Aquascutum Will Still Hum

Venerated but troubled British luxury line, Aquascutum may have found the answer to its money woes in Chinese investment firm YGM, which already owns a vast majority.

Now with the acquisition of the British ready to wear division, the brand will be completely in pocket

Still big in Europe, 'Aqua' will be the newest addition to YGM's growing fashion roster (they already own another fabled label, Guy Laroche) and the latest in new Asian markets investing in storied Western fashion houses.

This is a trend that has only just begun and an exciting announcement for other houses that are on the verge of irrelevance (see: since 2001 Taiwanese media mogul Shaw-Lan Wang has revitalized Lanvin with 100% support of Alber Elbaz's creative vision) or need dusting off (just this week WWD reported another French fashion fave of yesterday, Mainbocher, being spruced up for potential buyers)

Having built their fortunes (like many British labels) on water resistant men's outerwear and suiting, Aquascutum pulled a GAP and tried to make itself hip only to alienate its core clientele. Now, after three years of losses, this plan failed and Aquascutum was on the brink of bankruptcy and desperately needed this last minute rescue.




To be continued...