Investor Nabs Majority Share of English Laundry
New York–based private equity firm Bluestar Alliance announced Feb. 14 that it planned to acquire a majority interest in English Laundry, a Los Angeles–based lifestyle label that sells fashions for men, women and boys at Nordstrom, Macy’s and three English Laundry boutiques, which were not part of the transaction.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but English Laundry founder Christopher Wicks will maintain a 30 percent interest in the label he launched in 2000 with woven shirts. Since then, the brand has expanded into men’s suits, hats, fragrances, and clothing for women and children. Wicks will stay on as the company’s creative director, said Joseph Gabbay, Bluestar’s chief executive.
“Christopher Wicks is a proven design talent who has built an iconic brand in English Laundry,” Gabbay said. “We are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Christopher to take English Laundry to the next level of distribution, product mix and geographic reach.”
Said Wicks: “Bluestar is a specialist in the field of marketing, and we as a team will work diligently to build a further network of licensing partners and overseas distributors for the English Laundry brand.”
Bluestar Alliance concentrates on acquiring consumer brands and building the brands with licensing deals. In 2008, it purchased the Hot Kiss label, which was launched by Los Angeles entrepreneur Moshe Tsabag. Bluestar had been in the running to acquire the Rock & Republic brand, the Los Angeles denim company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 1. But Bluestar lost out to VF Corp.
Wicks said Bluestar did not purchase his other fashion labels owned by his company, Defiance USA. Those labels include DaVinci of California and Fender.—Andrew Asch
