escada

Megha Mittal Is Escada's New Owner

If you had asked me earlier this week which suitor I thought would claim Escada as their own I would have guessed M1 Group, the owner of Faconnable. But the new owner of the German fashion house is actually Megha Mittal, daughter-in-law of steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal purchased the brand for an undisclosed sum.

Mittal beat out a bunch of fashion insiders including the former head of Gucci and persuaded the German insolvency administrator that she would be the best steward of the brand. She bought Escada through a family trust said to be in in the three-digit million range. The German press has estimated that the deal is worth around 100 million Euros including the debt.

Ms. Mittal is 33 years old and has had a lifelong love of fashion. She is married to Aditya Mittal and has two daughters. She has a degree from Wharton Business School in finance. The Economic Times in India quotes her as saying that her first priority is to preserve the heritage of Escada and help it achieve a successful future. Mittal's success is also good news for current CEO Bruno Salzer who will likely stay in place during the transition and has wanted to move the brand toward more affordable careerwear and everyday fashion and away from red carpet and couture gowns. Mittal will serve as a board member and brand ambassador for the fashion house.

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Tags: escada, escada-bankruptcy, megha mittal, MeghaMittal

Bidders Rally To Save Escada

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

The battle to save Escada continues. The NY Post reports that the owner of Faconnable may buy the German fashion house. Beirut-based M1 Group purchased Faconnable from Nordstrom for $210 million in 2007 and Escada's similar upscale fashion demographic would make it an excellent companion brand. But there's more than one suitor at Escada's door. Others interested in the brand include Megha Mittal, daughter-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Indian steel magnate, Sven Ley, the son of Escada's founder Wolfgang Ley and Vestar Capital Partners which owns another comparable brand, St. John Knits.

Ley is working with the former head of Gucci, Giacomo Santucci, and Italian investment group Borletti. Reuters says that Ley's consortium, ZSL Partners, has offered to pay almost 80 million euros for the fashion house and would bring Santucci on as the chief exec. putting a man with some serious fashion experience at the helm. Borletti also owns the Rinascente and Printemps department stores in Italy and France.

M1 Group's plans for Escada would involve combining the back-end" operations of Escada andFaconnable to create a single lean, mean fashion machine behind the scenes while keeping the creative on the brands separate. M1 Group and Mittal are both said to support current CEO Bruno Salzer, formerly of Hugo Boss. Insolvency proceedings over Escapa opened Sunday at the Munich Municipal court and a decision could be forthcoming within the next few days.

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Tags: escada, escada-bankruptcy, fashion

Escada Files For Bankruptcy

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

We've been worried about the fate of German fashion brand Escada for a while. Now the brand is filing for bankruptcy following an unsuccessful push to obtain financing. Escada made a series of last ditch efforts to save itself include a pitching a debt restructuring plan to its creditors which was rejected. Escada has its own shops and franchise shops in over 60 countries and employs around 2,300 people. The court has chosen Christian Gerloff as preliminary insolvency administrator. The company carries around $100 million in debt and has struggled over the past year as the market for luxury goods has declined.

The news came as official data showed Germany had emerged from recession in the second quarter. There are hopes that Escada will continue onward. It has a global reputation as a designer label selling not just clothing but also fragrances, handbags and children's apparel. Bloomberg says that Russian millionaire Rustam Aksenenko owns 20.9 percent of the stock and German billionaires Wolfgang and Michael Herz hold 12.45 percent each. No one seems to know what the fate of the brand will be but I'm sure many loyal fans of the brand's understated elegance are hoping for the best.

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Tags: bankruptcy, escada, fashion, germany

Is Escada Facing The End?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Back in March I wrote about the troubles facing womenswear brand Escada but now it looks like things have gotten worse. Chairman Bruno Saelzer is said to have told German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag that the company has been talking with insolvency experts. The company has enough liquidity to last until next month but not beyond that. Escada's last ditch efforts include a pitching a debt restructuring plan to its creditors which must be approved by 80 percent of them by July 31. Without that agreement it seems likely that Escada will have to cease trading because this is a bit of a Hail Mary move and all other avenues have already been tried and failed.

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Tags: escada, fashion

'White Christmas' Inspired Bags, Handbag of the Day

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags, Holiday Guides

'Tis the season for blankets of snow and frosted branches, ski trips and furry boots, and new handbags to match the winter white theme. Whether you are shopping at Saks, Bergdorfs, Nordstroms, Neimans or Barneys there are clean, colorless clutches, totes and hobos to suit the season. Here are a few of my favorites inspired by the holiday tune, 'White Christmas' that are chic, sophisticated and frosty including the Nablak Vernice Tote from Prada pictured above.

Coach's Op Art Sabrina - $298 at Nordstroms
Bottega Veneta's Medium Veneta Hobo - $1,550 at Barneys
Yves Saint Laurent Medium Calypso Bag - $2,095 at Saks
Dolce and Gabbana's Washed Leather Dome - $2,125 at Bergdorfs
Escada Ostrich Shoulder Bag, Small - $3,990 at Neimans

Gallery: 'White Christmas' Handbags

Dolce & Gabbana Washes Leather Dome in White

Tags: barneys, bergdorf goodman, BergdorfGoodman, bottega veneta, BottegaVeneta, coach, dolce and gabbana, DolceAndGabbana, escada, neiman marcus, NeimanMarcus, neimans, norstroms, prada, saks, saks fifth avenue, SaksFifthAvenue, white christmas, white handbag, white handbags, white-christmas, WhiteChristmas, WhiteHandbag, WhiteHandbags, yves saint laurent, YvesSaintLaurent

Escada in Trouble

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Some luxury brands are thriving in these tough economic times but it looks like women's clothing and accessories brand Escada isn't one of them. The company recently cut their forecasts for the year after a sharp decline in third-quarter profits. This was the third cut in the forecast this year for the German company, it has now lowered its estimate for earnings before tax interest depreciation and amortization for the year to 23 million euros ($33.9 million), to 26 million euros ($38.3 million) for the year ending in October. This is a sharp drop from the previous estimate of 37 million euros (around $54.5 million). Shares of the company fell on the news.

Why is Escada faltering while other brands are still thriving? Part of the problem seems to that their main markets are countries like the U.S. and Spain while other brands in the same luxury sector have made a more aggressive advance into developing markets like Russia, the Middle East and Asia. Bloomberg reports that revenue at the main Escada clothing division fell 16 percent to 91.6 million euros while sales declined 10 percent to 47.9 million euros at the Primera unit, which sells cheaper women's fashions under the BiBA, Laurel, cavita and apriori brands. It is beleived that Escada will sell off Primera. Escada has made the smart move of hiring iconic supermodel Christy Turlington as their face and perhaps by selling Primera the comany can focus on keeping Escada afloat.

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Tags: escada, fashion

Christy Turlington's Stunning W Magazine Shoot

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Photo by Michael Thompson / W magazine

While we're on the subject of the Supermodel Comeback - which we think will be in the news for a while yet - it's worth pointing out Christy Turlington's stunning new shoot in the August issue of W magazine, titled "Champion". The 39-year-old knockout, who as we mentioned has been re-signed as the face of German fashion house Escada, poses as a "Greco-Roman warrior-goddess" for photog Michael Thompson in old-school black-and-white. Talk about classical beauty - obviously all that yoga and being married to Ed Burns agrees with her.

Gallery: Christy Turlington in Aug. W

Tags: Ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, Christy Turlington, ChristyTurlington, Ed Burns, EdBurns, Escada, Fashion, Michael Thompson, MichaelThompson, Supermodels, W magazine, WMagazine, yoga

Fashion Brands Still Sold on Supermodels for Fall

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Back in April we commented on the fact that several major fashion houses had chosen to bring back '90s supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell for their spring ad campaigns. We speculated at the time that the revival was no mere flash in the pan and would continue for subsequent seasons; the new crop of fall ad campaigns has now proved our prognostications correct. Top of the heap is Linda Evangelista's new series of ads for Prada shot by Steven Meisel (above), which rates as a major comeback for the ageless beauty.

In addition, both Chanel and Salvatore Ferragamo have kept Schiffer for their new fall campaigns, while Turlington returns for Escada as well. Elsewhere, Naomi Campbell appears for Yves Saint Laurent and Amber Valletta does the honors for DSquared, Iceberg and David Yurman; while as we mentioned previously Eva Herzigova and Kate Moss heat up the new Louis Vuitton and Just Cavalli campaigns respectively. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: More Supermodels for Spring

Claudia Schiffer on a recent cover of German Vogue

Tags: Ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, Amber Valletta, AmberValletta, Chanel, christy turlington, ChristyTurlington, Claudia Schiffer, ClaudiaSchiffer, Escada, Eva Herzigova, EvaHerzigova, Kate Moss, KateMoss, linda evangelista, LindaEvangelista, louis vuitton, LouisVuitton, naomi campbell, NaomiCampbell, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, SalvatoreFerragamo, Steven Meisel, StevenMeisel, Supermodels, Yves Saint Laurent, YvesSaintLaurent

Top Fashion Brands Fall Back In Love With Supermodels

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Handbags

After several years of scrambling after hot new faces, a slew of the world's top fashion houses have decided to take a more classic approach for Spring/Summer '08, showcasing supermodels who ruled the Earth in the 1990s in their latest ad campaigns. The top indicator that the supes are back in town is artist Richard Prince's new campaign for the Louis Vuitton bags he designed, starring a gaggle of semi-retired stars: Stephanie Seymour, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Eva Herzigova, all sprawled on the hood of a kandy-kolored muscle car.

This season, Schiffer also appears in ads for Salvatore Ferragamo as well as Chanel, along with Christy Turlington, who's now also the face of Escada. Herzigova also stars in the new Roberto Cavalli and Chopard campaigns, while Shalom Harlow meanwhile does the honors for Valentino, Tumi and Jones New York.

Tags: Ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, christy turlington, ChristyTurlington, claudia schiffer, ClaudiaSchiffer, escada, ferragamo, louis vuitton, LouisVuitton, naomi campbell, NaomiCampbell, richard prince, RichardPrince, roberto cavalli, RobertoCavalli, supermodels, tumi