This will be a bit of a ramble, but I am trying to sort through my thoughts on Estee Lauder’s acquisition of Tom Ford. Without a doubt, a fantastic move for the man himself. Tom Ford is now a billionaire, perhaps the most suave one to date. But as a consumer, I wonder what this means. Upon hearing that the sale went through, I immediately thought, “Oh no, are they going to change the design? Is it going to go downhill from here without his creative direction? But what about the fragrances?”
A few hours later, I am coming at this from a different lens. To be honest, Estee Lauder already had the license for the beauty line. They were already doing that. They intend to license out the fashion. Someone else already had the license for shoes. It makes me think then, “What even is a fashion house these days?”
The current trend is for fashion house to be owned as a collective. Think of Kering, Richemont, LVMH, Only the Brave, and likely many more that I may be forgetting. Somehow all the brands within those portfolios maintain their distinctive story. Within Kering, you get still get a completely different outfit from Gucci than Saint Laurent. Even when brands are bought up, it’s bad business to just up and change things on your faithful customers. And possibly, it’s even worse to take away options to meet various needs in the market.
The conclusion of my ramble is that maybe I shouldn’t be so concerned. But I have to admit it is still weird to think of “Tom Ford” being owned by someone. I have come to associate the man- his suits, unplaceable accent, and poise- with the company. What will that mean when he is no long in control?
I will say that my thoughts are likely due to this being the first major movement I noticed since I have started following fashion more closely. But what are your thoughts? How are you making sense of this?
Some additional sources you can check out
Pauly, A. (November 15, 2022). Estée Lauder beats out Kering in $2.8 billion bid for Tom Ford. High Snobiety. https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/tom-ford-estee-lauder-acquisition/
Sherman, L. (August 1, 2022). Report: Estée Lauder in talks to acquire Tom Ford For $3 billion or more. Business of Fashion. https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/luxury/report-estee-lauder-may-buy-tom-ford-for-3-billion-or-more/
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