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French Luxury Group Kering to Buy 30% Stake in Valentino for 1.7 Billion Euros Cash 

Italian fashion designer Valentino, right, standing underneath the logo of his fashion house, answers the questions of a fashion reporter prior to the presentation of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 fashion collection, on Jan. 23, 2008, in Paris. (AP)
Italian fashion designer Valentino, right, standing underneath the logo of his fashion house, answers the questions of a fashion reporter prior to the presentation of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 fashion collection, on Jan. 23, 2008, in Paris. (AP)
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French Luxury Group Kering to Buy 30% Stake in Valentino for 1.7 Billion Euros Cash 

Italian fashion designer Valentino, right, standing underneath the logo of his fashion house, answers the questions of a fashion reporter prior to the presentation of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 fashion collection, on Jan. 23, 2008, in Paris. (AP)
Italian fashion designer Valentino, right, standing underneath the logo of his fashion house, answers the questions of a fashion reporter prior to the presentation of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 fashion collection, on Jan. 23, 2008, in Paris. (AP)

French luxury conglomerate Kering has reached a cash deal to purchase a 30% stake in Italian fashion house Valentino for 1.7 billion euros from a Qatari investment firm.

With the purchase, Kering is seeking to shore up its revenue stream as it struggles to turn around former powerhouse Gucci. Kering on Thursday reported first-half revenues of 10.1 billion euros, up 2%, as Gucci sales stagnate.

Under the deal announced Thursday, Kering has the option to buy 100% of Valentino no later than 2028. The partnership could lead to the Qatari investment firm, Mayhoola, becoming a shareholder in Kering, as well as other potential “joint opportunities,” the statement said.

Kering Chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault expressed admiration for “the evolution of Valentino under Mayhoola ownership,” which Kering said turned Valentino “into one of the most admired luxury houses in the world.”

“I am very pleased of this first step in our collaboration with Mayhoola to develop Valentino and pursue the very strong strategic journey of brand elevation,” citing the role of Valentino CEO Jacopo Venturini, who “will continue to lead.”

Gucci, which accounts for nearly half of Kering revenues, is in the throes of a relaunch, with a new management team and a new creative director, Sabato De Sarno, who will unveil his first collection during Milan Fashion Week in September.

Valentino, founded by Valentino Garavani in 1960, recorded revenues of 1.4 billion euros in 2022. Pierpaolo Piccoli has been creative director at Valentino since 2008, working alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri from 2008-16.

With its corporate base in Milan and design studio in Rome, the fashion house is a mainstay of Paris fashion week with its womenswear and couture collections while recently returning menswear to Milan.

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Fashion

Zara Owner Inditex Posts Record Profit in 2025

Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
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Zara Owner Inditex Posts Record Profit in 2025

Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

Zara owner Inditex, the world's leading low-cost fashion retailer, posted a record annual profit for the third year running on Wednesday, seeing off strong international competition.

The Spanish group, which includes top brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear and Bershka, reported a profit of 6.22 billion euros ($7.23 billion) in the fiscal year ending January 31.

That marked a six percent rise on the 5.9 billion it raked in in 2024, which was also a group record, Inditex said.

Fashion

Margot Robbie, Oprah Watch Blazy Transform Chanel with Color and Craft

Models present creations from the Fall/Winter 2026 collection of French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
Models present creations from the Fall/Winter 2026 collection of French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
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Margot Robbie, Oprah Watch Blazy Transform Chanel with Color and Craft

Models present creations from the Fall/Winter 2026 collection of French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
Models present creations from the Fall/Winter 2026 collection of French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 09 March 2026. (EPA)

Chanel 's Matthieu Blazy is still building. Six months into his tenure at the Parisian stalwart, the designer staged his second ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week Monday, where brightly colored cranes rose from a holographic floor — a deliberate signal that the construction is ongoing.

For Parisians who have spent years staring at the real thing above Notre-Dame cathedral, the set was perhaps less dreamy than intended.

The audience inside the Grand Palais suggested the foundations are solid: Margot Robbie, Oprah, Jennie, Kylie Minogue, Lily-Rose Depp, Teyana Taylor and Olivia Dean all turned up to watch the next floor go on.

Blazy took his cue from a quote from Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel: “We need dresses that crawl and dresses that fly.”

The collection was structured around that tension — plain against spectacular, function against fantasy — with a discipline his sprawling debut last October sometimes lacked.

The opening looks were austere by design. Black knit zip-ups, tweed blousons and boxy overshirts arrived with little more than four gold buttons to signal they belonged to Chanel.

In the vast runway space, they could read as underwhelming. But Blazy’s point was architectural: the suit, he said, is “the first brick” — and everything else rises from it.

That logic tracks to the founder.

In her apartment on Rue Cambon, a wall is covered in gauze painted gold — something poor made precious.

Chanel built a house on that idea, borrowing from everyday dress and elevating it. Blazy is doing the same with her codes, stripping the suit to a knit shirt jacket or pressed-tweed blouson before rebuilding it in silicone-woven fabric and metallic mesh.

The collection’s most provocative move was its silhouette. Blazy pulled waistlines dramatically low — belts slung to mid-thigh, pleated skirts starting where blazers ended.

The references were retro flapper filtered through a modern lens: drop-waisted twinsets, patchwork dresses with floral embroidery, vivid patterned knits with a twenties pulse.

A furry coat in bold geometric color could have been worn in a chic part of London's Camden.

Whether the ultra-low waistlines will land with the well-heeled clients who pack Chanel’s front rows is another question. Selling a radically new proportion to women with deep loyalty to the house is a different challenge than winning critical praise.

The final stretch answered that concern with force. Sequined plaid suits arrived in dazzling color. Beaded coats glinted with star-chart embroidery. Metallic mesh was woven to mimic tweed motifs, and several models wore pastel-tinted hair to match their looks.

Fabric flowers burst from bodices. Trailing ribbons, layered ruffles, and insect-wing detailing turned the runway into something closer to spectacle than commerce.

Blazy cast wide — teens through to women in their fifties — and let the show breathe, with a runway circuit that took models the better part of five minutes. He framed it all with seven pared-back black and cream looks, as if to say: whatever else changes, the Chanel you know isn’t going anywhere.

If this second outing holds — on the penultimate day of fashion week — Blazy has found something rare at a heritage house: a way to honor the founder’s voice without simply echoing it.

Fashion

Hugo Boss Posts Annual Profit Above Expectations

The logo of German fashion company Hugo Boss is seen at a store in Vienna, Austria, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of German fashion company Hugo Boss is seen at a store in Vienna, Austria, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
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Hugo Boss Posts Annual Profit Above Expectations

The logo of German fashion company Hugo Boss is seen at a store in Vienna, Austria, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of German fashion company Hugo Boss is seen at a store in Vienna, Austria, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)

German fashion group Hugo Boss reported a higher than expected annual operating profit on Tuesday, despite a challenging market environment.

The company reported earnings ‌before interest ‌and taxes (EBIT) of ‌391 ⁠million euros ($455 million) ⁠for 2025, up from 361 million euros a year earlier, and above analyst's average forecast of 379 million euros in a company-provided ⁠poll.

"2025 once again highlighted ‌the ‌rapid transformation of our industry, shaped by ‌technological innovation, evolving consumer preferences ‌and ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty," Chief Executive Officer Daniel Grieder said in a statement.

Luxury groups ‌have been struggling with tighter consumer spending, with the ⁠sector ⁠hit by slowing demand for fashion and accessories particularly in the US and China.

The premium fashion retailer said it will propose a dividend of 0.04 euros per share for 2025, compared with 1.40 euros a year earlier.