5 Lesser Known Parent Companies Of Big Luxury Brands

Here are the companies behind some of the world’s most renowned fashion houses.

In a luxury fashion house merger for the ages, Tapestry, Inc. (TPR) the parent company of brands such as Coach and Kate Spade, has acquired Capri Holdings Limited (CPRI), home to brands Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors, in a deal worth about $8.5 billion.1

“We are confident this combination will deliver immediate value to our shareholders,” John D. Idol, chairman and CEO of Capri Holdings Limited said in a statement.1

As these two global luxury fashion houses come together, here are five lesser-known parent companies of some of the biggest luxury brands in the world.

Tapestry-Capri

New York-based Tapestry, Inc. was founded in 1941 as Coach Inc., and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2000. It later became Tapestry, Inc. in 2018, by which time the company had acquired Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade.2

Capri Holdings Limited was founded in 1981 by Michael David Kors, and was originally called Michael Kors Holdings. The company changed its name to Capri Holdings Limited in 2018.3

 The company is headquartered in London.

Tapestry and Capri generated a combined revenue of more than $12 billion over the last fiscal year, and have a presence in more than 75 countries.1 The brands owned by Tapestry and Capri are: Coach, Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, Jimmy Choo, Versace, and Michael Kors.

Kering

Headquartered in Paris, Kering (PPRUY) is home to luxury couture, leather, and jewelry brands. Kering brought in a total of more than $21 billion (20 billion euros) in revenue in 2022.4 The publicly traded company is owned by French billionaire, Francois Pinault, who is also the founder.

The most well-known brands owned by Kering include: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Brioni.5

Kering also has it’s own luxury eyewear company, Kering Eyewear, with a portfolio of eyewear brands such as Chloe, Lindberg, Cartier, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga.

LVMH

Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, or LVMH (LVMUY), is a massive luxury conglomerate with more than 75 brands spanning different sectors such as wine and spirits, fashion and leather goods, jewelry, and more.

In April 2023, LVMH became the first European company to surpass $500 billion in market value.6 The luxury conglomerate brought in about $86.5 billion (79 billion euros) in revenue in 2022.7 The company’s chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault is the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of $195 billion as of August 2023.8

LVMH has brands with a history that dates back to the 1700s when the first champagne house was founded by Nicolas Ruinart—and still bears the name today. LVMH was founded in 1987 as a merger between premium wine and spirits brand Moet Hennessy, and luxury fashion house, Louis Vuitton.9

Some of the brands owned by LVMH include: Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Bulgari, Dior, Fendi, Celine, Guerlain, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, Tag Heuer, and more.10

Richemont

Switzerland-based luxury goods company Richemont (CFRUY) owns a collection of well-known high-end fashion, jewelry, and watch brands. The company brought in about $21.8 million (19.95 million euros) in sales in fiscal year 2022, an all-time high for the company.11

Brands owned by Richemont include: Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Chloe, and Net-A-Porter.12

Swatch Group

The Swatch Group (SWGAY) makes and sells watches and fine jewelry through its portfolio of luxury brands.

As the world’s largest watchmaking company, the Swatch Group supplies nearly all the parts needed for watches sold by the 17 brands in its portfolio. The Swiss company had net sales of $569 million ($499 million Swiss Franc) in 2022.13

Some of the luxury watch and jewelry brands owned by Swatch include: Harry Winston, Omega, Balmain and Rado, and Breguet.14

Sources

1. Capri Holdings. “Tapestry, Inc. Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Capri Holdings Limited, Establishing a Powerful Global House of Iconic Luxury Fashion Brands.”
2. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. “Tapestry, Inc.”
3. Capri Holdings. “Michael Kors Holdings Limited to Be Renamed Capri Holdings Limited.”
4. Kering. “2022 Full-Year Results.”
5. Kering. “Houses.”
6. TIME. “TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2023: LVMH.”
7. LVMH. “New Record Year of LVMH in 2022.”
8. Bloomberg. “Bloomberg Billionaires Index.”
9. LVMH. “Milestones.”
10. LVMH. “Houses.”
11. Richemont. “Richemont Announces Strong Performance For the Year Ended 31 March 2023.”
12. Richemont. “Our Maisons.”
13. Swatch Group. “Swatch Group: Key Figures 2022.”
14. Swatch Group. “Brands & Companies.”
15. https://www.investopedia.com/5-lesser-known-parent-companies-of-big-luxury-brands-7642490