2007: The Year Of The Deal

This year depressed a lot of people in fashion. It was the year that the private equity players really took force, buying some of the biggest names in fashion, for some outstanding sums. Jimmy Choo, Valentino, Halston all went to private equity. Proenza Schouler sold a minority stake to Valentino Fashion Group only to see it gobbled by private equity group Premira. Other pairings were even more odd: Roland Mouret teamed up with Spice Girls creator Simon Fuller. Industry executives realized they could make more money investing in brands than advising investors and set up their own funds. Marty Wikstrom and Dawn Mello are running a fund, Atelier, which owns Harrys of London, AdamPlusEve amongst others for Johan Rupert the chairman of Richemont. Former Bloomingdales chairman Marvin Traub set up a fund, TSM Capital, with two partners and have invested in Matthew Williamson and Rachel Roy so far. Peter Som sold to NRDC which also owns Lord & Taylor.

Every deal done made some think, "Thank God it's not me," but made others think, "Why can't it be me?" Some brands I hear still waiting for the money men to come knocking include, Christian LaCroix owners the Falic brothers, Jil Sander owners Capital Change Partners, Hussein Chalayan, Lucien Pellet Finet, and the owners of Patrick Cox. And from the banker point of view, the deal that was most anticipated -- the IPO of Prada -- never came.

An IPO might still be in the works, but the big deal pay days have come to an end for now. Valuations are coming back down to the point where strategic partners like LVMH, who hasn't bought anything in years, is thinking about coming back in.

But even if the fashion flock is worried that fashion has sold its soul to the money men -- and I've written a lot about which deals I think will turn out for the best and which worry me -- there is one upside. The flurry of deals this year will make for a fascinating 2008 as the new owners and the teams they've put together fight it out for department store space and consumer dollars. Tomorrow, the brands I'll be watching most closely next year.

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