Alaia takes back ownership from Prada

Prada are to sell its stake of Azzedine Alaia back to its owner. Tunisian born designer Alaia, who originally entered into partnership with Prada back in 2000, will retake 100% control of his house and brand name.

Prada and Alaia will continue to cooperate on development and production of shoe and leather goods collections, it said.

The financial settlement was not disclosed, however during its Prada period, Alaia had notched up impressive sale growth. In 2006, the Azzedine Alaia brand scored a 30% sales increase to 13.2 million Euros. Alaia was a relatively small investment for Prada, seeing as the group had 2006 sales of 1.425 billion Euros,

For Prada, this agreement confirms the strategy of focusing on its core brands in order to guarantee a continuous expansion and always more profits on the world's biggest markets.

Prada for sale?

The city is abuzz with rumours that British restaurant tycoon Richard Caring is in secret talks to buy Prada. Caring, who owns restaurants The Ivy, Le Caprice and now also the legendary nightclub Annabel's, is believed to be up against at least two private equity firms, if he does make a bid for the Italian fashion house. Caring earned his fortune supplying apparel to clients like Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia , and has since then segued into the leisure industry.

Meanwhile, Prada has denied these rumours and has, instead, indicated that an IPO is on the horizon. The company first announced its intention to go public in 2000 and has since postponed an IPO four times. Prada told the FT that an IPO could come in either 2008 or 2009 and that it had no interest in selling to a private equity firm or private investor. Last December, Prada was valued at €2 billion, however, the FT estimates that the company could now be worth €3 billion in the current luxury-hungry climate.