Stella McCartney is now second to Rihanna in the LVMH female-led fashion houses. The French multinational luxury goods conglomerate has acquired Stella McCartney’s eponymous fashion brand and maintains her as creative director with her majority ownership intact. McCartney will also hold a sustainability advisor position to LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault, and the executive committee members.
In an exclusive chat with WWD, Arnault shared, “It is the beginning of a beautiful story together, and we are convinced of the great long-term potential of her house. A decisive factor was that she was the first to put sustainability and ethical issues on the front stage, very early on, and built her house around these constraints. It emphasizes LVMH Group’s commitment to sustainability.”
Stella’s brand was a huge part of Kering for 17 years, but parted ways with the LVMH rivalry luxury goods company in 2018. After going solo, numerous investor companies came the designer’s way for partnership deals, but none was approved by her. McCartney only agreed to the LVMH deal under the merits, “While these approaches were interesting, none could match the conversation I had with Bernard Arnault and his son Antoine. The passion and commitment they expressed towards the Stella McCartney brand alongside their belief in the ambitions and our values as the global leader in sustainable luxury fashion was truly impressive. ”
Full details on the financial aspect of the partnership will be disclosed in September.
