Luvanis

Luvanis S.A. is a private investment company headquartered in Luxembourg and specialized in the incubation and revival of long-dormant luxury brands,[1] also coined as “sleeping beauties”.[2][3]

Luvanis
IndustryLuxury Goods
Founded11 February 2009
HeadquartersLuxembourg City, Luxembourg
Key people
Arnaud de Lummen, Managing director
Guy de Lummen, Board member
Carlo Schneider, Board member Pierre Mallevays, Board member
BrandsCharles James
Finnigans
Mainbocher
Maquet
Rose Bertin
WebsiteLuvanis.com

History

Luvanis was founded in 2009 by Guy de Lummen and his son Arnaud de Lummen,[4] after the two revived French couture house Vionnet.[5][6]

In 2007, the father-and-son duo reintroduced the first Vionnet clothing line since 1939, with Sophia Kokosalaki as creative director and Barneys New York as exclusive distributor.[7] After the initial reboot,[8] Arnaud and Guy de Lummen sold Vionnet to Italian entrepreneurs Matteo Marzotto, former CEO of Valentino, and Gianni Castiglioni, CEO and owner of Marni.[9]

Building on their experience, the de Lummens incorporated Luvanis, focused on identifying and acquiring the rights to forgotten brand gems[10] in order to reposition them and find partners or investors to fund their relaunch.[11] The business model attempts to strike a balance between reasserting the brands’ heritage,[12] and updating it for the present.[13]

Over the years, Luvanis has constituted a portfolio of long-dormant ‘sleeping beauty’ brands composed of former luxury houses in fashion, shoes, leather goods, jewelry, perfume, and champagne, which had enjoyed decades of success before closing doors.[14]

Brands selected will typically have received great recognition[15] both in their prime (prizes at World's fairs, imperial or royal warrants) and later on, with for instance dedicated exhibitions (such as Paul Poiret or Charles James honored at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), or in some cases by becoming the object of a strong cult following.[16]

Publicized revivals

In 2009, Luvanis acquired rights over the luxury trunk maker Moynat. Established in Paris in 1849, Moynat was a peer to Goyard and Louis Vuitton, before disappearing in 1976.[17] Luvanis introduced the revival opportunity to Bernard Arnault who bought Moynat via Groupe Arnault.[18] Moynat reopened with a flagship store in Paris in December 2011,[19] followed by shops in London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Seoul, Taipei, Singapore and Dubai.

Luvanis also repositioned for revival the French trunk maker Au Départ,[20] and the American leather goods company Belber.[11] Luvanis sold Belber to the former owners of Alain Figaret and Delvaux, who released a new collection of bags and accessories in 2016,[21] and assigned Au Départ to Asian investors, who released a new collection of trunks and bags featuring the signature monogram motif upon a launch on Paris' historic rue Saint Honoré in 2019.[22][23]

In the wake of a landmark exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the American fashion designer Charles James in 2014,[24] Luvanis joined forces and trademarks rights with the designer’s heirs in June 2016, paving the way for the revival of the couture house.[25][26] In September 2018, Luvanis revealed a new visual identity for Charles James, and put up for sale all the brands rights, which had been consolidated in the previous years.[27]

In October 2014, Luvanis received extensive press attention when it announced the sale of the Paul Poiret brand, as well as of part of the house’s archives.[28] In August 2015, after a long and careful selection process, Luvanis entered into an agreement with the South Korean luxury group Shinsegae International for the sale of Paul Poiret.[29] Shinsegae officially confirmed the sale in January 2018. The house reopened with Belgian businesswoman Anne Chapelle at its helm, and Paris-based Chinese couturier Yiqing Yin as its artistic director.[30] Poiret showed its first new collection in March 2018 after a 90-year hiatus.[31]

Luvanis was the lead corporate sponsor of an exhibition on Mainbocher held at the Chicago History Museum between October 2016 and August 2017, which garnered more than 100,000 visitors. Luvanis announced plans to revive the couture house shortly after.[15]

Notable brands

The most notable long heritage brands currently or formerly part of Luvanis portfolio include the following:

Brand Description Creation Became Dormant Status
Vever French Jeweler 1821 1982 Revived in 2021 by Camille and Damien Vever[32]
Finnigans British Trunk Maker 1830 1988
Au Départ French Trunk Maker 1834 1976 Revived in 2019 by new owners
Maquet French Leather

and Stationery Maker

 1841 1993
Moynat French Trunk Maker 1849 1976 Revived in 2011 by new owner Bernard Arnault[1]
Belber Trunk Maker 1891 1970 Revived in 2016 by new owners[1]
Paul Poiret French Couture House 1903 1929 Revived in 2018 by new owner Shinsegae International[1]
Vionnet French Couture House 1912 1939 Revived in 2007 by Luvanis' owners; now owned by Goga Ashkenazi[1]
Charles James British-American Couture House 1928 1958
Mainbocher French-American Couture House 1929 1971
Herbert Levine American Shoe Maker 1948 1975

Notes and references
  1. Zanon, Johanna (2018). "Reawakening the 'Sleeping Beauties' of Haute Couture: The Case of Guy and Arnaud de Lummen". In Blaszczyk, Regina Lee; Pouillard, Véronique (eds.). European Fashion: The Creation of a Global Industry. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-2210-0.
  2. Zanon, Johanna (2017). The 'Sleeping Beauties' of Haute Couture: Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, Madeleine Vionnet. Oslo: University of Oslo. pp. 1–26.
  3. Dion, Delphine; Mazzalovo, Gérald (2016). "Reviving sleeping beauty brands by rearticulating brand heritage". Journal of Business Research. 69 (12): 5894–5900. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.105.
  4. Zanon, Johanna (2017). The 'Sleeping Beauties' of Haute Couture: Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, Madeleine Vionnet. Oslo: University of Oslo. pp. 55–87.
  5. Diliberto, Gioia (2006-08-27). "Revival of the Fittest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  6. Menkes, Suzy (2006-12-18). "Renaissance of Vionnet: A bias toward elegance - Style & Design - International Herald Tribune". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  7. "Vionnet's Revival". Wall Street Journal. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  8. Menkes, Suzy (2007-10-08). "Turnaround begins at Vionnet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  9. Ilari, Alessandra (2009-02-24). "Marzotto, Castiglioni Buy Vionnet". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  10. Solca, Luca (2015-05-12). "Cinderellas, Snow Whites or Sleeping Beauties?". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  11. Socha, Miles (2012-05-02). "Arnaud de Lummen: Fashion's Brand Reviver". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  12. Liroy, Choufan (2012-03-21). "Why Relaunch Old Fashion Houses?". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  13. Cochrane, Lauren (2014-11-07). "Why fashion loves to revive heritage brands". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  14. Thomson, Adam (26 September 2013). "Arnaud de Lummen Awakens Vintage Luxury Brands from their Slumber". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  15. Foreman, Katya (2016-12-12). "Arnaud de Lummen on Reviving Sleeping Beauties". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  16. "Brands & Culture. The 31st Marques Annual Conference". www.marques.org. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  17. Voight, Rebecca (2015-04-30). "The Cult of French Luxury Brand Moynat". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  18. Narayan, Shoba (2012-03-06). "Arnault Eyes Bags of Potential in Trunk-Maker". Financial Times.
  19. Socha, Miles (2011-12-01). "Bernard Arnault Revives Trunk Maker Moynat". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  20. Elliott, Hannah. "Coming Soon: The Glamorous Fashion Brands You've Never Heard Of". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  21. "Press Release – The Revival of Belber 1891" (PDF). Belber commercial website. 2016-01-15.
  22. Theodosi, Natalie (2019-09-30). "Heritage Trunk Maker Au Départ Returns With 'Extreme Luxury' Vision". WWD. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  23. "Au Départ Looks To The Future With Latest Collection | V Magazine". vmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  24. "Charles James: Beyond Fashion". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  25. Socha, Miles (2016-06-23). "Charles James Heirs Seek Brand Revival With New Partner". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  26. Koski, Lorna (2018-03-13). "Charles James: Portrait of an 'Unreasonable' Designer". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  27. Diderich, Joelle (2018-09-07). "EXCLUSIVE: Charles James Brand Rights Up for Sale". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  28. Friedman, Vanessa. "Fashionistas and Investors Start Salivating: Paul Poiret Is For Sale". On the Runway Blog. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  29. Socha, Miles (2015-08-10). "Paul Poiret Trademarks Acquired By Shinsegae International". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  30. Diderich, Joelle (2018-02-27). "EXCLUSIVE: Yiqing Yin on Reviving Poiret for the 21st Century". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  31. "The King of Fashion's House Gets a Second Chance at Life". The Fashion Law. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  32. "A Paris Jewelry House Comes Back to Life". The New York Times. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

Further reading
  • Zanon, Johanna (2018). “Reawakening the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ of Haute Couture: The Case of Guy and Arnaud de Lummen,” in European Fashion: The Creation of a Global Industry, Regina Lee Blaszczyk and Véronique Pouillard eds., Manchester: Manchester University Press 2018.
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