Lacroix Fashion House Courts New Investors

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Apr 9th 2009 at 7:01AM

Christian Lacroix's designs are distinctive, original, and sadly not always wildly popular. The Wall Street Journal reports that Florida-based Falic Group, which has owned the Lacroix fashion house since 2005, is looking to sell a stake in the firm to private investors.

As department stores reduce their inventory to match the newly reduced appetites of their fashionable clientele some labels including Lacroix have seen reduced orders. Brands that are a bit outside the "timeless and classic" mold have found themselves particularly vulnerable.

Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus have dropped Lacroix after carrying it last year and Saks did not order any clothes from the fall 2009 collection. Ladies who love Lacroix would be advised to head to Barneys New York which is said to have placed orders for fall 2009 Lacroix merchandise.

The haute couture business is very expensive and Lacroix doesn't have a huge backup revenue stream in the form of licensing deals the way that some other brands do. For a brand like Chanel or Christian Dior, the runway shows and the haute couture line can serve as a sort of ad campaign for the ancillary products with a higher profit such as fragrance and accessories which can be sold to more people.

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