A deal that ends well for the designer house Sonia Rykiel.
This case, which we have been following since the beginning on our blog, has again been marked by a new twist.
A new twist among others in the mini-series "Will the fashion house Sonia Rykiel be saved? ».
On December 18th, the luxury brand finally found a buyer, or rather two buyers.
They are the co-founding brothers of the French online store Showroomprivé, Eric and Michael Dayan.
This takeover of the luxury brand was made official by the co-founders in a press release they published on their site.
They recover all the "assets" of the French designer house, i.e. its archives, its stocks, the brands "Sonia Rykiel", "Rykiel Homme", the line "Sonia by Sonia Rykiel" and "intangible assets related to the world of perfumes, beauty and lifestyle".
"With their know-how and perfect expertise in the fashion, brand and digital sectors", according to a sentence in their press release.
The brothers then add that their "objective is to promote the House of Sonia Rykiel in France and abroad, which remains a jewel of French heritage".
It is also stated that "the House Sonia Rykiel is back in 2020, a new adventure for the brand and the two entrepreneurs".
Small reminder of the situation.
On July 25, 2019, the fashion house of Sonia Rykiel, for lack of a buyer, had been placed in receivership. At the time of this recovery, it had a network of six shops and four destocking stores, and made a little more than 50% of its sales in France. It also had 131 employees.
After 51 years of existence, the brand closed its doors, only three years after the death of its founder.
What strategy did the fashion house employ?
When reading this press release, we can try to imagine what direction these two bosses intend to take the luxury brand in.
For example, the experience of these two entrepreneurs in the digital world. Their online destocking site is a very financially stable site and it is gaining significant market share in Europe.
We also have the direction that all the major fashion houses want to take, especially in the luxury universe.
In recent years, in order to attract an increasingly connected and social network-conscious population, the major brands have redoubled their efforts to win market share in the digital world.
Then finally, we have the current situation: the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic that is paralyzing the entire planet.
Containment situations (and re-containment for some countries at the time of writing) and health measures taken by countries can prevent full exploitation of the brand in hard-shell stores.
This would be a financial gamble far too risky for a luxury brand seeking to rise from its ashes.
The solution would therefore be a 100% digital orientation. The creation of an e-commerce site and advertising that would use the full striking power of social networks.
We can have as an example the use of the social networks of the BALMAIN brand with the excellent work of their artistic director Olivier Rousteing.
And of course, keeping the brand's identity as much as possible: use of stripes and mesh work.
We can only wish good luck and a good return for this French designer brand.
The only negative point and yet a major negative point: the 131 employees of this brand. Having no more information about their futures, we can only think that they have, once and for all, said goodbye to the fashion house.
P.S.: The Sonia Rykiel instagram has been available since May. Don't hesitate to take a look at it. #Followthestripes
Photo credit: Sonia Rykiel
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