The US cosmetics group The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has completed the takeover of the fashion label Tom Ford announced in November. The group of companies now owns the trademark rights and all intellectual property rights of Tom Ford, according to a statement published on Thursday. The group will manage the brand’s cosmetics business itself in the future, while the license partners Ermenegildo Zegna NV and Marcolin SpA will be responsible for the areas of fashion and eyewear.
New license partnership: Ermenegildo Zegna takes over the fashion subsidiary of Tom Ford
As part of the agreement, the Zegna Group also acquired Tom Ford International LLC, which operates the brand’s apparel business. After the Italian fashion group had previously held a 15 percent stake in the company, it has now also acquired the remaining 85 percent.
At the same time, the Zegna Group, which previously held Tom Ford’s apparel license, entered into a new 20-year licensing partnership with Estée Lauder, which will oversee the brand’s entire fashion business from product development through manufacturing to distribution take over. Zegna now operates, among other things, Tom Ford’s fifty own fashion boutiques as well as the wholesale business.
A new CEO for the company Tom Ford International has already been appointed, the Zegna Group announced. However, it should not be presented until July. Until then, the existing management team will lead the company together with the new board of directors, chaired by CEO Gildo Zegna.
Estée Lauder names new CEO and creative director of Tom Ford
Estée Lauder said the total value of the Tom Ford company in the transaction was $2.8 billion. According to the group, it has already made a one-time payment of 2.25 billion US dollars, with a further 300 million US dollars due from July 2025. The remainder of the entire company valuation results from the Zegna Group’s acquisition of Tom Ford Fashion, the cosmetics supplier said.
The group also announced initial personnel decisions following the acquisition. Guillaume Jesel, who previously headed the Tom Ford Beauty segment at Estée Lauder, has been appointed President and CEO of Tom Ford. He will also head up the Luxury Beauty Development department at Estée Lauder.
Tom Ford’s new creative director will be Peter Hawkings, who was most recently responsible for the label’s men’s fashion as SVP. Hawkings succeeds label founder Tom Ford, with whom he has worked for the past 25 years. Estée Lauder announced that Ford and Domenico De Sole, the fashion house’s previous chairman, would continue to serve in an advisory capacity for the brand until the end of the year.