Lacroix is Sold

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (Paris) has completed the sale of its Christian Lacroix fashion house to The Falic Group (Hollywood, Fla.).

An Associated Press report said Falic made Lacroix an offer to remain at the label and continue designing haute couture but said the offer had yet to be accepted and terms negotiated. But “either way (the Falics) want the brand, with or without the haute couture,” the A.P. reported.

The announcement came minutes after Lacroix won a standing ovation for his spring-summer haute couture collection in Paris. A smiling Lacroix put a brave face on the sale, which ends his 18-year relationship with LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, the businessman who helped him found the label in 1987 but never managed to make it profitable.

“It’s just a tag that is changing, I think the inside of the house will not change,” Lacroix told reporters after the show. “I like question marks. I think it is happening in all the houses, because this is a very exciting time for redefining luxury, a new approach to fashion.”

The designer, whose contract expires in March, said he would hold discussions with the new owners, but he expected to stage his next ready-to-wear display in March as scheduled. Leon Falic, president of Falic Group, promised to safeguard the couture division, which provides exclusive made-to-measure outfits to clients ranging from New York businesswomen to the Saudi Arabian royal family.

“Haute couture is going to stay, it’s the backbone of the brand,” Falic said after watching the catwalk display. “We will never hurt that level but we want to expand on the product line, because we feel that there is so much more that can be done with such a great name and such a great brand, and a great designer.”