The owners of Emanuel Ungaro Couture, the Italian Ferragamo Group has
sold the entirety of the company to an American investor, Asim
Abdullah. A native of Pakistan, Abdullah made his fortune in high
technology. The House of Ungaro, founded in 1965 by Emanuel Ungaro, 72,
has been owned by the Ferragamo group since 1996. Ungaro discontinued
his haute couture line in 2004 with the intention of returning with
“other ways of doing it”, but according to Paolo De Spirt, CEO, Ungaro
“no longer works in the House” and he isn’t going to return to
designing even if the new owners decide to re-launch the couture line.
The atelier is currently run by 20 people filling clients orders. The
Ready-to-Wear women’s line is currently designed by Vincent Darré,
whose two initial collections for the label received uneven review.
Ungaro Couture sells all of its products under license and Ferragamo
must cede rights to the leather accessories and perfumes. Ungaro
employs about 100 people in total. It owns 13 boutiques worldwide and
six spaces in Asian department stores.
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