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Powered by Diesel: Dutch design duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren |
INTERNATIONAL. Renzo Rosso, the owner of the Diesel denim brand, has taken a controlling stake in Viktor & Rolf, the label of the Dutch duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren.
Only the Brave, Rosso’s Italian holding company, announced the new venture today.
”My dream is to represent a fresh, modern group for the future – I don’t look for establishment designers but someone with important creativity and Viktor & Rolf are the expression of my luxury,” Rosso said in a telephone interview with the International Herald Tribune on Monday.
Only the Brave, which had revenues last year of €1.3 billion (US$1.95 billion), also controls Dsquared, Maison Martin Margiela and Sophia Kokosalaki, and manufactures Vivienne Westwood’s leading lines.
”We have high ambitions,” said Snoeren in the interview. ”We talked for two years because it is such an important step. We wanted to make sure we marry the right partner. Renzo understands creativity and has the vision and power to make a success.”
As reported, Viktor & Rolf currently have an exhibition of their work in the Barbican Gallery in London. Their fragrance deal with L’Oréal, signed in 2002, will remain but the licensing arrangement with Italian manufacturer Gibo will be terminated, as Staff International, the production arm of OTB, takes over.
A number of store openings are planned in a major expansion drive for the brand.
IHT’s fashion commentator Suzy Menkes said of the agreement: “The wider significance of the deal is that it puts Only the Brave and its cluster of vibrant young brands in the hands of an entrepreneur who has the funds to invest in them as designer labels of the future – but on a less conventional and less pricey register than the luxury houses that dominated the last half of the 20th century.
Viktor & Rolf, known for their quirky take on fashion, have enjoyed huge success in travel retail with their L’Oréal fragrances Flowerbomb for women and men’s line Antidote.
MORE STORIES ON VIKTOR & ROLF
Viktor & Rolf declare Open House at the Barbican – 18/06/08
Samsonite bags Viktor & Rolf partnership – 04/12/07
Champagne world turned upside down with Piper Heidsieck Viktor & Rolf Rosé Sauvage – 01/11/07
Viktor & Rolf conjure up a new Antidote – 07/03/07
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