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VERONA, Italy -- Byblos isn't exactly a "venerable" brand, but it certainly has a history: It was the launching point for Gianni Versace, who, as well as the duo Alan Cleaver and Keith Varty, helped develop its identity and turned it into a hot brand in the Eighties and Nineties.
Its new owner, Swinger International, hopes to build on Byblos' brand awareness to revamp the line and freshen its image. "The brand has a lot of potential, but must be repositioned," said Mathias Facchini, chief executive officer of Swinger, during an interview at the company's headquarters here. "Over the past few years, the brand lost its identity and continuity, because too many designers had been tapped for brief stints."
After Cleaver and Varty were ousted by then-owner Donatella Girombelli in 1995, following a series of dismal reviews, designers as diverse as Richard Tyler, John Bartlett, Martine Sitbon and Sandy Dalal failed to leave a lasting, successful mark on the brand. Last year, Prada Group acquired Genny and Byblos from Girombelli. While Prada chief Patrizio Bertelli decided to hang on to the state-of-the-art Genny production facilities, he sold the Byblos brand to Swinger in April. Facchini said he paid $16.8 million for the brand and its licenses. (Dollar figures are converted from euros at current exchange rates.)
Facchini said he had always liked Byblos.
"The brand is young and modern, and is well integrated with Swinger's capacities, skills and history," he said. Swinger was founded in 1971 by his parents, Dino and Lilly Facchini, and garnered a reputation for production and distribution of denim and sportswear lines, including a Swinger line discontinued in the Eighties....