#Retail & Brands

2022-11-17

Ermenegildo Zegna Group to enter a long-term license for Tom Ford Fashion with the Estée Lauder Companies

Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. (NYSE: ZGN) (“Zegna”, or “Zegna Group”) announced today that it has signed an agreement to enter a long-term license for TOM FORD fashion with The Estée Lauder Companies (“ELC”). This license is contingent upon the closing of the acquisition of TOM FORD by ELC, which is expected to occur during the first half of calendar 2023. ELC will be the sole owner of the TOM FORD brand and all its intellectual property.

As part of this transaction, Zegna Group will acquire operations of the TOM FORD fashion business necessary to perform its obligations as licensee

Zegna Group, the owner of the Zegna and Thom Browne brands, will become a long-term licensee of ELC for all TOM FORD men’s and women’s fashion as well as accessories and underwear, fine jewelry, childrenswear, textile and home design products. The Estée Lauder Companies and Zegna Group will align closely on the creative direction to continue building on the luxury positioning of the TOM FORD brand.

Zegna Group’s ambition is to position TOM FORD among the most respected and successful luxury fashion brands, leveraging the Zegna Group’s platform and capitalizing on the uniqueness of the TOM FORD brand.

Tom Ford, Founder and CEO of Tom Ford International, will continue to serve as the brand’s creative visionary after closing and through the end of calendar 2023.

“TOM FORD is one of the most iconic and distinctive ultra-luxury brands in the world and this next step together perfectly aligns with our strategy. We have been partners and shareholders of the TOM FORD fashion business since its inception and I have worked with Tom for many years and consider him an esteemed friend,” said Ermenegildo “Gildo” Zegna, CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group. “This transaction is our first since our listing on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2021, and confirms our commitment to leverage our platform to create value for all of our stakeholders.”

Transaction Details

Zegna’s 20-year licensing agreement with The Estée Lauder Companies allows for an automatic renewal for further 10 years subject to certain minimum performance conditions

As part of this transaction, Zegna will acquire operations of the TOM FORD fashion business necessary to perform its obligations as licensee

The transaction, which Zegna will finance with cash on hand, is expected to be EPS accretive for Zegna shareholders within the first full year post-closing (pre-synergies and related implementation costs)

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by Zegna’s Board of Directors, is expected to close by the second quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions

In this transaction, Zegna received financial advice from UBS with a team led by Riccardo Mulone.

Circ launches first denim collection with H&M featuring TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology

Circ today announced that the first men's denim collection featuring TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology is now available at H&M, marking the commercial delivery of this unique pilot project first announced in October 2025. Featuring two styles available across the UK, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, South Europe, Turkey, North America, Mexico, Canada, and the Middle East, the launch brings TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology into H&M's standard men's denim assortment for the first time.

Recover™ secures multi-year recycled cotton agreement with H&M

Recover™ has signed a multi-year agreement with H&M to support the integration of its recycled cotton fiber, RCotton, for use in H&M’s products. Since early 2024, H&M and Recover™ have collaborated on product development, which now enables scaled commercial introduction of Recover™ mechanically recycled cotton into H&M’s collections.

GORE-TEX® KIDSWEAR launches innovative membership scheme for kids’ jackets

With its revolutionary new membership model, GORE-TEX® Kidswear now offers families a simple, flexible and sustainable way of kitting out their children in top-quality jackets. It is aimed at the parents of children aged between five and ten and kicks off with a choice of functional winter jackets.

Jeanologia Sustainability Report highlights environmental impact of textile technologies

Jeanologia has published its Sustainability Report 2025, reporting a 13.64% reduction in its own carbon footprint and quantifying the environmental impact associated with the use of its technologies across the global textile industry. According to the company’s calculations, their use avoided the pollution of 21.52 million m³ of water and emissions of approximately 103,530 tonnes of CO₂ compared with conventional textile finishing processes.

Global Standards announce launch of a new textile processing standard

The 14th September 2026 marks the public launch of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS), a new standard for the processing of textiles made from fibres certified to third-party standards recognised by GRTS and covering a broad range of plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic and recycled fibres.

Orient Rongheng connects production planning across China and Bangladesh with FastReactPlan

Chinese apparel manufacturer Orient Rongheng is implementing Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan to digitalize production planning across its manufacturing operations in China and Bangladesh. The project aims to connect capacity, materials and order planning across multiple factories while integrating these processes with the company’s existing ERP and Manufacturing Execution System (MES).

ALLIED expands down traceability with lot-level carbon footprint data

ALLIED Feather + Down has expanded its TrackMyDown traceability platform to include validated cradle-to-gate carbon footprint data linked to individual down lots. The initiative is designed to provide brands and consumers with more detailed environmental information on the materials used in finished products and could also support future data requirements associated with Digital Product Passports.