You might have heard that Michael Kors has just agreed to snap up Jimmy Choo, the Britain-based luxury shoemaker co-founded by the eponymous Malaysian cobbler and former British Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon, for a princely sum of 896 million pounds (approximately SGD$1.59 billion).
If it doesn’t make sense at first read – Michael Kors is after all, one of the leaders of the accessible luxury market while Jimmy Choo occupies a higher-priced niche in fashion – well, it might pay off for Kors.
According to Bloomberg, shopping habits have changed drastically from as short as 3-4 years ago, when Michael Kors peaked in 2013/2014. Where before shoppers would flock towards the safe, middle-zone area, they’re now reportedly gunning for the extremes of the spectrum such as Zara or conversely, Gucci, says the New York Times.
Diversifying into luxury and the different customer base Jimmy Choo attracts could pay off well for the American label, long a harbour for the aspirational middle class.
But while we wait for more news of this huge merger, we take a look at some of the star items of both brands’ respective Fall 2017 collections:
