Philipp Plein shows keen interest in the Billionaire brand

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Apr 7, 2016

Philipp Plein is looking to acquire Billionaire Italian Couture. The luxury apparel brand belonging to the eponymous German designer has been holding talks with a view to acquire a majority interest in the Italian label, specialised in high-end menswear and owned through a joint company by Flavio Briatore and the Percassi group.

The information was disclosed by Milan daily paper MF Fashion, and was confirmed to FashionMag by Philipp Plein itself. "We are holding talks. We will know by the end of April if an agreement can be reached or not," one of the group's managers told us.

What is the objective for Philipp Plein? To serve more clients, in order to expand its market potential, notably in the men's segment, where the brand is already performing strongly. The two brands have affinities in terms of style and positioning, while still remaining complementary. 

Billionaire in fact offers a different style, for a man who is more mature and 'formal' compared to Philipp Plein's, with a look that is very distinctive and rich, but seems more suitable for a slightly older customer segment.

Billionaire Italian Couture was founded in 2005 by former commercial director of Benetton and F1 team boss Flavio Briatore, with the objective of expanding the lifestyle range of its famous Billionaire luxury nightclub, located in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. In 2007, the Percassi group, specialised in distribution and real estate and owner of brands such as beauty retailer Kiko, became a shareholder.
Since 2014 the label has been managed by Laura Manelli and repositioned exclusively in menswear. Billionaire Italian Couture is available in more than twenty countries through a network of about thirty stores, and in 2014 it generated a revenue of €20.85 million.

As for Philipp Plein, the label generated a revenue of €170 million in 2015, and for this year it plans to reach €198 million. The label is entirely self-financed, with headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland. It is distributed in more than 60 countries through 600 multi-brand clients (with 800 stores) and 73 mono-brand stores.