Richemont acquires Belgian leather goods brand Delvaux

By

Marion Deslandes

Translated by
Jennifer Braun

Published
Jul 1, 2021

Richemont is expanding its fashion and accessories portfolio. The Swiss group, owner of Cartier, Net-à-Porter, Chloé, Dunhill, Alaïa and more, announced on Wednesday the acquisition of historic Belgian leather goods house Delvaux. Founded in 1829 in Brussels, the luxury brand was acquired by First Heritage Brands, an investment company within Hong Kong Fung Brands (Li & Fung) group, in 2011. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. 

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the house claimed an annual turnover of more than 100 million euros, achieved in particular through its network of 50 stores, and through its wholesale channel. It only first launched e-commerce in the spring of 2020.

After leading Delvaux from 2012 to 2018, Marco Probst regained management of the brand in December 2019, succeeding Jean-Marc Loubier. Before that, from 2010 to 2012, he served as director of operations at Richemont-owned fashion house, Chloé.

Note that the house's artistic director since 2017, Christina Zeller, decided to leave the company for "personal reasons" in autumn last year, after ten years with the company. Since Zeller's departure, the creative studio has taken over her responsibilities. And so, the takeover by the Richemont group may just be accompanied by the announcement of a new head of creative direction, in the coming months.

The acquisition is expected to allow the leather goods brand to enter its next stage of development, by allowing it to take advantage of the Richemont's global presence and digital capabilities, in order to develop its omnichannel capabilities and its customer engagement, according to a statement, sent by the luxury group. The group is expected to share financial requests for the first quarter of 2021/2022 on July 16.

Over the last financial year (ended March 31, 2021), Richemont saw its sales fall by 8% to 13.1 billion euros. After a bumpy first quarter (-26%), activity recovered in the fourth quarter (+30%), thanks to the dynamism of its jewelry brands, online sales and the Chinese market.