Asia invests in European fashion brands
Over the past decade Asian investors have been stuffing their portfolios with illustrious European fashion labels. Jing Zhang surveys the changing landscape
An appreciation of heritage, an eye for a bargain, or perhaps a bit of both - whatever the mix of factors, Asian investors have been acquiring prestigious, if sluggish, European brands for more than a decade, often bringing fresh verve to the businesses.
A case in point is Taiwanese entrepreneur Wang Shaw-lan, who installed Alber Elbaz at Lanvin after she bought the French fashion house in 2001, setting it on the path back to profitability. Similarly, South Korean businesswoman Kim Sung-joo acquired German leather goods company MCM in 2005. Since then it has become a brand coveted by hip young Asians, with a monogram vying to rival the appeal of Louis Vuitton's. Megha Mittal, from the Indian steel family, also helped inject a cool glamour to Escada after she took over the struggling German lifestyle brand in 2009. In short, the tide is turning in luxury fashion.
Hong Kong supply chain giant, the Fung Group, is perhaps the busiest aggregator. In recent years the group, headed by brothers William and Victor Fung, has amassed an enviable portfolio of storied European brands.
Fung Brands, a subsidiary of the investment arm of the Fung family, now owns French fashion house Sonia Rykiel, Belgian leather label Delvaux and, in a joint venture, French bootmaker Robert Clergerie.
Trinity, the group's luxury menswear unit, last year added Gieves & Hawkes, the Saville Row tailors and clothing brand, to a stable that includes Paris-based fashion house Cerruti and British heritage label Kent & Curwen.
Last year the ailing British luxury fashion brand Aquascutum was acquired by Hong Kong's YGM Trading - the wholesale and retail arm of textile and clothing makers Yangtzekiang Garment Manufacturing, which is controlled by the Chan family. YGM was the Guy Laroche licensee for China before buying the company in 2004. And the buyout follows a pattern - it also held the regional licence for Charles Jourdan before going on to take over the French lifestyle brand.
