Without leaving aside the discretion that characterizes the company, Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL) –owner of Carolina Herrera and Purificación García– announced this week the acquisition of the French luxury fashion brand Christian Lacroix through a statement. An operation whose amount has not been disclosed – “it is a private transaction” – and which expands the business of this Galician textile company founded by three of Adolfo Domínguez’s brothers after the family schism, which despite not having the media impact of giants in the sector such as Inditex or Mango, has a dizzying international expansion that has led it to form a team of more than 2,500 people with 600 points of sale in 43 countries. Its presence in America, Europe and Asia stands out.
After a bittersweet closing of 2023, in which the results showed a slowdown in the company’s growth and its consequent reduction in profits, the purchase of 100% of Christian Lacroix allows the company, based in Pereiro de Aguiar (Orense), influence its internationalization, as stated by the company itself. «We are extremely excited to incorporate the legacy and limitless imagination of the Maison Lacroix into our business project. “We will do our best so that the unique talent of its creator and his invaluable contribution to the world of fashion reach its full potential,” the statement says.
Despite The French Maison is not going through its best moment, The fashion house that once designed Catherine Zeta-Jones’ wedding dress or adorned personalities such as Madonna, Julianne Moore and Uma Thurman, will now have the experience and track record in business management provided by STL, owned by the group. Puig who already has a history in this type of operations. This is demonstrated by the example of Paco Rabanne, a brand that the multinational managed to revive by returning it “to the first level”, with iconic fragrances such as One Million, which connected with generation Z, becoming one of the most popular for this segment thanks to a new way of communicating and using marketing, as explained by the fashion brand specialist Marilé Pretel, researcher and teacher at the CEU San Pablo universities and the European University of Madrid.
In the case of Christian Lacroix, its purchase represents a “movement with high strategic potential, mainly to consolidate itself in the luxury segment and expand its international presence,” he points out. Monica Acero, director of Reputation and Leadership at the company Llorente y Cuenca and expert in fashion and retail, who values this “unique opportunity” for the company to strengthen its penetration into “more exclusive niches”, in addition to “foster creative, operational and commercial synergies” . The analyst also does not overlook the media impact of this acquisition, which could bring “positive benefits in terms of visibility, notoriety and reputation” for Galicians.
The challenge lies in marrying the philosophy of both companies, in a context of progressive concentration of the textile market that is accentuated in the dynamics of the luxury sector, he asserts. Javier Cabrera, XTB financial analyst.
A family story
The case of STL is reminiscent of other Galician family companies that managed to expand throughout the world. A saga that dates back to post-war Orense, where the Faro tailoring shop emerged, founded by Adolfo Domínguez Sr. His children, starting with the eldest (Jesús Domínguez), began to join the business after completing their studies. This is what Josefina Domínguez, Adolfo himself and Francisco Javier did. The first years of expansion and consolidation of the already renowned as Adolfo Dominguez They began to glimpse the differences between the brothers, between the vision more focused on growth and finances of Jesús and Josefina, in charge of integrating all phases of the business, and the interest in design and innovation that Adolfo embodied.
The collision materialized in 1997, when the family’s paths divided after the company’s IPO. This was the moment when Jesús, Josefina and Francisco Javier sold his shares to finance a new business venture that would be in direct competition with his brother: Lonia Textile Society.
Although at first both companies managed to grow, reaching markets throughout the world, time was not equally merciful for Adolfo, whose imprint began to fall under the shadow of this new textile giant. A discrepancy of visions that explains, among other factors, why Galicia and Spain are a recognized nerve center of fashion from which outfits are designed for half the planet, a position that is reinforced with this latest movement by STL, which affects the luxury segment in what is already the cradle of accessible fashion.
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