经济学人下载:Prada的复兴之路--拉夫·西蒙斯担任共同创意总监(1)

Business
来源于《商业》板块

Luxury goods
奢侈品

Unbedevilling Prada
没有吸引力的普拉达

A fashion house tries to revive its creative spark—and its financial fortunes
时装公司试图重振创意火花和财富

For years after it listed its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2011, Prada’s business looked considerably blander than its iconoclastic blend of ugly chic, counterculture, politics and fashion. No longer. Its share price rose by a quarter in the three months to January, faster than at bigger luxury groups such as France’s LVMH or Kering. Investors liked the look of its new partnership with L’Oréal, a cosmetics giant, and of investments in online sales. But their enthusiasm was based chiefly on an expectation of more radical change: either a takeover by a bigger luxury conglomerate or an internal overhaul.
普拉达于2011年在香港证券交易所上市，多年后，其业务看上去要比它将丑陋的时髦、反主流文化、政治和时尚打破传统的融合要温和得多。事出有因。在截至1月份的3个月里，其股价上涨了四分之一，比法国路威酩轩集团或开云集团等规模更大的奢侈品集团的涨幅都要快。投资者喜欢它与化妆品巨头欧莱雅的新合作，以及在线销售的投资。但他们的热情主要是基于对更激进变革的预期：要么由更大的奢侈品集团收购，要么进行内部改革。

A buyer has yet to signal interest. But on February 23rd Prada announced that Raf Simons, a cerebral industry star from Belgium who used to be the creative head of Christian Dior, a French label owned by LVMH, and of Calvin Klein, an American brand, will join the company. He will work alongside Miuccia Prada, the granddaughter of the company’s founder, as co-creative director. The duo will unveil their first joint collection in September. Both emphasised their intention to double down on creativity—and prevent the suits from calling all the shots.
收购者尚未表示出兴趣。但在2月23日，普拉达宣布来自比利时的理性的行业明星拉夫·西蒙斯将加入公司，他曾是路威酩轩集团旗下的法国品牌克里斯汀•迪奥的创意总监，以及美国品牌卡尔文·克莱恩的创意总监。他将与公司创始人的孙女缪西娅•普拉达共同担任创意总监。两人将于9月推出他们的第一个联合系列。双方都强调了他们想要在创新上加倍努力的意愿，而不是让套装代表一切。