PPR and Christopher Kane jointly announce today that they have signed an agreement by which PPR acquires 51% of the luxury designer brand “Christopher Kane” in order to develop the business in partnership with its creator, the Scottish designer, Christopher Kane.
The Christopher Kane brand was founded by the designer in 2006 upon his graduation from Central Saint Martin’s College, London. He has developed a reputation as one of the most talented and innovative British designers. His brand is known for its inventive and imaginative fashion, offering classic yet subtly daring designs. Originally focused on ready-to-wear for women, the brand expanded into menswear in 2010. It sells across the world and has enjoyed successful collaborations with brands such as Versace, Versus, J Brand, Topshop, Swarovski and Shiseido. The company is based in London and has 26 employees.
In partnering with Christopher Kane, PPR increases its portfolio of luxury brands while fulfilling its mission to empower new creative talent. PPR has a strong track record of backing rising designers and has enjoyed great success with brands such as Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney.
PPR will enable the Christopher Kane brand to accelerate its expansion, by providing the support it needs to grow to the next level.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of PPR, commented: “Christopher is a truly great talent who has shown a real sense of modernity in the way he mixes elegance and subtle constructions. In just a few years, he has built a very distinctive and exciting brand with a unique DNA. I am delighted that Christopher Kane is joining PPR’s portfolio of luxury brands and working with us to further develop its business as a global luxury brand. Christopher Kane is already established as a luxury label and has a tremendous intrinsic growth potential. We thus have great ambitions for the brand and will enable it to benefit from our expertise and know-how while providing the space for it to further develop its own creative identity.”
“We are very excited and honoured to be partnering with PPR for the next stage of development for our brand. PPR have an incredible reputation for building some of the very best luxury brands in the world. They respect our creative vision and they have the expertise and experience to help us build the Christopher Kane brand globally" - Christopher Kane, Founder and Creative Director of the brand
About PPR
The PPR Group empowers a coherent ensemble of Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle premium brands, specializing in apparel and accessories, to reach their full growth potential. Distributed in more than 120 countries, PPR generated revenues of €12.2 billion in 2011 and had over 47,000 employees at year end. The PPR share is listed on Euronext Paris (FR 0000121485, PRTP.PA, PPFP).
Find out more on Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Puma, Volcom, Cobra, Electric, Tretorn and Fnac at www.ppr.com.
About Christopher Kane
Scottish born Christopher Kane’s designs creatively fuse fabric, colour and print. The Christopher Kane label is a key contributor to the seasonal trends, demonstrating a contemporary, progressive vision.
Christopher first came to the attention of the fashion world on delivering an award-winning collection at Central Saint Martins College in March of 2006. His first independent show followed in September of that year in London. Christopher Kane, the label, has since become a highlight of the London Fashion Week schedule and Christopher, working in tandem with his sister, Tammy, has now shown for 14 seasons and become a major player within the industry. Until Fall 2012, Christopher was the design lead for Versus working closely with Donatella Versace on eight women’s wear collections. In May 2009, Christopher launched a line of t-shirts featuring a monkey print that rose to iconic status. He launched his first resort collection in November 2010 along with his first menswear collection in the same year. Christopher Kane has received several industry accolades in recent years including winning the highly acclaimed Vogue/British Fashion Council Fashion Fund. Christopher Kane’s Fall/Winter 2013 collection will be shown as part of London Fashion Week in February 2013.
PPR contacts:
Press (France and Worldwide):
Mr. Paul Michon: +33 (0)1 45 64 63 48 -
pmichon@ppr.com
Ms. Hélène Saint-Raymond: +33 (0)1 45 64 61 20 -
hsaint-raymond@ppr.com
Press (UK):
Brunswick: Venetia Hendy: +44 (0)207 396 5347-
vhendy@brunswickgroup.com
Analysts/Investors:
Mr. Alexandre de Brettes: +33 (0)1 45 64 61 49 -
adebrettes@ppr.com
Mr. Edouard Crowley: +33 (0)1 45 64 63 28 -
ecrowley@ppr.com
Christopher Kane contacts:
Press (UK and worldwide):
Mr. Daniel Marks, The Communications Store: + 44 207 938 5033 -
daniel@tcs-uk.net
Press (US):
Mr. Pierre Rougier, PRC: + 1 212 228 8181-
pierre@prconsulting.net
Image: Backstage at Christopher Kane, SS13 at London Fashion Week, September 2012