LVMH completes its exit from Marc Jacobs in sale to WHP Global and G-III

WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group said on September 1 that they had closed their previously announced acquisition of Marc Jacobs from LVMH, according to a joint statement distributed via GlobeNewswire. Under the deal, WHP and G-III each hold a 50% stake in a newly formed joint venture that owns the Marc Jacobs intellectual property, while G-III separately acquired the brand's operating business -- its wholesale, retail and e-commerce operations, including more than 100 stores concentrated in the US and Europe -- under a long-term licence with the new venture.

Marc Jacobs, the label's founder, continues as creative director, overseeing its runway collections and shows, the companies said. Financial terms were not disclosed in the release; the deal has been reported elsewhere at roughly $925 million, a figure the companies' own statement does not confirm. The sale ends a relationship that dates to the 1990s, when LVMH first took a stake in the then-young New York label and later built it into one of the group's longest-held American fashion houses.

"Marc Jacobs is a defining name in fashion, with powerful cultural relevance and global growth potential," said Yehuda Shmidman, WHP Global's founder, chairman and chief executive.

The structure -- IP in one vehicle, stores and product in another -- is a familiar licensing playbook: it lets a brand-management specialist collect steady royalty income while an operating partner runs stores and product on the ground, a set-up increasingly common for maisons whose growth has plateaued inside a larger luxury group. LVMH has been trimming its portfolio at the margins in recent years even as it holds firm on its largest houses, and Marc Jacobs -- solidly recognised but never scaled to the size of a Dior or Louis Vuitton -- fits the pattern of a label better suited to a specialist owner than a conglomerate's core stable.

The closing lands the same week Marc Jacobs opened a new permanent store on the second floor of Isetan Shinjuku, alongside a "RUNWAY 2026 COLLECTION" pop-up running September 2-8 built around a "Memory. Loss." theme -- one of only two locations worldwide carrying the capsule, according to Isetan Shinjuku's own announcement. That retail investment was presumably committed under LVMH's ownership; whether the pace continues now falls to G-III's operating business and its licensing arrangement with the new joint venture, rather than to LVMH.