Chinese Company Buys Cerruti 1881 and Kent & Curwen
LONDON — Guangzhou-based fashion company Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment has purchased the global trademark rights of Cerruti 1881 and Kent & Curwen, two brands whose owners have included Trinity Ltd. and Shandong Ruyi.
The Chinese firm said it paid the equivalent of $62.18 million for the global trademark rights of Cerruti 1881, and $41.45 million for the global trademark of Kent & Curwen.
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The two brands were once owned by Trinity Ltd., as was Gieves & Hawkes, which was sold to Frasers Group last November.
Trinity Ltd. was sold in 2017 by its owner, the Hong Kong-based sourcing giant Fung Group, to the now debt-laden Chinese fashion manufacturing giant Shandong Ruyi Technology Group.
As reported, Cerruti 1881 fell victim to cuts as the Chinese owners struggled to fund its European brands. Cerruti 1881 has stopped showing on the runway and has been operating without a creative director since it parted ways with chief creative officer Jason Basmajian in July 2019.
From 2015 to 2019, Kent & Curwen partnered with David Beckham in a bid to reach a younger crowd, and put the focus on sporty separates rather than tailoring. Beckham eventually exited the partnership in 2020 after it reported losses of 18 million pounds under Shandong Ruyi management.
Kent & Curwen ceased trading the following year after its London head office shut and retail teams were let go.
Since the end of 2021, and with its debt in the billions, Ruyi has been looking to offload some of its prized assets.
Founded in 2003, Biem.L.Fdlkk is a publicly traded golf clothing retailer in China. It became known globally for being the garment supplier for the Chinese national golf team during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
The company logged 573 million renminbi, or $83.3 million, in net profit in the first three quarters of 2022, up by 25 percent year over year. Its revenue in the period increased by 13 percent to 2.2 billion renminbi, or $319.7 million.
According to the brand’s website, the company has a strong distribution channel across shopping malls and airports within China.
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