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December 2008
Spotlight, Next Big Things
Next in: Fashion
Empires of their own
LVMH, PPR and Richemont are not going to sashay away anytime soon but the catwalks are set to get more crowded in the coming months with creations from Brazil, Russia, India and China.
For many, Brazilian fashion means the globally famous Havaianas flip-flop. Not for much longer. Check out two-year-old Brazilian group InBrands, which has snapped up Brazil’s two hottest designers, acquiring a 70% stake in Alexandre Herchcovitch and 50% in Isabela Capeto, and is eyeing €390m in turnover within three years. Or Marisol, the company behind children’s labels Lilica Ripilica and Tigor T. Tigre, as well as beachwear brand Rosa Chá, which opened a store in New York this summer.
Although there is a lot of money in Brazil – InBrands is a joint venture between the shareholders of popular brand Ellus and the PCP investment fund, managed by UBS Pactual bank– many believe India is where the real action will be.
As private equity and manufacturing savvy fuse, mass- and mid-market Indian retailers, such as the Pantaloons and Reliance Industries, have spun off companies to acquire new fashion labels. This summer private equity consortium led by the US outfit Sequoia Capital Fund invested €20m in entrepreneur Sanjay Kapoor’s Genesis Colors, which is behind local brand Satya Paul and designer Deepika Gehani.
There is a lot of empire building in Russia too, although most investors are pathologically discreet. For example, Denis Simachev, who plans to open four US outlets within a year, has three anonymous investors, with Roman Abramovich believed to be his primary backer. Among the more transparently funded brands are Kira, by Kira Plastinina, the teenage daughter of millionaire founder of the Wimm-Bill-Dann company, Sergei Plastinin, and Irfé, a couture house backed by a fund called The Heritage. The Heritage is keen to create a group in Russia similar to LVMH or Gucci Group. Sultanna Frantsuzova, another hot designer, has made a deal with retail giant TSUM and is now developing her SoFrench label with private investors.
Meanwhile, in China, although investment is still largely concentrated in publicly listed companies or in mass-market brands like Shan Shan or Xia Men, local companies are beginning to partner with major European or other international fashion investors.
The one thing all the emerging markets have in common is a seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury goods. China is expected to become the world’s top consumer of luxury goods in less than a decade, overtaking Japan; Merrill Lynch & Capgemini estimate that, in 2007, there were 817,000 dollar millionaires or better in Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Indeed, LVMH has reportedly sent a delegation to India in order to hunt down designer labels for a portfolio of acquisitions that it hopes to make through a new private equity venture fund set to debut in 2009.
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Spotlight, Next Big Things
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