Edgy Parisian label The Kooples will lay off its Bloomingdale’s workers by February on the heels of its Robertson Boulevard flagship closure.
The contemporary brand plans to lay off 28 employees across its Bloomingdale’s shop-in-shops by Feb. 28, according to Employment Development Department records. The layoffs in Southern California impact the company’s Bloomingdale’s outposts at the Beverly Center, Westfield Century City, Glendale Galleria, Westfield Fashion Square, South Coast Plaza and Fashion Valley. In Northern California, the closures are at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and Valley Fair in Santa Clara.
The layoffs were first reported by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The report, citing documents filed with the state, said the California layoffs are part of a broader restructuring for The Kooples that will see all North American locations closed by February.
Earlier this month, The Kooples shuttered its boutiques on Robertson Boulevard and Mercer Street in Manhattan’s SoHo.
The Robertson closure comes a decade after the store first opened to mark The Kooples’ first-ever U.S. flagship on the popular shopping block.
“The New Kooples”
News of the restructuring for the brand founded in 2008 by brothers Alexandre, Laurent and Raphaël Elicha comes about five years after Lacoste owner Maus Frères bought The Kooples.
The Geneva brand was founded in 1902 by department store owner Leon Nordmann, along with the brothers Ernest and Henri Maus, and opened its first store in Luzern.
MF installed Romain Guinier as Kooples general manager in 2019. He was replaced two years later by Marie Schott, the former CEO of Etam and founder of lingerie brand AnaShaf. At the same time, Capucine Safyurtlu, a former Vogue Paris editor, joined as creative director.
The two were charged with rebooting the accessible luxury brand originally built off design cues from rock ‘n’ roll.
“Back to style and radicalism,” was part of the marketing language.
The new look debuted with the Winter 2022 collection and a global flagship store at 93 Avenue des Champs-Élysées was set to symbolize the new beginning.
Safyurtlu and Schott didn’t stay long. The former Kooples creative director left in March 2023, while Schott parted ways a few months later. Anne-Laure Couplet, a former CEO at Burton, then took the reins.
Dealmaking and Players
The operating environment isn’t an easy one outside of the off-price channel. Still, those in the catbird seat found ways to make opportunistic plays locally in 2024.
That included Guess Inc.’s purchase of New York contemporary label Rag & Bone. Last year the business had $250 million in 2023 revenue with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $18 million.
The Los Angeles denim firm formed a joint venture with WHP Global to buy Rag & Bone’s intellectual property. Guess also bought the label’s operating assets, including its stores. Guess invested $56.5 million into the acquisition. It’s unclear how much WHP contributed.
Rag & Bone chair Andrew Rosen called the deal a “new chapter” for the brand, backed by two larger companies that can take it “to the next level.”
In June Revolve Group Inc. said it was buying a majority stake in French luxury fashion brand Alexandre Vauthier. Revolve, already familiar with the brand by way of being a vendor through its luxury retailer FWRD, sees potential similar to Guess to scale its acquired business.
Revolve Group co-CEO and co-founder Michael Mente said the acquisition will “ignite a new era of fashion influence in luxury to build an iconic French maison.”
Time will tell what Guess and Revolve will bring to the table for their recent buys, but 2025 is likely to bear out in some telltale indicators.
Be First to Comment