Japan’s retail powerhouse and most famously the owner of Uniqlo, Fast Retailing is strengthening its French connection with Christophe Lemaire. The conglomerate is acquiring a minority stake in the Parisian brand Lemaire that is co-designed by Christophe and Sarah-Linh Tran.
The financial details of the agreement have not been revealed as of yet but along with the acquisition, Fast Retailing also announced that Christophe Lemaire is going to be heading Uniqlo’s Paris R&D Centre for another five years. His renewed contract will mean that Lemaire will continue designing the Uniqlo U-line and perhaps will keep contributing ideas to the design of the retail’s central assortment.
Tadashi Yanai, CEO, Fast Retailing that owns other popular fashion brands like Theory and Helmut Lang, told the press, “I am pleased to deepen our partnership with Mr. Lemaire even more. I hope that our new level of involvement will help to facilitate further growth and development of the brand Lemaire.”
Lemaire posted US $ 12 million in revenues in 2017 and expected projections for the label are at US $ 14 million in 2018. The label sells contemporary women’s and menswear in a ratio of 75:25 per cent and is priced mostly under the US $ 1000 tag which is much lesser than similar competitors Loewe and Celine.
Yuki Katsuta, Head of Uniqlo R&D and Group Officer of the parent company added, “With this extended partnership, we are able to benefit from Christophe’s knowledge regarding apparel design and creative talents. And his wide network in the industry will help us secure creative talents in the future.”
