the watchword is discretion. The jolly, girly New York shopping flights have died, killed by New York prices and the new culture of austerity. Some have diverted to Chicago, Orlando or Boston, but you won’t hear them boasting about it. The notion of the one-day transatlantic shopping trip – depart 10.30am, shop for a frenzied seven hours, return at 7.30am, 23 hours later – is now heresy. Or is it? The trick is not to be seen spending it, says Jacky Byrne, a retail consultant. It’s less about sparkle, more about vouchers. And there’s no panic, says Byrne. Sara Mullen emerges from Marks Spencer lugging an enormous brown box. “We’re going for practical. Totally,” she says earnestly. “For example, the four of us usually club together for something for Mum and Dad: a few years ago, we got them a week-long trip to Rome. This year it’s a good mattress topper.” Right on cue, her sister appears, swinging three Jo Malone bags, containing about €300 worth of exquisitely wrapped, utterly impractical perfume and scented candles inside. Wouldn’t Rome have been cheaper on the whole? “Hmmm. I know. You set out full of holiness and notions about some really good sheets and home-made chutney . . .” says the sister with a nervous laugh. “But that’s me done now.” She, of course, is the retailers’ dream: the one who sets out to get a jacket for her 16-year-old daughter and ends up with a pair of Swarovski crystal headphones. According to Brown Thomas, the €100 Deos headphones are their bestseller by a mile, followed by Lanvin notebooks and pens, Tiffany bangles in rose and red gold, Mulberry “Alexa” bags, J Brand Agnes jeans, something – anything – from Stella McCartney, scarves by the dear departed Alexander McQueen, the Nazareth candle by Cire Trudon, Moncler ski jackets, Black Orchid fragrance from Tom Ford and anything at all in a be-ribboned Jo Malone box. At around 6pm on Wednesday, nine days before Christmas, Brown Thomas is ticking over nicely; not a lot happening in the women’s clothes departments – the Ladies Who Shop are dressed for Christmas by now anyway, one imagines – but the Mac make-up counters are conspicuously heaving, there’s an angsty swarm around the Jo Malone outlet, a steady throughflow in Tiffany’s, some grave perusing of scarves in Louis Vuitton, a thorough scrutinising of handbags in accessories, heavy movement in the vast cosmetics area, five nail technicians working flat out at Nails Inc and a rolling, 12-strong queue at the Nespresso (coffee machines advertised by George Clooney) tills upstairs. The store is fresh out of the “unique” Hermes bag (specially designed for the Marvel Room), says Stephen Sealy, managing director of Brown Thomas. That’s about eight bags at €4,000 a pop. They can’t keep enough Louboutin shoes in stock – “the Irish customer has an enormous appetite for the lovely Louboutins” – so those towering, red-soled, €395-plus objects of desire are soon to get their own little boutique downstairs. And the children’s clothes are moving back from BT2 to the main store, complete with various types of bespoke parquet flooring to designate different areas. The way forward for BT, says Sealy, is to strive for the difference between “grand” (the Irish version of “it’s fine”) and “wow!”. Is he making this up? “No, no. The Irish consumer doesn’t have an appetite for the hairshirt. At some point, the ‘oh sod it’ mentality kicks in,” he says, stroking a nice piece of bespoke parquet. “There is a greater element of planning” at play this Christmas, he says, so his job, frankly, is to “tempt people”. Thus, the €100 glittery headphones. “The death of Irish retailing has been greatly exaggerated. You can sit and moan or you can do things,” he says, mentioning that they’ve run 300 “temptation events” in stores this year. The heaving counter in Arnotts on Henry Street is Pandora jewellery’s, simple chunky bracelets and clever, non-dangly charms that have spawned a dozen imitators. Sales of desirable Apple products – such as the iPad, selling for €500 to €700 – are booming, the Bobbi Brown cosmetics counter has a queue and an Arnotts’ own-brand man’s sweater at about €60 euro is flying out the door. Nigel Blow, the managing director of Arnotts, hasn’t noticed any “huge change in shopping habits” this year. “It’s not that people aren’t spending; they’re just being more considered, more deliberate about it. The key thing they want is value but that doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. “I can tell you for sure that business is not reflecting everything we’ve been reading and hearing about. People are spending. Henry Street is performing really well. You’ll see no empty or unoccupied stores. Fatface and Forever 21 [a young fashion label] have just moved in and they’ve been phenomenal. They’ve genuinely brought people into Henry Street.”

Is uber designer Manish Arora Paris bound?

Rumour mills have been churning away in this relatively new year with news that designer Manish Arora may be on the move, on his way to Paco Rabanne in Paris, a rumour still unconfirmed. Now, for all of you who may not know him, and I would find that hard to believe, he is the beloved son of India and a leading luxury designer who makes couture clothing and ready-to-wear that sets the bar for fusions of cultures and styles. His eponymous line is shown at international fashion weeks, notably New York and Paris, and his store, Fish Fry, carries creative and inspiring ready-to-wear clothing. If you are not familiar with the Label Paco Rabanne, please check out the movie Barberella, which starred Jane Fonda in the beginning of her career and was a film that Paco Rabanne himself served as costume designer, as well as fashion references for ornate 
metal dresses. Manish is a master of prints, colours and silhouettes and is not afraid to take chances and venture out in directions others may be afraid to tread, making his point of view perfect for the House of Rabanne. His FW 2009 cirque collection showcased his ability to be focused in his vision, to design pieces that were both artistic and visionary, rendering a theme both wearable and one to covet. The brand has been on a revival course for the last six months starting with the relaunch of their 1969 chain mail handbag. The handbag was first brought to international attention when Brigitte Bardot was spotted carrying it. The revival of this style acknowledges the history of the house and expresses the direction of the company — creative, unconventional and exceptional quality. The new design comes in stingray, suede, metal and embellished leather. The new design has resonated with one of fashion’s elite, Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo, who collaborated with the brand on three interpretations of the bag that will sell in nine Comme des Garçons stores exclusively. There has been no response from the Paris office or from the international PR for the brand on whether or not the fashion world can truly be excited by the news but as soon as I know, so will you.