Fashion

Lanvin Reportedly In Talks With Qatari Investor, Owner Of Valentino And Balmain

By Donovan | January 25, 2017 0 Comments

Lanvin Spring 2017 Ready-To-Wear

It is being reported that Qatari owner of Valentino, Pal Zileri and Balmain is in talks to buy Lanvin.

Mayhoola for Investments, the Qatar-based parent of Valentino, Pal Zieri and Balmain (they acquired a majority stake in the high-end Paris fashion house for €500 million (roughly $569 million) last summer (see it here) is considering adding another French label to its roster. WWD reported, “Lanvin’s majority owner Shaw-Lan Wang and Mayhoola Group have recently held discussions,” via a Paris source.

Sources caution that Wang has long been a reluctant seller — and can be capricious.

www.dmfashionbook.com personally reached out to officials from Lanvin and Mayhoola via email and an immediately response wasn’t available at the time of press.

Mayhoola first made overtures to Lanvin in 2016, prior to purchasing Balmain, but allegedly balked at the price that Wang was asking at the time, said to be somewhere around 500 million euros, or $536.4 million at current exchange.

Mayhoola, said to be controlled by Qatar’s royal family, bought the Valentino fashion house in July 2012 and is a minority shareholder in the Anya Hindmarch accessories brand. In 2014, it added a majority stake in Forall Confezioni SpA, which produces Pal Zileri and also holds licenses for Moschino and Cerruti 1881.

Wang bought Lanvin from L’Oréal in 2001, recruited Alber Elbaz and left him a free hand to reinvent the business with chic cocktail dresses, chunky costume jewelry, ballerina flats, dressy sneakers and modernist men’s wear. In 2015, after 14 years, Elbaz exited Lanvin (see it here).

Last year, we reported that Bouchra Jarrar was named the new artistic director of women’s collections at Lanvin, replacing Alber Elbaz (see it here).

A trust associated with the Bartel family acquired 25 percent of Lanvin parent Arpège SAS in separate transactions in 2009 and 2012. The trust holds certain preemptive rights should Wang wish to explore a sale of any of her shares.

In related Lanvin news, the house recently presented their Men’s Fall 2017 Collection at Paris Fashion Week (see it here).