Barbarians At The Door Of Jimmy Choo, A High-Heeled Shoe Brand

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< p > Jimmy Choo is planning to establish its fifth major capital operation in 18 years.

Previously, the British < a target= "_blank" href= "http://www.91se91.com/" > the designer < /a > a target= "_blank" href= "http://www.91se91.com/" > shoes "less than" brand shoes were sold continuously in the hands of private equity funds, and changed to four controlling parties.

The Financial Times recently quoted insiders as saying that Jimmy Choo is planning for IPO in London, and the latest valuation may be as high as 1 billion.

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< p > clever positioning, real wear style and perfect brand image make Jimmy Choo one of the most popular fashion brands.

Its classic pointed tip and four inch high heel are highly recognizable.

A lot of people recognize you from the stars at a glance, and Gianna Jun's silver gray sequins high heels come from Jimmy Choo.

"I am not a casual woman wearing a popular brand."

Gianna Jun played the thousand Song Yi.

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< p > this scene reminds us of the classic line in the sex and the city, the heroine Carrie Bradshaw holding a pair of Jimmy Choo high heels, "love may no longer be, but shoes are eternal."

At that time, the brand had just been established for 2 years.

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< p > since then, Jimmy Choo has been promoting the story of "every girl dreams of having Jimmy Choo".

It is a showcase for all stars in the film and TV series, but also a close fitting device for famous stars to appear on the red carpet. But what is more attractive is that these four inch high-heeled shoes are not astronomical, leaving a high and accessible image for the girls who aspire to it.

Even the India bride who strictly follows traditional Sari will wear Jimmy Choo on the wedding day.

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< p > but now, behind this elaborate dream, there is only a dull game of money.

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< p > we must know that the valuation of 1 billion is not built up by selling high heels.

A direct proof is that when Jimmy Choo was first sold to private equity fund Phoenix Equity Partners in 2001, its exclusive store only had high heels, and its brand valuation was less than 18 million.

At that time, Robert Bensoussan, the newly appointed CEO, decided to produce more products. 2 years later, Jimmy Choo launched a handbag called Tulita.

Until then, Tamara Mellon, the founder of Jimmy Choo, had never had such a similar idea.

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< p > 1996, at that time, Tamara Mellon, who was assistant to VOGUE fashion director, saw Zhou Yangjie, who could make the leather shoes of London women fascinated. With her father's support, she and Zhou Yangjie jointly established the Jimmy Choo brand, and the two people each held 50% of the shares.

In 2001, the acquisition of Phoenix equity investment company was aimed at all the shares in Zhou Yangjie's hands. After that, the soul of the Jimmy Choo brand was completely kicked out of the daily operation, leaving Mellon alone.

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< p > of course, there are other reasons.

When preparing for the production of the first series of shoes, Mellon found that Zhou Yangjie who could make beautiful leather shoes was a good shoemaker, but he was not a good designer.

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< p > to catch up with the opening of Jimmy Choo's first boutique and the New York shoe show, Zhou Yangjie needed to design two series of shoes at once, but it took him a long time to draw several patterns.

The training of the Malaysia based designer is about how to use tools to make a pair of shoes instead of drawing patterns. In 1980s, he studied shoemaking in London a target= "_blank" href= "http://www.91se91.com/" > Leather > /a > trade school. The leather trade school at that time mainly trained shoemakers for factories, only taught how to make shoes, not to design shoes.

As for the London College of Fashion, which is famous for its famous designer, it is all after 2000.

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< p > so Mellon had to find Cai Shanzhuo, who had always been an assistant to Zhou Yangjie - she was Zhou Yangjie's niece - to help her to paint the shoes she wanted.

A few months later, Cai Shanzhuo was named the design director of the brand.

Mellon became president of the brand.

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< p > Zhou Yangjie chose to leave.

The shoemaker, who knows nothing about capital operations, is silent and stubborn, but now he can only use the Logo in his private shoe making studio, but this business has nothing to do with the fashionable brand that is popular all over the world.

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After P Zhou Yangjie left, Mellon's control over Jimmy Choo was also eroded.

By 2007, when private equity fund TowerBrook acquired Jimmy Choo, only 10% of Mellon shares were left.

Almost every time the owner changes, Jimmy Choo will increase the new product line, which is far from its original story.

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Shortly after the third handover in 2007 P, the new controlling shareholder TowerBrook introduced the new professional manager Joshua Schulman as CEO. However, the licensing agreement on perfume and spectacles products mentioned by former CEO continues to be on the agenda and will soon be put into operation.

In 2011, it changed into a new employer.

This time, Jimmy Choo men's product line, including men's shoes, < a href= "http://www.91se91.com/" > men's bag < /a > accessories, went on sale.

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< p > this is a typical private placement.

These investment institutions usually begin to take over after a small brand name.

They take the brand as a short-term investment product and withdraw from it in 3 to 5 years later by selling or IPO.

Because they never intend to hold for a long time, they usually raise their brand valuation at all costs, so as to maximize profits when they withdraw.

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Increasing the product line is an excellent way to achieve this goal. < p >

Since 2003, Jimmy Choo has increased handbags, perfume, accessories and other products, many of which are well-known high profit categories in fashion circles.

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< p > these products may not have very good sales volume. Jimmy Choo does not disclose their sales data, but it is an excellent capital weight.

Because private equity funds are collected through raising funds to different creditors, these debts will be pferred to the brand after takeover, bringing a very high debt rate to the brand.

According to reports, in the two acquisitions in 2004 and 2007, Jimmy Choo's liabilities amounted to 5 times the operating profit at that time.

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< p > the problem is whether handbags or men's shoes are just consuming Jimmy Choo's original brand aura, and it has not added any new value to it.

The actual owners of the brand are still investing money and manpower for these product lines.

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< p > Zhou Yangjie has never formally participated in the design of Jimmy Choo from beginning to end, but Cai Shanzhuo is not a docile and gentle character, nor does she have much autonomy.

In this internal power relationship known as designer shoe brand, designers never appear to be dominant.

After being pulled away from the brand DNA expansion, the brand image of Jimmy Choo has become more and more confusing.

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< p > in the past, Mellon, the founder of the fashion circle, could also guide the design team. She knew fashion, understood Zhou Yangjie, and knew the meaning of high-heeled shoes for women. That's the good story that "every girl dreams of having a pair of Jimmy Choo".

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< p > with her fading away from brand management, things become less controlled.

The private equity fund is pressing the calculator to figure out what new products will bring profits and push up the price.

Jimmy Choo did not disappoint them.

From 18 million pounds in 2001 to 1 billion pounds in 2014, its brand valuation has more than 50 times over the past 13 years.

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Less than P, competitors seem to be much more focused than Jimmy Choo.

The other two designers, a href= "http://www.91se91.com/", shoes /a, brand Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, still have the absolute control over their brands. They hold companies in a private way, and refuse many invitations to buy, even those luxury groups that know fashion better than private equity funds.

At the same time, brands like Coach now put all kinds of pointed high heels in the shelves.

Tory Burch also has a complete product line.

But compared with Jimmy Choo, their expansion seems to be more organized. At least designers still dominate the brand, and different product lines can also appear in front of consumers in a relatively uniform image and style.

While in Jimmy Choo, Cai Shanzhuo is still responsible for the creative part of high heels, but whenever new product lines appear, professional managers invite new design teams or simply authorize the entire product line.

Now many fashion brands try not to authorize the production of such loss control.

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< p > Jimmy Choo has already covered all the product lines that a brand of high heeled shoes can get involved in. In the future, it will be difficult to rely on the introduction of new products to maintain sales growth.

It has been reported that since Jimmy Choo was bought by the current controlling shareholder and Swiss luxury holding company Labelux at 525 million pounds in 2011, its performance increased by only 30% in 3 years, much lower than in the past.

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Less than more than 10 years after being handed around for P, even capital circles no longer favor Jimmy Choo.

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