More movement abounds in the fashion industry! In the latest episode of business deals moving faster than fashion trends, French luxury group LVMH has completed the sale of ready-to-wear group Donna Karan International to US clothing manufacturer G-III Apparel. While it sounds mildly heartbreaking, rest assured that the American label’s worth has been recognized and valued at $650 million. The label is merely moving house: Donna Karan and the DKNY brands will return to New York, their birthplace in the 1980s.
“Donna Karan International is an iconic global fashion company,” said Morris Goldfarb, CEO of G-III, which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger labels so it is no stranger to American fashion labels and is, arguably, even better place than LVMH to make a go of this. “Donna Karan brings increased scale and diversification to G-III, which will finance the transaction with debt and issuing $75 million in new stock to LVMH.”
This move isn’t completely out of the blue, however. Despite steps taken towards restructuring Donna Karan in a bid to boost its lackluster growth, results have been less than satisfactory, with the line eventually suspended since last summer when the eponymous founder left. It is thus a no-brainer that the world’s largest luxury group would let Donna Karan go when a suitable suitor such as G-III expressed interest.
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