3:45 p.m.
The first time Prada announced its intention to launch an IPO, September 11th, 2001 stepped into its path and obliterated the attempt. In 2002, Prada was game for a second IPO shot, only to veer off the path once they got a whiff in the air that fashion behemoth Burberry was making plans to do the same. One to two more (depending on who’s talking) aborted attempts later, Prada is announcing IPO plans yet again, and damn the torpedos!
Prada, Ferragamo go head to head in luxury IPO race
“To its disadvantage, Prada, owned by husband and wife Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada and their families, has created some skepticism in the financial world for shelving an IPO four times since 2001 . . . ‘The pressure is on for Bertelli. If he cancels once more he will never be taken seriously by the financial community again,’ an investment banker said.”
But Prada is rumored to be hiring heavyweight investment firm Goldman Sachs this time around, and if there’s one thing Goldman Sachs knows how to do, it’s take a company public and make a sh*tload of cash in the process.
Both Italian fashion houses have been around for a long time, and have had their fair share of up and down years, with Prada reeling from market oversaturation and customer dissatisfaction due to a global onslaught of counterfeit goods, and Ferragamo languishing in creative purgatory until they brought sharp young designer Graeme Black on board to infuse their staid line-up with some fresh blood — Cristina Ortiz, who ironically used to work for Prada before moving on to do some shake-up work with both Lanvin and then Brioni, replaces Graeme Black after the Spring 2008 collection.
Prada Spring 2008 pics below — does this strike you as a collection designed to inspire investor confidence? I can tell you that I’m not exactly brimming over with the urge to fork over my own cash:
“Hey, throw your good money right down the crapper, ya stock pickin’ fools!”
And below are pieces from the Salvatore Ferragamo Spring 2008 collection, which actually look wearable, comfortable and like someone with more than half a doddering brain in his head put them together:
“That’s right, girls — show the old Italian biddy how it’s done.”
Prada is the bigger and more modern empire of the two, embracing contemporary tastes with its nylon bags and bold color choices, but Ferragamo boasts a reputation for consistent quality in both materials and craftsmanship — which is why I’m betting on Prada to win the IPO race. I mean, really, no one in the corporate office gives a rat’s ass about quality anymore when there are margins to squeeze and profits to make . . .
