Jones Apparel Group History

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The Company Description of Its Time

Jones Apparel Group, Inc. files itself as a leading designer, marketer and wholesaler of branded apparel, footwear and accessories, which also markets directly to consumers through its chain of specialty retail and value-based stores. For more than 30 years, the filing says, the company built a reputation for excellence in product quality and value, and in operational execution, contracting for manufacture through a worldwide network of quality manufacturers. This is the longest profile in the letter, and it needs to be: it is really the record of a portfolio, of the break-up of that portfolio, and of what happened to its best-known brand afterwards.

The Brands in Detail

Jones New York, the foremost brand in women's classic apparel, is described as providing the highest standards of quality in fit and design; its Collection is typically elegant but not pretentious, polished and perfected in the embodiment of modern American style, offering impeccably designed clothing and footwear that can take the wearer from the early morning business conference to the midnight hour cocktail. Nine West, established in 1978 and named from its founding address at 9 West 57th Street in New York City, evolved into a world-renowned fashion leader - not just footwear but handbags, sportswear, dresses, eyewear, sunglasses, leg wear, outerwear, jewelry, belts and hats, offering a quick edit of the fashion runways interpreted into real-life fashion, sold in numerous countries.

Anne Klein New York presents a savvy, sophisticated and confidence-inspiring collection - American luxury fashion, in the filing's words - built on superbly tailored suit separates, feminine dresses and key wardrobe pieces worn round the clock. Gloria Vanderbilt attracts women of modern sensibility across ages, merging the heritage, glamour and prestige of Gloria Vanderbilt as a fashion icon with present-day collections, and delivering on three key elements: fit, finish and fabric - versatile, trend right and timeless. The Gloria Vanderbilt routes carried on this page lead to the designer's definition and profile elsewhere on Apparel Search. A later chapter of organisation followed in February 2012, when The Jones Group announced a Fashion Office under Chief Creative Officer Stefani Greenfield, with Wendy Hirschberg Clurman as Vice President and Fashion Director of Jones New York, Danielle de Marne for Designer and Contemporary Brands, and Amanda Ross consulting for Anne Klein.

Sycamore, the Split, and Jones New York's Sale

The corporate record in the filing runs in dated steps, kept here in the filing's own order. On December 19, 2013, The Jones Group announced a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Sycamore Partners would acquire the company for $15.00 per share in cash, approximately $1.2 billion, or approximately $2.2 billion including net debt, in a one-step merger after which The Jones Group would become a privately held company, with closing expected in the second quarter of 2014. In 2014 Sycamore split Jones into six different companies: Nine West Group, One Jeanswear Group, Jones New York, the Kasper Group, Stuart Weitzman and Kurt Geiger. The Jones Group was renamed Nine West Holdings and became parent to Nine West Group and One Jeanswear Group; later in 2014, Anne Klein, Easy Spirit and NW Jewelry Group were split into separate operating companies of Nine West - the route to the Nine West Holdings Group filing in this directory is carried on this page.

The last entries concern Jones New York itself. In January 2015, Jones New York, by then a portfolio company of Sycamore Partners, announced it was pursuing strategic alternatives for the brand and, in conjunction, closing its retail locations and certain related business operations over the course of 2015. On April 23, 2015, Authentic Brands Group, LLC (ABG) announced the purchase of the Jones New York brand. The profile therefore preserves three eras in one place: the integrated wholesaler with its 2008 brand list, the private-equity break-up of 2014, and the brand-by-brand afterlife from 2015. For current information on any individual brand, the References collect the official destinations historical descriptions named; this page keeps the group record as recorded.

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