October 3, 2024
LVMH Sells Virgil Abloh’s Off-White Brand To Bluestar Alliance
The fashion world has concerns about LVMH selling Off-White to Bluestar Alliance.
LVMH decided to sell Virgil Abloh’s Off-White brand on the late founder’s 44th birthday, and the buyer has much of the fashion world concerned.
On Monday, LVMH announced that it will sell Off-White LLC to Bluestar Alliance. This brand management company oversees labels like Tahari, Bebe, and Scotch & Soda, Business of Fashion reported. The brand’s new owner has a reputation for acquiring distressed labels and licensing their names, which has sparked concerns about the luxury streetwear pioneer’s future direction.
“It seems as if the full-price luxury market has given up on the brand,” said Gary Wassner, chief executive of financing and factoring company Hilldun Corporation.
“If you look at [Bluestar’s] roster of brands, I believe their intention would be to license the Off-White brand into lower price-point categories.”
The acquisition comes at a crucial time for Off-White’s future in the wake of Abloh’s 2021 passing. The brand recently hosted its first-ever presentation at New York Fashion Week in September. CEO Cristiano Fagnani has also shared company goals of re-establishing Off-White’s connection with its core consumers, wholesale partners, and key collaborator, Nike.
While it remains uncertain if Bluestar Alliance will maintain and invest in Fagnani’s goals for the company, Wassner thinks Bluestar is more likely to reposition Off-White towards a more accessible market through licensing. He noted the firm’s reputation for acquiring struggling contemporary designer brands like Catherine Malandrino and Nanette Lepore to license them.
Licensing makes brands more accessible and affordable, which benefits the average consumer but can undermine a luxury brand’s appeal to fashion connoisseurs and high-end clientele. Bluestar has made its focus on licensing very clear when acquiring other brands in the past.
“Our core business is licensing,” Bluestar Alliance CEO Joey Gabbay said about the brand’s acquisition of Scotch & Soda. “Once we got our arms around the brand, we had our partners come in and take over certain aspects of the business.”
Adding to the speculation, the company has also faced lawsuits from both Lepore and Malandrino, accusing it of business practices that allegedly cut the designers off from their own namesake labels after the acquisition.
According to Jessica Ramirez, a senior retail analyst at Jane Hali & Associates, LVMH’s decision to sell Off-White was logical. The brand had become an underperforming one following Abloh’s death. Unlike other luxury houses that have thrived under new creative leadership, Off-White struggled to regain footing after the founders’ untimely passing.
“Off-White hasn’t been the luxury brand that we knew,” she said. “It lost its way, unfortunately.”