G-III enters joint venture with Fred Gehring's Amlon for DKNY, Donna Karan in China

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Aug 24, 2017

G-III Apparel Group announced on Wednesday a new joint venture with Fred Gehring’s investment fund, Amlon Capital BV, for DKNY and Donna Karan in China.
 

DKNY and Donna Karan join a number of brands associated with Amlon, including Karl Lagerfeld, Denham Jeans, and kids wear brand Vingino. Gehring established Amlon in 2016 with private equity firm Apax Partners and partners that he made while at Tommy Hilfiger.
 
With the new joint venture, Amlon will produce and market DKNY and Donna Karan women’s and men’s apparel and accessories in the People’s Republic of China, including Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

G-III Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Morris Goldfarb said, “In our industry, Fred has no peer and his tenure at Tommy Hilfiger and PVH is a testament to that. He is a great partner with us on the Karl Lagerfeld brand. We are excited to extend this strong partnership and work with him and his team on growing the DKNY and Donna Karan brands in China."
 
The venture will be funded with $25 million of equity that will be used to strengthen DKNY and Donna Karan and accelerate growth of the business in the region, and the venture will be the exclusive seller of the brands in the territory as of January 1, 2018.
 
In addition, G-III Apparel Group will own 49% of the joint venture and Amlon will own the balance. Also, Gehring will serve as Chairman of the joint venture and Steve Shen will serve as CEO of the joint venture. Shen is the former CEO of Tommy Hilfiger China and a longtime partner of Gehring’s.
 
“Steve’s track record in China is outstanding,” added Goldfarb. “We are looking forward to collaborating with these accomplished retail industry veterans to aggressively grow our business in the greater China region, which is a major strategic opportunity for us.”