Christian Lacroix is already tipped to be the most exciting fashion comeback of 2010, with the news that the company has been pulled out of administration by Al Hassan Bin Al Nuaimi, the sheik of Ajman.
While an official confirmation is yet to be issued, a report in today's WWD suggests that the deal includes the payment of third-party debts and as such is awaiting approval by the commercial court in the US. Al Nuami is expected to continue the couture arm of the business, and seek to underscore its prominence in the luxury arena.
He purchases the renowned French house from US owner the Falic Group, which in turn bought it from luxury powerhouse LVMH in 2005. Lacroix went into administration in May this year, becoming the face of a once-formidable luxury brand ruthlessly cut down by the worldwide recession.
Its absence has certainly been felt in Paris this week, where its ready-to-wear collection has been notably absent from the schedule.
"What really hurts is that my name, which I have now lost, is the name of my family," Lacroix told the Daily Telegraph when the company's financial woes became public earlier this year. "Whoever does take over the business can use it and abuse it as they like, but it's my father's name, and my grandfather's name - men who brought me up to have a very rigid moral backbone; men who taught me never to have any debts."
Picture: Christian Lacroix, autumn/winter 2009.
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