Pursuits
LVMH to Sell Donna Karan to G-III Apparel for $650 Million
- DKNY to join Calvin Klein, Vince Camuto brands at G-III
- Brand that defined successful women’s wardrobes struggles
Donna Karan Fall Winter 2015 New York Fashion Week.
Photographer: Catwalking/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
LVMH agreed to sell Donna Karan International to G-III Apparel Group Ltd. for an enterprise value of $650 million, a rare disposal for the French luxury-goods maker, which failed to turn around a label that once defined workplace attire for successful U.S. women.
The sale reflects LVMH’s inability to generate profitable growth from the business, which has counted Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama among its fans. Co-founder Donna Karan transformed professional women’s wardrobes in the 1980s and ’90s with her design philosophy of “seven easy pieces” that could be mixed and matched, but the spread of casual workplace dressing has proved a challenge.