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Anyway, back on topic. From The New York Times
Thom Browne’s New Deal
By ERIC WILSON Thom Browne, the designer best known for making expensive, narrowly tailored suits that have been both enormously influential and endlessly mocked, has sold the majority stake of his business to the Cross Company, the Japanese apparel company he began a relationship with in August. The deal, announced Thursday, lets Mr. Browne maintain creative control of his collection. It will also take some financial pressure off the designer, whose business had been the subject of numerous reports of troubles over the last year.
“It took a while for me to find somebody who understood what I really was about as a designer, and not just the suit but they lifestyle of the guy wearing the suit,” Mr. Browne said. “A lot of people forget we are business people, too.”
Cross, which operates 200 stores in Asia, acquired a 20 percent stake in Mr. Browne’s business in August, and an additional amount this week that gave it a majority interest. The company will also install new management to run the designer collection, replacing Josh Sparks, who had been instrumental in restructuring Mr. Browne’s business since he joined the company in July.
Mr. Browne’s business, by fashion industry standards, is tiny, with sales of about $6.5 million, but his impact has been felt on the style of men’s wear for the last decade, and the designer has also added collections for Moncler and Brooks Brothers. Mr. Browne said he hoped the capital infusion would allow him to continue to broaden his signature collection, something he began for spring by adding $200 sweats and T-shirts to the usual mix of $4,000 suits. He said he may decide to start showing his collections in Paris.
“The most exciting things for me are to be able to strengthen the business in the United States and grow the business in Europe,” he said, adding that an expansion in Asia is also being developed.
Thom Browne’s New Deal
By ERIC WILSON Thom Browne, the designer best known for making expensive, narrowly tailored suits that have been both enormously influential and endlessly mocked, has sold the majority stake of his business to the Cross Company, the Japanese apparel company he began a relationship with in August. The deal, announced Thursday, lets Mr. Browne maintain creative control of his collection. It will also take some financial pressure off the designer, whose business had been the subject of numerous reports of troubles over the last year.
“It took a while for me to find somebody who understood what I really was about as a designer, and not just the suit but they lifestyle of the guy wearing the suit,” Mr. Browne said. “A lot of people forget we are business people, too.”
Cross, which operates 200 stores in Asia, acquired a 20 percent stake in Mr. Browne’s business in August, and an additional amount this week that gave it a majority interest. The company will also install new management to run the designer collection, replacing Josh Sparks, who had been instrumental in restructuring Mr. Browne’s business since he joined the company in July.
Mr. Browne’s business, by fashion industry standards, is tiny, with sales of about $6.5 million, but his impact has been felt on the style of men’s wear for the last decade, and the designer has also added collections for Moncler and Brooks Brothers. Mr. Browne said he hoped the capital infusion would allow him to continue to broaden his signature collection, something he began for spring by adding $200 sweats and T-shirts to the usual mix of $4,000 suits. He said he may decide to start showing his collections in Paris.
“The most exciting things for me are to be able to strengthen the business in the United States and grow the business in Europe,” he said, adding that an expansion in Asia is also being developed.
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