More investment for Lanvin

With slumping sales since a design shake-up two years ago, Lanvin fashion house is expecting a cash injection before the end of the year.

France’s oldest fashion house says this is coming from Taiwan businesswoman Shaw-Lanh Wang, who is the majority shareholder.

Auditors at the privately owned firm have filed a warning with a commercial court in Paris over its financial troubles, Reuters has reported. Sources say recapitalisation is needed to buy breathing space and to save it struggling to pay salaries in January.

Lanvin says it is working on a new strategy and that Wang, a Chinese-born media magnate who owns 75 per cent of the firm, will put in more money. No further details have been released by the company, which does not publish earnings.

The funds will be used to back future projects to help reposition Lanvin, says the firm.

Dating back to 1889, the company was named after couturier Jeanne Lanvin and had a revival a few years ago under designer Alber Elbaz. Sales fell following his surprise sacking in 2015, being forecast to deepen this year by another 30 per cent after a 23 per cent drop last year.

Wang’s close adviser Nicolas Druz, who has just been appointed deputy-MD, says Lanvin is looking at branching into new avenues such as “art of living” products. The label may also look at hotel projects using the Lanvin name.

“It’s not just about new capital – we’re thinking about other revenue streams too,” Druz says.

Lanvin is on its second designer since Elbaz, appointing former Balmain menswear designer Olivier Lapidus to the position in July.