Shenzhen Ellassay buys Vivienne Tam’s rights in China

Shenzhen Ellassay Fashion, a China based women’s fashion supplier has purchased majority stake in fashion icon Vivienne Tam’s brand in China for about RMB 37 million (approximately $5.5 million). The Chinese company had recently acquired French contemporary fashion brand Iro’s complete operations for RMB 790 million (approximately $118 million).

Shenzhen Ellassay also owns its namesake brand Ellassay, a Chinese mid-market brand. It also has the rights to Ed Hardy, an American apparel brand in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau as well as Laurèl, a German women’s wear brand in China.

The Chinese company, which was founded in 1990 in Shenzhen, designs, manufactures and sells women’s clothing including shirts, tops, knitwear, suits, leisure wear, accessories, shoes and more, in China and the US. The products are sold through the company’s own retail outlets. The company earned a revenue of RMB 1.13 billion (approximately $169 million) in fiscal 2016 and its net income in the same year was RMB 197.95 million (approximately $29.5 million).

Vivienne Tam is an international designer known for her culture-bridging, east-meets-west approach to design as well as pioneering global collaborations marrying fashion with technology and renowned brands. Tam effortlessly blends her cultural roots with a modern design vocabulary recognised for its artistry. Pieces from her collections are housed in the permanent archives of some of the world’s most prestigious museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York, the Victoria and Albert museum in London and Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh.