Designer Michael Kors Holds First Live Fashion Show Since Pandemic

Designer Michael Kors waves after presenting his collection during New York Fashion Week in New York, US, February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
Designer Michael Kors waves after presenting his collection during New York Fashion Week in New York, US, February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
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Designer Michael Kors Holds First Live Fashion Show Since Pandemic

Designer Michael Kors waves after presenting his collection during New York Fashion Week in New York, US, February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
Designer Michael Kors waves after presenting his collection during New York Fashion Week in New York, US, February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Designer Michael Kors took over New York City's landmark Tavern on the Green in Central Park on Friday, his first live runway show since the pandemic began.

Although COVID-19 protocols restricted his guest list, Kors said it gave those in attendance an intimate experience.

"To be able to put on a live show to me is thrilling. I love people to be able to experience live fashion," said Kors, Reuters reported.

The brand required all guests to be double vaccinated, while staff, crews and press were given on-site testing before being admitted into the venue.

"Lots and lots of checking boxes and being so unbelievably strict with the protocols," he said.

Actress Kate Hudson, who is a friend of Kors, was thrilled to be at her first show in many months. "I'm so excited. And it's nice and small, intimate, which I think is going to be really lovely. But I haven't done this for a long time so it feels a little odd and wonderful all at the same time."

This season Kors decided to look at romance through a streamlined and urban lens. The New York native said his inspiration was not just romantic love, but love of friends, family, city, seeing people and more.

He said he created a collection that will help celebrate those moments that we've all been craving.

Models including Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner paraded through an outdoor garden, while Broadway star Ariana DeBose performed live.

Kors said the collection was filled with charm.

"Lots of black and white in the collection," the designer explained.

"A lot of gingham, which just puts a smile on my face, I'm not a picnic kind of guy, but I can have the fantasy. A lot of white embroidery, a lot of white laces and eyelet and things like that."

New York Fashion Week will end on Sept. 12.



Skechers to Be Taken Private for $9.42 Billion in Biggest Footwear Industry Deal

The outside of a Skechers shoe store is seen at Times Square in New York May 2, 2014. (Reuters)
The outside of a Skechers shoe store is seen at Times Square in New York May 2, 2014. (Reuters)
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Skechers to Be Taken Private for $9.42 Billion in Biggest Footwear Industry Deal

The outside of a Skechers shoe store is seen at Times Square in New York May 2, 2014. (Reuters)
The outside of a Skechers shoe store is seen at Times Square in New York May 2, 2014. (Reuters)

Skechers has agreed to be taken private by 3G Capital for $9.42 billion in the footwear industry's biggest buyout to date, at a time when the company grapples with the impact of steep US tariffs.

Investment firm 3G Capital has offered $63 per Skechers share in cash, the footwear brand said on Monday. That represents a 28% premium to the stock's Friday close, according to Reuters calculations.

Its shares jumped 25% to $61.86 on the day, after dropping nearly 30% this year as the company withdrew its annual results forecast in April and warned of the fallout from President Donald Trump's 145% import tariff on Chinese goods.

China accounts for a bulk of imports for the brand's US business.

Skechers, alongside Nike and Adidas America, were among the companies that signed a letter from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) urging President Trump to exempt shoes from reciprocal tariffs.

American shoppers are pulling back on spending to brace for potentially higher prices due to tariffs, leading to lackluster quarterly results from several consumer-facing companies including McDonald's and Harley-Davidson .

Founded in 1992, California-based Skechers is among the world's largest footwear brands, popular for its casual athletic styles such as the "Chrome Dome" shoe. It went public in 1999 for $11 a share and logged a revenue of $8.97 billion in 2024.

Needham analyst Tom Nikic said the deal talks may have been accelerated by the volatile macro environment - driven by tariffs, weakening consumer sentiment and troubled China-US relations - and the company may have wished to navigate these challenges without being under Wall Street's scrutiny.

The deal is "very surprising" as Skechers has always been viewed as a "family business", with the founding Greenberg family highly involved in the operations, he said.

Sources told Reuters Skechers was not running an auction and the deal was bilateral as 3G Capital has had a long relationship with the Greenbergs.

CEO and founder Robert Greenberg will continue to helm the firm, while president Michael Greenberg and operating chief David Weinberg would also retain their roles.

Buyout firm 3G Capital, controlled by Brazilian billionaire financier Jorge Paulo Lemann, is best known for its investments in the food and drinks sector through companies such as Kraft Heinz.

The Skechers deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 and will be financed through a combination of cash provided by 3G Capital as well as debt financing that has been committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank.