NEARLY a year after it was put up for sale, historic French fashion house Paul Poiret has been sold to South Korean conglomerate Shinsegae International which hopes to reinvent the brand for a modern consumer, reports WWD. The plan for the label is to focus on fragrance and beauty to begin with before moving on to fashion and accessories, according to Pierre Mallevays, the managing director of London-based practice that represents the seller, Luvanis SA.
Read more: POIRET'S BOUND TO HISTORY
"They want to reinvent the DNA and make it relevant to today," Mallevays said. "They're not buying it to make it a Korean brand. They're buying it to develop it based out of Paris and distribute it on the international market. They're very sophisticated, and they really understand brands."
The trademark rights that are a part of the sale - of which financial details have not yet been disclosed - include extensive rights to the archive collection.
Read more: POIRET REMEMBERED
Poiret "bridges fashion with the art world and invented much of what is still taking place in fashion today," said Harold Choi, president and chief executive officer of Shinsegae International, which is expected to make an official statement later today. "We look forward to working to create today's version of the brand across several product categories."
Paul Poiret, who died in 1944, enjoyed huge international acclaim early in the 20th century for his designs, which discarded corsets and restrictive silhouettes in favour of loose-fitting, diaphanous dresses and separates. While he was honoured with an exhibition at Azzedine Alaïa's Paris flagship in 2005, it was 2007 when his eponymous fashion house most recently took to the limelight, when it provided the inspiration for the Costume Institute Gala dress code.
