Just last month, talk was of Christian Lacroix coming back from the brink of bankruptcy with a bigger and better operation that would see him branch out into the luxury sector of hotels and private jets, while keeping his couture branch running. But that dream is in tatters today, after the commercial court in Paris approved a plan to convert the house into to a mere licensing operation.
Florida-based Falic Group has been named majority owner of the business, after the hotly-anticipated deal with Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi that would have seen it blossom in the luxury sector fell through. The plan now is to cut Lacroix's workforce by 100 to around a dozen employees and put the brakes on its high fashion and retail operations - though all is not entirely lost.
Nicolas Topiol, chief executive officer of Lacroix, confirmed that Falic Group would continue to negotiate with prospective buyers. "I am working on finding a solution for the company," he said. "Everything is still possible."
Monsieur Lacroix, who founded his own-name label 22 years ago, is however understandably feeling a little less positive.
"This is the most awful decision possible and I'm speechless with anger," he told WWD after the ruling. "I'll do my best to find a way of battling. But it seems no one is interested in the future of Lacroix in such a cynical world where the word 'fashion' doesn't have the same meaning as mine. My duty has to be struggling against the Falics... against this decision and against the state, who did nothing in fact."
It's believed that the new downsizing regime will be implemented over the coming month and, in the absence of further developments, that Topiol will reconstruct Lacroix's ready-to-wear and accessories business under license - adopting a similar model to those of Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano.
Picture: Christian Lacroix ready-to-wear, autumn/winter 2009.
christian-lacroix.fr
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