In the past year, the apparel industry’s rumor mill has been spinning with the story that Stussy Inc. President Frank Sinatra has wanted to sell the apparel company he bought out from co-founder Shawn Stussy in 1996.
The latest buzz on the street: Italian sportswear maker and retailer Diesel Jeans SPA, known for its avant-garde jeans that retail for $99 to $199, is said to be in talks with the owner of Irvine-based Stussy Inc.
Sinatra denies his company is up for sale, while Diesel executives in New York said they don’t know of any deal.
“There is nothing I know about in this matter,” said Andreas Kurz, chief executive of Diesel USA.
But several sources familiar with Stussy say Sinatra made a visit to Italy to meet Diesel executives just prior to the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in January. Not a frequent traveler, Sinatra reportedly had to get an emergency passport just days before the trip.
The source said the company seems to be grooming itself for a buyer, citing several new hires at Stussy, including a former Diesel designer. The company also is doing other “window dressing,” the source said, such as the purchase of an expensive computerized grading machine used for pattern making. And Diesel attorneys were said to be at the company’s headquarters last month looking its books.
But the Diesel hire could be unrelated to any possible sale and instead be fueling the rumor, observers say.
“Stussy is a great brand. Diesel is a great brand. It would be an interesting partnership if that is the case,” said Court Overin, director of Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo. “They both have a lot of strength in the marketplace.”
Diesel Jeans, a privately held company based in Vicenza, Italy, has been reported to be on the lookout for acquisitions. Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s owner and chief executive, told Women’s Wear Daily last April that he wanted to diversify the company just after his purchase of Italian apparel company Staff International. Plans are to add new labels through more deals, he said.
“I’m not a big believer in licenses,” he told Women’s Wear Daily. “I believe in owning brands and supporting new names that need financing to grow.”
Diesel, founded in 1978, operates 120 retail stores around the world and has 1,000 employees. Annual sales are roughly $350 million. The company is best known for poking fun at religion and animal rights through its infamous advertising campaigns.
Stussy, which started as a surfwear company and evolved into a modern street look, was co-founded by surfers Sinatra and Stussy in 1983 as an expansion of Stussy’s surfboard shaping and T-shirt business.
“We are classic Americana and the originator of the street look,” said Stussy national sales manager Jeff Moore at the recent ASR trade show in Long Beach.
The company has 55 employees and projects sales of $30 million this year, on top of sales growth of 15% last year, Moore said. He said the company hired the former Diesel designer to launch an expanded denim line this fall.
Stussy products sell in surf, skateboard and snowboard shops, fashion boutiques and department stores and its own stores in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. n
