As we are soaring through 2019, fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo is not. Luxury shoe and bag maker is suffering from a 14 per cent drop in core profits as of 2018. The history of this fashion house is very rich, interesting, and inspiring. The Salvatore Ferragamo Group began when its founder with the same name moved from Bonito, Italy, to Santa Barbara, California, with his brothers and opened a shop for shoe repairs and “made-to-measure” shoes. Celebrities fawned over these new shoes, but they were very uncomfortable. As a result, young Ferragamo went to University of Southern California to study anatomy to fix his painful shoes. After spending a little over a decade in the States, Ferragamo returned to Italy and began focusing on luxury shoes for women. Despite many pitfalls due to poor economic management, the fashion house has achieved great success in making themselves a designer household name. But, looking at their sales from 2018 and entering into 2019, they are having trouble capturing the newest, younger audience. The company reported in January a 1.4 per cent decline in their full-year-like-for-like sales. As I was researching this, I found so many interesting ~fun~ facts about the company and other big fashion houses, and the conglomerates that own them. It is very insane how messy the fashion industry, and how much power is concentrated within two big conglomerates and the individuals lucky enough to be in them. For my next post, I will be looking at interesting partnerships in fashion. Isn’t interesting that Dior, Louis Vitton, and Kat Von D Beauty (ew) are owned by the same company? The same company that produces Moët & Chandon champagne and Hennessy?! And Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, and VOLCOM are all owned by Kering company?!?!?! On another note, remember when Versace was bought by Michael Kors and everyone lost it! I did too at first, because Versace....and Michael....Kors.....?? You could never catch me in MK, personal opinion though. Well, after reading about these conglomerates, it was a smart move. Americans are dead last in the fashion world, with French brands absolutely dominating since the beginning of fashion. Well, Michael Kors is starting its own conglomerate, securing its purchases with Versace and Jimmy Choo.
