The luxury conglomerate group, LVMH has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in streetwear brand Off-White. While the group acquired a 60 per cent stake in the company, Virgil Abloh, Off-White’s founder, hold on to a 40 per cent stake.
With this acquisition, the LVMH group is expanding its impressive fashion federation and deepening its bond with Abloh. The designer, who was brought into the limelight in the early 2000s as Kanye West’s creative right-hand made history when he became the first black artistic director at Louis Vuitton menswear.
What does This Partnership Entail?
Although the details of the amount of money paid for this partnership is not known, it is sure to have cost Bernard Arnault a pretty penny. With this partnership, Abloh will work with LVMH to launch new brands and partner with existing brands beyond the realm of fashion. Some of these include its Wines & Spirits division (Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy), Perfumes & Cosmetics (Acqua Di Parma, Guerlain, Marc Jacobs Beauty), Watches & Jewelry (Tiffany & Co., Tag Heuer, Bvlgari), Selective Retailing (Le Bon Marche, Sephora, La Samaritaine), and Other Activities.
“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 Abloh. “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 honoured 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.”
Also, Abloh will get to keep his current position in the Off-White label. Additionally, the label will continue its licensing agreement with Farfetch-owned New Guards Group, having worked with Abloh since the inception of Off-White. The transaction is, however, subject to regulatory approval but is expected to close within 60 days.
How Abloh, Off-White and LVMH will Benefit from this Partnership
This partnership looks like a win-win situation for every party involved.
Designer, Abloh will get a sizeable amount of money for the deal as well as higher positions in LVMH. This, according to NY Times will make him “the most powerful Black executive at the most powerful luxury goods group in the world.” This means that he will wield more power and have more influence than most other designers in the fashion industry and will have a great portfolio to go with it.
For Off-White, this deal can take it places Abloh would not have been able to take it. According to him, he hopes that this deal will ensure that Off-White will be “on historic corners all over the world for years to come.” With the authority LVMH has, this deal also positions Off-White to expand into areas such as cosmetics and homeware, a process Abloh coins “generational growth”.
With this deal, LVMH owns Off-White and will take possession of its trademarks. This means that the Off-White marks and symbols can only be used by LVMH or with its express permission and major decisions for the brand will be made by the group This partnership also puts LVMH in new markets since Off-White deals in upscale streetwear. With this, the group gets to achieve its goal of diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry.
