Marc Jacobs hands Greater China growth to I.T Group, with 280 points of sale

WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group have signed a partnership with I.T Group, a leading omnichannel fashion retailer, to accelerate growth of the Marc Jacobs brand across Greater China. The arrangement covers new stand-alone boutiques, shop-in-shop locations, digital commerce and wholesale distribution, layered on top of the brand's existing retail footprint.

The deal lands barely two months after new ownership took charge. On 1 September, LVMH completed its roughly $925 million sale of Marc Jacobs to WHP Global and G-III Apparel. WHP and G-III each hold 50 percent of the brand, while G-III also bought the operating business, concentrated in the US and Europe with more than 100 stores.

The structure is a joint venture: WHP leads the entity that owns the brand, and G-III supports it while running wholesale, retail and e-commerce. Marc Jacobs himself remains creative director and still leads the brand's vision, but the business machinery around him is shifting under the new ownership.

I.T Group was founded in Hong Kong in 1988 and now operates more than 280 points of sale plus a growing e-commerce platform across Greater China. Its retail concepts include I.T, i.t and EXI.T, and its digital platform carries more than 400 designer, contemporary and streetwear labels.

The company, led by founder and chairman Sham Car Wai, has spent nearly four decades introducing international fashion brands to the region. Its track record includes A Bathing Ape, Acne Studios, Carhartt WIP, Comme des Garçons, Off-White, Palm Angels and Study, among others.

"Marc Jacobs has a distinctive creative identity and strong appeal among consumers in Greater China," Wai said. "With our omnichannel platform, deep local market knowledge and nearly four decades of experience building international fashion brands in the region, we see significant potential to accelerate the brand's growth through retail expansion and digital commerce."

The platform spans mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, giving Marc Jacobs a single retail and digital partner across all four markets. I.T Group therefore carries the expansion on its own rails rather than the brand building a local operation piece by piece.

What the owners said about the deal

Morris Goldfarb, chairman and chief executive of G-III Apparel Group, said the company assesses each market on its own and installs the capabilities needed to drive the business. He described the goal as building Marc Jacobs for the long term.

Goldfarb added that I.T Group has a strong track record in Greater China and that he is confident in what the two can accomplish together. It is the first China move announced since WHP and G-III took control from LVMH in September.

Yehuda Shmidman, founder, chairman and chief executive of WHP Global, called the China partnership an important milestone. "We refocused on executing our global growth strategy for Marc Jacobs," he said, adding that the brand has significant opportunities ahead. "This is just the beginning."

Marc Jacobs is an American fashion brand founded by the designer in 1984, and we have followed its reshuffle closely. Weeks after the $925 million sale closed, the brand hired John Wattiker, a nearly fifteen-year Hearst Magazines veteran, as chief marketing officer under the new owners.

We also reported that Dr. Martens poached senior product talent from Marc Jacobs and Adidas, filling two newly created global roles reporting to chief brand officer Carla Murphy from November. The brand is losing people even as it adds a partner in China.

A new president and a departing chief executive

The China announcement follows a management change revealed last week. Emily George was named global president of the business effective 1 November, while Eric Marechalle, Marc Jacobs' chief executive for nine years, exits at the end of this month.

George's elevation comes after G-III named her president of direct-to-consumer for North America. She will be responsible for the global strategy that the China partnership now extends across Greater China.

The brand arrives in Greater China as the market moves unevenly. We reported that China Golden Week luxury mall traffic hit a two-year high, according to Bernstein, while Louis Vuitton's sales slid after a trademark backlash over Molly Tea.

Neither side has put a figure on the expansion, the number of boutiques planned, or a timeline for the first openings. The shape of the growth, in boutiques, shops-in-shop, digital and wholesale at once, is stated, but the scale is left open.

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