Today's blog might show the real geek in me, especially when I could certainly find loads of things to write about, what with New York currently hosting two of Europe's most pre-eminent designers: The Kaiser Karl Lagerfeld, and John Galliano, who could not accept an award in Savannah as he was confined to his luxury hotel bed with a 104 degree fever (get better John!).
But I'm still reeling from the news. Bill Blass owner NexCen reporting that it may fold and that it would likely restate its annual 2007 report because it didn't come clean with certain details about some debt repayment. The indiscrepancies seem to be so wide-spread, the company even said that KPMG's audit report and its analysis of management's ability to reliably report financial data could not be trusted.
How does that happen? I know that's a silly question after we've seen what a company like Enron was capable of doing. But really, how do companies conduct businesses that way? Well, not for long, seems to be the short answer.
So that leaves a big question mark over Bill Blass, again. The label was just being revived under NexCen's ownership, and had recently hired Peter Som to lead that revival. But the house has gone through a string of designers since Blass' death in 2002, all failing to do just that.
Now with it's new owner in dire financial straits, we can only hope that this venerable American label doesn't fall into the hands of some financially sound licensing mastermind who will dilute the brand into another money-making mass market Oleg Cassini. I shudder at the thought.
2 comments:
Oleg Cassini, Bill Blass, and Perry Ellis go to mush, while JLo and other celebrity designers send leather and lace down the runway.
That would be another blog, but you read my mind.
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