LVMH Acquires Majority Stake In Off-White
Luxury conglomerate LVMH has announced that it is set to acquire a majority stake in Off-White LLC, the trademark owner of Off-White™️.
“We are thrilled to expand our successful partnership with Virgil. We have already had the privilege of witnessing Virgil’s exceptional creativity and vision through his work with us at Louis Vuitton. We look forward to supporting Virgil and the team both in driving the growth of Off-White ™️ and in working together with Virgil to bring his unique sensibility to a broader range of luxury categories,” said Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LVMH.
LVMH will own a 60 percent interest in the trademark, while Virgil Abloh, who originally founded the label in 2013, will retain a 40 percent interest and continue as the brand’s creative director.
Under the agreement, Abloh will also continue serving as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection — a role he was appointed to in March 2018. Furthermore, both LVMH and Abloh plan to launch new brands and partner with existing ones in a variety of sectors beyond the realm of fashion. Initial discussions between LVMH and Abloh have already begun.
“For nearly a decade, we’ve been building Off-White ™️ to be a brand designed to empower our generation and challenge the status quo. LVMH brings to the table the additional firepower and scale to accelerate our momentum and evolve Off-White into a truly multi-line luxury brand,” said Virgil Abloh, Chief Creative Director and Founder of Off-White ™️, and Men’s Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton.
“I’m incredibly excited to work together with LVMH on other possible collaborations — an evolution of the great relationship I have had with LVMH, Bernard Arnault, Michael Burke at Louis Vuitton, and others. I’m also honored to use this partnership to deepen my longstanding commitment to expand opportunities for diverse individuals and foster greater equity and inclusion in the industries we serve. This is an incredible new platform to take the disruption we’ve achieved together to a whole new level.”
Through its licensing agreement with Off-White LLC, New Guards Group will remain an operating partner for Off-White™. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed within the next 60 days.
Originally published at https://retailbum.com on July 20, 2021.
