Word: bensoussan
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...calls every day," says Robert Bensoussan, CEO of Jimmy Choo, who, with funding from private equity, took the brand from $20 million to $140 million in sales in five years. "Whether they are managers asking for advice on how to speak to private equity, family-owned companies asking what working with private equity is like or private-equity people saying, We're interested in your success story...
...Bensoussan, who had orchestrated the sale of British apparel firm Joseph to a Belgian investment group and before that had been president of Christian Lacroix at LVMH, ultimately sold Jimmy Choo in 2004 to Lion Capital for five times what he and his partners at Phoenix Equity Partners originally paid in 2001. "It gave a lot of people a wake-up call," he says...
...Bensoussan helped limit his risk potential at Jimmy Choo by building a classic collection. "There were these fabulous styles that they used to throw away every season," he says. "Now 10% of our collection is made up of classic styles, and that group has become 25% of the business." Bensoussan made other changes too, streamlining production, opening more stores and adding handbags and eventually fragrances to the line. "We had a Ferrari, but we had to put a bigger engine...
...family-owned companies like Piazza Sempione eager to maintain some sort of control, private equity is a plus. "Before, the only chance for a family company was to sell themselves to a big conglomerate or luxury group," says Bensoussan. "And then they would lose all their power." And it's good for managers; it gives them something they like. "Freedom!" says Bensoussan, laughing. "If you deliver what you promise, it's a dream world." Working for a conglomerate like Gucci or LVMH has its advantages?access to real estate, saving on advertising. But there are downsides. "Sometimes the smaller companies...
...will that formula change the face of luxury? "If they change something in fashion, it will be in how they manage companies, but it will never be the product, the style, the design," says Bensoussan. "They don't know anything about it. After all, the next day they are looking into fruit smoothies...
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