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BCBG Max Azria to be relaunched by A.Moda in Europe, UK, Turkey, Russia
Long-established US fashion label BCBG Max Azria is set to be relaunched in Europe (including the UK, Turkey, Russia and all the former CIS states, like Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia and Uzbekistan) following its recent relaunch in the USA. The label was founded by French-Tunisian designer Max Azria in 1989 and, after defaulting, it was bought in 2017, with its young line BCBGeneration, by US investment fund Marquee Brands, owner among others of Ben Sherman and Bruno Magli.
BCBG Max Azria has now signed a renewable five-year master license agreement with Italian ready-to-wear producer/distributor A.Moda, owned by Alessandro Bastagli, a Florentine businessman active in fashion for over 40 years and the proprietor of Finalba S.r.l., a company that also owns stakes in, among others, the Nefe modelling agency and Italian department store chain Coin, and controls knitwear yarn producer Lineapiù Italia.
“The license covers many products,” FashionNetwork.com was told by Bastagli, “not just women’s ready-to-wear but also childrenswear for boys and girls, fabric and leather accessories and very likely, in the near future, also perfumes and footwear. Where we will not be working with companies we either own or have a stake in, we will do so with top-notch manufacturing partners of proven reliability.”
“I met Max Azria 20 years ago, and was impressed by the style embodied by BCBG-Bon Chic Bon Genre. We are starting this new venture with my son Edoardo, COO and managing director of A.Moda, who will also take care of the digital side of the business. From 2023, we will be working on the development and relaunch of the BCBGeneration line too,” said Bastagli. “Product prototyping and quality control are based in Italy, and part of the collection will also be sourced there,” he added.
A.Moda has ambitious plans for BCBG: “[We want to] make high-end fashion more accessible, thanks to the manufacturing excellence of ML Group, a producer founded in 1976 and based in Fornacette, Tuscany, that collaborates with luxury labels from all over the world, with which we agreed on a partnership deal for BCBG Max Azria’s women’s ready-to-wear collections, looking to develop high-quality products while keeping a lid on prices,” added Bastagli.
For Spring/Summer 2022, BCBG Max Azria will present a flash collection featuring some 50 items, to be commercialised online and delivered from April, while the real debut of the label’s new Florentine incarnation will be the Fall/Winter 2022-23 collection, which will consist of 155 items. “A pretty complete total look that will include knitwear, outerwear, evening and day wear and more,” added Bastagli. “The collection will be designed by Cristina Ortiz (formerly with labels like Lanvin, Salvatore Ferragamo and Brioni), a multicultural, sophisticated designer who has been put in charge of style for the countries and regions covered by our license, while for all other markets, [BCBG’s] parent company has picked Albino Riganello as creative director. In a couple of seasons, we count on having a global collection, blending European taste with the style developed by Albino for the USA,” said Bastagli.
He indicated that the collections will be commercialised online and via multibrand retailers and department store concessions, in chains like El Corte Inglés, Rinascente, Galeries Lafayette, Harrods and Attica, “with the goal of reaching 200 physical stores soon.” Bastagli noted that “in Italy we will also operate our own sales team, while e-commerce will be launched on a platform run by [the label’s] parent company, for which we will manage the .com domain for the territories covered by our license.”
The A.Moda company, founded and led by Bastagli, is the long-standing production and distribution partner in Italy (where it is available at about 150 retailers) of US sportswear brand Everlast, and also owns ballet and sportswear brands Dimensione Danza, Dimensione Danza Sisters and Empire.
In 2021, a year that, according to Bastagli, was “still influenced by the Covid pandemic,” A.Moda generated a revenue of over €11 million. “In 2022, we expect to increase [this figure] slightly, and then, when we’ll get up to speed with BCBG, we shall receive a strong boost. Our objective is to reach a revenue of €30 million with this brand in five years. The Finalba group has instead generated a revenue just shy of €70 million in 2021,” concluded Bastagli.
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