Luxury Headlines – 15/09/2025
Luxury Headlines – 15/09/2025
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Kering Postpones Full Valentino Buyout until 2028
Kering has postponed its full acquisition of Italian fashion house Valentino until at least 2028, marking the first major decision by new CEO Luca de Meo as he seeks to address the company's €9.5 billion debt burden. Under the revised agreement with Qatar-backed Mayhoola, the option for Mayhoola to sell its remaining 70% stake in Valentino have been pushed back from 2026-2027 to 2028-2029, while Kering's option to fully acquire the brand is deferred from 2028 to 2029. The original deal, which would have cost around €4 billion, has been weighing heavily on the luxury conglomerate amid declining sales and market scrutiny of its balance sheet.
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Puig H1 Profits Climb on Tariff Pre-Orders
Puig, the Spanish beauty group behind luxury brands like Byredo, Carolina Herrera, and Jean Paul Gaultier, saw its net profits surge 79% to €275 million in the first half of 2025, largely driven by strategic early shipments to the US market ahead of higher tariffs. The company reported total sales of €2.29 billion for the H1 period, representing an 8% year-on- year increase, with the Americas region driving significant growth. The profit boost was partly attributed to pre-emptive inventory stockpiling in the US before new 15% tariffs on EU goods took effect, which are ten times higher than the previous average tariffs on beauty products. Despite tariff headwinds, CEO Marc Puig expressed confidence in the company's outlook, particularly highlighting strong performance in fragrances and encouraging recovery in the makeup segment.
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RH (Restoration Hardware) Paris Opens to the Public
RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) opened its first French gallery on September 5, 2025, at 23 avenue des Champs-Élysées in the former Abercrombie & Fitch space, featuring a seven-story, 42,000 square foot immersive design destination. The luxury home furnishings company has created what it calls "A Celebration of Architecture, Design, Food & Wine," combining retail with integrated hospitality concepts including two restaurants (Le Jardin RH and Le Petit RH), a cocktail lounge, rooftop dining with 360-degree views, and an interior design studio. CEO Gary Friedman marked the opening with a dramatic video letter to the city of Paris, stating, "In Paris, the measure is eternity. This we know and have built accordingly," emphasizing the brand's commitment to creating inspiring spaces that blur the lines between residential and retail. The gallery features rare antiques, artifacts, commissioned artworks, and carefully curated home furnishings displayed in museum-like settings, with architectural highlights including a glass-roofed restaurant, limestone water walls, and an interpretation of da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.
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Balenciaga to Launch Perfume Collection and Fragrance Store
Balenciaga has launched a collection of 10 high-end perfumes and opened a dedicated fragrance boutique at its historic 10 Avenue George V location in Paris, marking the brand's return to fragrance after Kering brought the business in-house in 2023. The collection centers around the recreation of Le Dix, Balenciaga's original 1947 fragrance, with the brand's archivists spending 15 years to locate an original bottle and faithfully recreating its formula, bottle design, and packaging with modern touches like the brand's signature industrial gray. The fragrances, with playful names like "No Comment," "To Be Confirmed," and "Twenty-Four Seven," range from €55 for a travel spray to €320 for a miniature set, emphasizing sustainability with refillable bottles and recyclable packaging. CEO Gianfranco Gianangeli highlighted that this expansion into beauty will significantly broaden Balenciaga's customer reach and open new business channels, with plans for further developments in the fragrance category.
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Tiffany Wraps Up US Open Activation
Tiffany & Co. returned to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the third consecutive year with a reimagined pop-up in the Fountain Plaza, running from August 18 to September 7, 2025, featuring an oversized Tiffany Blue tennis ball anchoring the immersive experience. The pop-up showcased the 2025 Men's and Women's Singles Championship trophies handcrafted by Tiffany's master silversmiths in Rhode Island, continuing a nearly 40-year tradition, alongside a debut one-of-a-kind HardWear by Tiffany tennis racket adorned with nearly 5 carats of diamonds paired with a 24-karat gold vermeil tennis ball set with nearly 7 carats of diamonds. The activation included an exclusive Tiffany & Co. & Meta AI experience that allowed guests to envision themselves as tennis stars on center court with personalized digital takeaways, blending technology with the brand's heritage of sporting excellence.
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Moët Hennessy Creates Off-Track Experience at Italian Grand Prix
Moët Hennessy hosted its first signature off-track activation of the Formula One season during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, creating an exclusive "Living Memories" dinner at Garage 21 in Milan featuring three-Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura. The event paired Formula One-inspired dishes with Moët Hennessy's portfolio brands, including Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, Glenmorangie, and Belvedere, while honoring British racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, who helped establish the champagne spray tradition now associated with Moët & Chandon. This off-track luxury experience represents Moët Hennessy's strategy to combine on-track excitement with premium experiences beyond the racetrack, as part of parent company LVMH's long-standing global partnership with Formula One. The activation demonstrates how luxury brands are expanding their F1 presence beyond traditional sponsorship to create immersive, high-end hospitality experiences that align with their brand values and target affluent audiences.
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One&Only Resorts to Open Fiji Residences
One&Only Resorts will open its first Fiji resort in 2029 on a 127-acre beachfront site on Nacula Island in the Yasawa Islands, featuring 40 rooms, suites, and villas, plus six dining venues and a Club One wellness center, accessible via a 30-minute seaplane ride from the international airport. The development includes an exclusive collection of 20 One&Only Private Homes that will go on sale in November 2025, combining residential comfort with resort amenities and service as part of the brand's expansion into luxury real estate The project is being developed in partnership with BSP Life, one of Fiji's leading institutional investors, and represents Kerzner International's strategic expansion into the Asia-Pacific region while emphasizing sustainable development and preservation of Fiji's cultural heritage.
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Pamela Anderson Beauty Brand Appoints New CEO
Sonsie, the mindfulness-focused skin care brand co-founded by actress Pamela Anderson and influencer Marie von Behrens-Felipe, has appointed product developer and consultant Kailey Bradt as its new CEO, effective immediately, succeeding co-founder Roberto Felipe. Bradt, who has a chemical engineering background and founded the waterless hair care brand Susteau, previously helped launch Sonsie and develop its products in 2024 before assuming the leadership role. Her near-term priorities include developing Sonsie's storytelling marketing, staging in-person events, and creating innovative new formulas, describing the transition as "opening a new book" rather than just turning a chapter. Anderson praised Bradt's commitment to clean, sustainable beauty and emphasized the importance of having a young woman from a non-traditional background lead the brand's next phase of growth.
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