Escada AG

Type	Public
Founded	1978
Headquarters	Munich, Germany
Industry	Retail
Products	Women's fashions, handbags, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, kids fashion
Website	http://www.escada.com

Escada is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer clothing. The company has a presence in about 60 different countries. Its main sales markets are North America, western and eastern Europe and Asia.^[1] It filed bankruptcy in August 2009. It was bought over by Megha Mittal, in November 2009. ^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Subsidiaries 3 Controversy over fur 4 Insolvency 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Escada was founded by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley in 1978 in Munich. The company soon stood out, with its distinctive creations featuring unusual combinations of colors and patterns, exclusive embroidery and elaborately designed knitted fashions. Escada saw a rapid upswing and continually extended its collections and its creative work.^[1]

In the course of its international expansion, Escada AG went public in 1986. In 1994, the company launched the Escada Sport label, established its own accessories collection including bags and shoes and granted major licenses, collaborating with such partners as Procter & Gamble.^[1]

Since July 2008, Dr. Bruno Sälzer is the acting CEO with responsibilities for design, marketing, and sales.

[edit] Subsidiaries

Escada comprises the segments Fashion (Escada Collection and Escada Sport), Accessories (bags, shoes and small leather goods) and licenses (fragrances, eyewear and children's fashion).

The subsidiary Primera AG based in Münster/Westphalia comprises apriori, cavita and Laurèl as well as the retail chain BiBA. It was sold in 2009.

[edit] Controversy over fur

On October 18, 2007, the group, "Global Network Against the Fur Industry" ^[3], which is made up of organizations such as Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade or Offensive gegen die Pelzindustrie, launched a campaign against Escada, in the form of a day of action, in hopes of getting Escada to stop selling fur. According to their website, on October 18, there were 40 actions against Escada in 14 countries.^[4] On October 6, 2007, Escada headquarters were vandalized by the Animal Liberation Front.^[5] Since that date the campaign against Escada continues with regular pickets in front of Escada-outlets worldwide

[edit] Insolvency

On August 11, 2009, Escada filed insolvency, as an exchange offer for the outstanding bonds of Euro 200 Million was not accepted by the necessary 80% of all bond holders. ^[6]. It was bought over by India’s billionaire steelmaking Mittal family, headed by Lakshmi Mittal, in November 2009. ^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Escada
• Escada - History