Cacharel appoints Aeffe to develop womenswear

Quirky French fashion house Cacharel has signed a long-term agreement to develop its womens ready-to-wear collections with Aeffe, one of Italy’s most powerful luxury manufacturers. The first collection produced by Aeffe for Cacharel will be fall 2010, which will be presented in the Italian group’s showrooms in Paris, New York, Milan and Tokyo starting January next year.

The deal marks a significant step for Cacharel, whose founder Jean Bousquet has traditionally fought to maintain Cacharel production in France, and not to “delocalize” it abroad.

“Following the globalization of the markets, Cacharel, a family run business based in Paris, has decided to collaborate with one of the most important international players in the pret-a-porter sector,” the house said in a carefully worded press release.

Insiders expect Cacharel to eventually return to the catwalks, probably in Paris. The French label sacked its U.K.-based creative directors Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto last fall, replacing them with an in-house team, and shortly afterwards announced the cancellation of its Paris catwalk show.

Bousquet, the mayor of Nimes, who created a label that reflected Provence’s optimistic sense of color and easy approach to dressing, founded Cacharel in 1962. The brand is understood to achieve turnover of some $50 million in annual sales, aided by a successful scent produced by beauty giant L’Oreal and other licenses for eyewear, jewelry, tableware and home furnishings.

Cacharel will be responsible for the creative direction, communications and the fashion shows, while Aeffe will handle the production and distribution of the collections.

Aeffe, which is listed on STAR (or Segment for High Requirement Shares) on the Milan Borsa, is a major player in luxury ready-to-wear manufacturing. It manufactures and distributes such prestigious brands as Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Moschino CheapandChic, Pollini and Jean Paul Gaultier.

“I am convinced that thanks to this partnership between Cacharel, with its history full of successes and renewed in its creative identity, and the Aeffe Group, known for its know-how… focus on high quality production and excellent customer service, we will be able to make the most of the Cacharel project,” said Aeffe Chairman Massimo Ferretti.

Neither partner made concrete projections for future global sales, other than to say, “both the groups have great expectations for this project.”

Shares Aeffe SpA, which also manufactures Alberta Ferretti rose more than 6 percent to a three-week high after it announces a partnership with Cacharel. "We welcome the closing of this new licence agreement since it could help the mid-term operations of the group supporting next Autumn/Winter 2010 orders backlog," a broker told Reuters.