Club Monaco will soon have a new home.
Ralph Lauren Corp. sold the high-end label to Regent L.P. for an undisclosed purchase price in a deal expected to close by the end of June, it announced Thursday.
In August last year, Ralph Lauren aired plans to revisit its real estate and brand portfolio to ensure its holdings could foster sustainable growth, eventually pursuing a lucrative licensing deal for Chaps. And with its decision to shed Club Monaco, Ralph Lauren said it’s finished examining its portfolio and will be able to return its focus to its “core namesake brands,” CEO Patrice Louvet said.
“For the past twenty-two years, Club Monaco has been an important and valued part of the Ralph Lauren family, and we are grateful for the many contributions the brand and its team have made to our company,” Louvet continued. He added that the private equity firm is “the right home for Club Monaco to realize its full potential, as they will be able to leverage their strategic and operational expertise to continue Club Monaco’s growth.”
According to Regent chairman Michael Reinstein, Club Monaco’s “modern style, loyal customer base and long runway for growth” are among the label’s manifold upsides.
“We see tremendous opportunity for Club Monaco and are excited to leverage our retail and e-commerce expertise to build upon the strong brand that the Ralph Lauren team built over two decades of stewardship,” Reinstein added.
Alfred Sung and Joe Mimran founded Club Monaco in 1985 as a Canadian-founded high-end casual fashion brand that once called Toronto home. In 1999, the brand relocated operations to New York following Ralph Lauren’s acquisition.
The deal caps a flurry of activity for Ralph Lauren and its efforts to modernize for the 21 century.
In late 2019, the company embarked on a journey to digitize millions of products with the help of Evrythng and Avery Dennison, setting the stage for newer business models like resale and rentals, which launched in March. It’s also taking sustainability seriously, embracing eco-friendly dyeing, pursuing Cradle to Cradle certification and investing in circularity-minded innovators rethinking raw materials.