New Guards Group, the Milan-based luxury fashion holding company that was purchased by online luxury fashion retail platform Farfetch last year, is expanding.
The holding company has acquired Opening Ceremony, the retailer and clothing brand that was founded by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim in 2002, and purchased a majority stake in the Japanese label Ambush, the brand that was founded by Yoon Ahn and Verbal in 2008, Business of Fashionreports. Although the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, BoF reports that New Guards Group has acquired Opening Ceremony's trademark and intellectual property and will take control and expand the brand's in-house line. New Guards also plans to move production of the line to Milan. Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim will stay on with the brand as as co-creative directors. They will also still own Opening Ceremony's four retail stores.
"Our curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit have been at the centre of Opening Ceremony since we founded the company and our continued search for innovation led us to this partnership with Davide de Giglio and Andrea Grilli, who have created one of the best global brand platforms in existence today," Leon and Lim said of the news in a statement. "This next step for Opening Ceremony means we get to connect our desire to invent the future and design for our community to a dynamic infrastructure."
Ahn, while speaking about growing Ambush internationally, said, “There aren’t that many internet companies that have the capability, especially in the retail space, to go globally..." The newly announced deal should help in that endeavor.
