Fashion gains new design with funds
Valor Econômico 01/04/2008
The Brazilian fashion market, characterized by the strong presence of designer brands managed by the designers themselves, has been gaining a new design with the recent arrival of investment funds and large groups carrying out acquisitions and mergers of brands, in a process comparable to that which took place in Europe where there are corporations such as the LVMH and the PPR. The personal command is replaced by the professional management, reduced costs, and the search for even greater profit margins. This new setting makes room for consulting companies, specialized in company reorganization, to shape new businesses. That's Galeazzi's case. Galeazzi's idea is to present an out-of-the-box package, with its own factory and financial company, to investors prospecting the fashion market. To have one single factory producing for several designer brands or, also, to transfer the national production to cheaper lands, such as China, is an important part of this new type of company that starts to grow in this market. The most recent operation involving acquisition of designer brands was closed by Brazilian businessmen Conrado Will and Enzo Monzani's HLDC Investimentos group. They have bought designer Alexander Herchcovitch's three brands: Fause Haten, Clube Chocolate and Cúmplice. And the idea is precisely to take the entire production to be made outside Brazil, in order to reduce costs. With this operation, the HLCD, which already acquired designer Renato Kherlakian's Zoomp and Zapping in 2006, created a group for the management of the brands called Identidade da Moda (I'M). The HLCD group also has the manufacturer of cellular telephones BenQ Mobile in its portfolio, acquired in 2005, when it was also going through a financial crisis. In order to complete the portfolio, Mello says that the I'M group is analyzing accessories and casual clothes designer brands. Last year, several brands were prospected by investment funds or business groups. Among them are Osklen, Richard's, Farm, the Valdac group (owner of the Siberian and Crawford brands) and Brooksfield. Other designer brands that are also being studied are Espaço Fashion, Fórum, and even the Menegotti Group, the owner of the Colcci, Sommer, and Carmelitas brands.