Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our RSS feed or Email notifications for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss!

It definitely pays to be the boss of a giant Corporation. Liz Claiborne appointed William L. McComb as CEO in 2006 where he received total compensation of $944,000 for that year.

William after only spending his first full year on the job earned from 2007-2008 a total of $6.3 million in salary ($1.3 million), stock and options awards ($4.5 million), bonuses ($325,000) and company perks.($113,000 apartment and $6k plus in apparel)

source:WWD

Popularity: 8% [?]

There’s no doubt that the current state of the economy and the dollar is dropping by the day, but not all businesses in the apparel industry are suffering. Li & Fung an apparel sourcing giant boosted sales to $11.85 billion with profits soaring to $408.6 million the strongest gain posted in seven years.

Li & Fung is based out Hong Kong where they source apparel, accessories, and footwear throughout Asia and has over 80 offices in more than 40 countries.

There three year plan is to grow profits to $1 billion while increasing sales to $20 billion by year 2010…not a bad goal if achieved.

To me its fascinating seeing the gap between sales and actual profits when dealing with the apparel industry. There is usually such a wide gap, because operating cost are far greater than in most industries. Considering that you can run a site generating $20,000 a month on the internet and operating cost being only $200-$500 depending on the type of site and hosting…notice most of the sales are pure profit.

Juniors clothing line Hot Kiss has sold a majority stake (Undisclosed stake) of their $100 million a year company for $20 million to Bluestar Alliance a private equity fund.

The strategy of the sale is for Hot Kiss to build a retail division, grow its licensing, partner with better manufacturers and possibly lower wholesale prices.

Founder Moshe Tsebag will remain at the company as the director of marketing and merchandising. Son and daughter Jordan Tsebag and Hallie Tsebag will also continue their positions at Hot Kiss.

Source: (You Guys Didn?t Think We Knew Everything Did You )Apparel News

Popularity: 3% [?]

L’Oreal a leader in cosmetics and beauty proposed to acquire YSL Beaute Holding for $1.68 billion. If they are acquired the transaction will include the Robert & Gallet subsidiary. YSL is partly owned by the PPR subsidiary Gucci Group.

Though not directly related to the fashion industry, but couldn’t have been done without the original fashion house and acquiring licensing and distribution for their beauty and fragrance division and something every designer will hopefully one day aspire to have a full empire grown from the idea of a clothing company.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This is sort of a cross between an inspirational post and a Pick of the Day.

ASR Collection is headed up by 21 year old Ashley Reed out of Detroit, Michigan. Her journey into the fashion industry began back in 2001 after classmates where interested as to where they could purchase her customized clothes. ASR was named after Ashley by using the initials of her full name Ashley Sierra Reed.

At the tender age of 21 her clothing line has been featured in magazines (Most recently Right On Magazine) and newspapers all across the US and the clothing has been adorned by celebrities like Chris Brown.

Now she has been selected as one of Business Weeks Finalists for Best Young Entrepreneurs of 2007 amongst 24 other enterprising young individuals. Read the Business Week article on Ashley by clicking here.

See more of ASR Collection by going to the online shop.

Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss! or Our RSS Feed

Continue This Discussion In Dobizo Forum

Great day for Mitchell & Ness after being acquired by the sports licensed division of the Adidas Group for an undisclosed amount. I’m sure it is north of $30-$40 million, but not much more than that considering they do hold many licensing agreements within the sports arena and was founded in 1904. Mitchell & Ness still has not made much noise since the coined “Throwback Jersey” phase that happened a few years back when they were going for $200-$600+ a jersey or shirt. The acquisition price also depends on what the specifics of the deal was and if any or all the executives over at Mitchell & Ness stayed on board or not.

Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss! or Our RSS Feed

Continue This Discussion In Dobizo Forum

Popularity: 3% [?]

This is the inspiration post for today. I know we all dream of the day our brand is purchased for millions…maybe even billions if you reach the iconic status of Ralph Lauren or a Tommy Hilfiger.

We wrote about Artful Dodger and the rumor that they were to be acquired by Iconix Brand and Jay-Z here. Iconix has moved forward and made the purchase for $15 million in a all cash transaction. The deal was part of their new established joint venture Scion, LLC, from its former owner Sovereign State LLC. Scion has entered into a multi-year license with Signature Apparel Group for Artful Dodger men?s and women?s sportswear.

Many don’t know, but Artful Dodger is designed by Scott Langton who designs another self-named brand that resembles Artful Dodger. It is less street/urban inspired and has a more fitted silhouette than its brother Artful Dodger.

Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss! or Our RSS Feed

Continue This Discussion In Dobizo Forum

Global futbol/Soccer U.K. based brand Umbro has a very inspirational message for us today. They’ve announced that Nike has acquired their company in a $582 million all cash transaction. This is Nike’s effort to reach new grounds and expand in a market that it lacks in, which is soccer.

Considering Umbro has a strong presence in the soccer industry generating over $200 million in revenue last year alone this makes for a great move by Nike to close in on Adidas who prevails in the soccer market. Umbro is distributed through out 90 countries through licensees and has marketing relationships with many top futbol/soccer players.

Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss! or Our RSS Feed

Continue This Discussion In Dobizo Forum

Popularity: 3% [?]

Very inspirational for any company to get their own patent in an industry that is synonymous with bootleggers, counterfeiters, and true uniqueness & creativity coming only a dime a dozen.

Ka Wang Holding Inc. is the parent company of Ka Wang department stores in Southern China, which has been operating for twenty seven years (1980) and is also the innovators behind a new blue jean patent fabric.

Last month (I know I’m late, but nobody has covered it ) Ka Wang holding signed a $15,000,000 contract to produce their patented blue jean fabric for textile companies in the Hunan Providence in Northern China. Over the next year the contract states that Ka Wang will deliver an additional 1130 metric tons of the newly developed high density, soft as cotton, fabric material.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Koch Lorber Films is distributing the movie Lagerfeld Confidentiel on October 24 as a day to day documentary on one of the fashion industry’s most prominent designers in history…next to Ralph Lauren (In my opinion) .

The film is composed of over three years of work and three hundred hours of footage to create a behind the scenes footage of public and private life of Karl Lagerfeld from day to day interactions to constructing designer wares and extravagant fashion events from a legendary designers perspective.

If you would like to see preview footage click here.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just a little inspiration don’t take it to heart and think I’m telling you to blow your money on expensive cars that will depreciate in value soon as you drive them off the lot….okay.

If you remember Monarchy Clothing Collection was bought out by Hartmarx a couple of months back for $12 million in cash after only three years in business. Eric Kim decided to splurge a little bit this year and had a little car show in front of his Monarchy Office.

You can see the pictures below:

Popularity: 4% [?]

This is a great inspiration for any clothing company that is lead by a true apparel designer and not just another business men or women capitalizing off of a profitable market.

MVBY the abbreviation of My Vintage Baby clothing received the Earnie Award which according to Yahoo Finance has the same clout as an oscar or grammy in the children’s apparel industry. MVBY won the award for the Earnshaw Magazine Sportswear 2T-6X category.

My Vintage Baby Clothing was started in 2003 with the “Collections By Jessica” collection and in four short years has expanded and is selling in over 600 stores nationwide.

Earnshaw Magazine is a leading publication for the children’s apparel industry and has been honoring manufacturers and designers with design excellence in the market for over 3 decades. The companies are nominated within 20 categories including: accessories, footwear, licensed apparel, sportswear, formal wear, outerwear, swim wear, infants and toddlers’ apparel.

The ceremony will be next week on Monday October 15 at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York alongside a runway show.