Lvmh sells Off-White: brand seeking revival passes to US group
Founded in 2012 by Virgil Abloh and an icon of streetwear success, it was sold to the US-based brand management company Bluestar Alliance, which controls brands in the large retail sector
2' min read
2' min read
Not only brand acquisitions and investments in other groups: the Lvmh group, the first in the global luxury industry, has decided to sell Off-White Llc, the company behind the Off-White brand, founded by Virgil Abloh in 2012. The buyer is Bluestar Alliance, a brand management company based in New York, which does not deal with luxury brands but with brands in large retail and department stores, especially in the US, including Hurley, Scotch & Soda, Elie Tahari, Catherine Malandrino, Nanette Lepore.
An inglorious end, then, for a streetwear brand that had periods of great success, thanks to the creative vision of its founder, Virgil Abloh, but which, with his untimely death in November 2021, began its downward parabola. Lvmh, which disclosed the news on the day Abloh would have turned 44, had invested in the brand three years ago, taking over 60% of its ownership, and in the note announcing the sale (the value of which was not disclosed) states that it is "proud of the legacy that Off-White has built under Virgil Abloh's visionary leadership" and that "Bluestar Alliance is the perfect partner to take this legacy into the future". In 2018, Virgil Abloh had also been appointed creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, Lvmh's flagship brand.
Less stringent was the comment from Bluestar Alliance, in the words of its CEO and founder, Joey Gabbay: "Virgil was a creative pioneer who had a profound impact on the global fashion industry and creative community. Taking over Off-White represents a unique opportunity for us to honour and build on Virgil Abloh's legacy," also citing "strategic investments" to continue the designer's project.
The sale of Off-White is consistent with the cooling of the streetwear phenomenon, as is also shown by Vf's sale of Supreme, another highly successful brand in the industry, earlier this year to Essilux for $1.5 billion. Vf had taken it over in 2020 for $2.1 billion. However, the brand had sought a relaunch: in June 2023, it had appointed Cristiano Fagnani as its new CEO, and at the recent New York Fashion Week it had presented the S/S 2025 collection signed by its new creative director, Ib Kamara, who had decided to leave the Paris calendar for the US city.
Signs of trouble, however, were evident, such as the decision to leave the Chinese market, where consumption has definitely slowed down, by closing its sales outlets in Beijing, Chengdu, Xian and Shanghai.
