Chargeurs Fashion Technologies said it will expand into intimates and new technical performance wear categories when its newly announced acquisition of Precision Custom Coatings’ apparel interlinings business is finalized.
The deal, the firm’s largest to date, will help the world’s second largest apparel interlinings provider secure a foothold in the U.S. market, which drove 19 percent of parent company Chargeurs Group’s sales in 2017. Designers use interlinings, a technical fabric, to help garments maintain their shape and their structure.
Michaël Fribourg, Chargeurs Group chairman and CEO, described the acquisition as “a game changer for our client base,” which includes Chanel, Gucci, Hermès and Uniqlo. The galvanized business will form a “global champion” with assets throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe ready to meet customers’ “technical and operational performance” needs, Fribourg added.
With Precision’s business incorporated, Chargeurs said it will have the resources to serve additional aspects of technical performance wear in categories such as athleisure, outerwear and performance apparel, on top of launching an offering for intimates and lingerie.
Chargeurs Fashion Technologies will receive shares from Precision Custom Coatings Asia coupled with assets from the Precision Custom Coatings USA interlinings business. The company does not expect the deal to reduce headcount.
Angela Chan, Chargeurs Fashion Technologies’ managing director and president, will leverage her deep background in business development, merchandising, multichannel retail, product development and sourcing to steer the firm’s global expansion.
Chargeurs Group’s other business units are Chargeurs Luxury Materials, Chargeurs Technical Substrates and Chargeurs Protective Films. In the first quarter of 2018, Chargeurs Group’s revenue climbed 4 percent versus the prior year period, and revenue for Chargeurs Fashion Technologies rose 7.1 percent over the same quarter in 2017, credited in part to a strategic decision to establish showrooms near clients’ “decision-making centers” in Milan, New York and Paris.