NEW YORK – Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Last week, it was reported that DKNY, the fashion brand under LVMH since 2000, was being sold off.
Now, DKNY has confirmed that it's been sold to G-III Apparel Group for $650 million, which owns brands like the resort-centric apparel line Vilebrequin and Bass shoes.
"We believe the DKNY brand has a dynamic position in the market, and when G-III approached us about acquiring the brand, we concluded that the time was right and that G-III was the right steward going forward," said Toni Belloni, group managing director of LVMH, home to Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Kenzo and other stellar fashion companies, said in a Monday release.
After years of underwhelming sales and extensive changes to the brand, DKNY had attempted to turn itself around last year by hiring Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of the brand Public School. That came after the departure of Donna Karan from her own brand, and DKNY's creative director Jane Chung, who breathed life into the brand from the beginning.
Karan had launched DKNY in fall of 1985 as a women's collection called Seven Easy Pieces that could translate easily from day to night. It was revolutionary at the time -- women could wear something to work and then at night without breaking a sweat.
The brand was highly profitable. So much so, in 2000, the brand along with Donna Karan's mainstay line, sold to LVMH for $450 million.
But then in 2015, Karan was out, saying she wanted to focus on charity and her Urban Zen brand. Shortly after, two other major forces left including Patti Cohen, Karan's longtime publicist, and Aliza Licht, DKNY's SVP of global communications, who was best known as @DKNYPRGirl.
The company swiftly brought in Hector Muelas, formerly of Apple, as its creative director of digital. Sources say Muelas was a polarizing force and was "difficult to work with." The executive didn't last long and resigned in March.
That left Chow and Osborne at a huge disadvantage coming into the new gig. And with so many changes, nothing felt truly stable. The two were brought in to overturn the brand and revamp its aesthetic entirely, up against many obstacles and odds.
First up was a resurrection of its social channels to better suit the new vision of the brand. Gone was the inside look and friendly attitude Licht built for years. Behind-the-scenes photos were replaced with stark, black and white images of models in urban settings.
The theme wasn't discriminatory when it came to apparel. DKNY's new direction was a 180-degree change from its previous generations. Long gone were jewel-toned dresses, and sporty yet feminine chic frocks that attracted mall shoppers to young women. The brand that made the approachable Cozy Wrap was unrecognizable with Chow and Osborne's vision. It was replaced with a downtown, minimal vibe that looked more Public School than mass market brand that DKNY became synonymous with.
The two designers' first collection with the brand was Spring 2016, and showcased menswear-inspired looks from oversized pinstripe blazers, to masculine shirt-dresses. Its latest for Spring 2017 was an amalgamation of 90's-inspire dresses. Slouchy slip dresses, trousers, made for a cool, modern aesthetic.
But that new direction, as it turned out, also confused and alienated loyal customers.
With so much change, can DKNY overturn into a profitable company? The brand has an extensive history, for sure, and has a massive social following. Its Facebook page has close to 2 million likes. There's also social and cool cachet, with Chow and Osborne still part of the downtown set.
But what DKNY now needs is enough cool, more mass market appeal. The brand no longer has the luxury of being under LVMH. It now must meet expectations under a more mass market company like G-III Apparel Group, one that houses brands like Vince Camuto, Jones New York, Ellen Tracy, among others.
The new goal: Figuring out how to make cool mainstream, an oxymoron on its own.
