LVMH is selling Marc Jacobs to WHP Global, the parent company of Vera Wang and Rag & Bone, for an undisclosed amount, the two companies announced on Thursday.

By buying Marc Jacobs, WHP Global, a New York-based brand-management firm, is adding a crown jewel to a portfolio that includes G-Star, Joe’s, Express, and Vera Wang.

G-III Apparel Group, which bought Donna Karan from LVMH in 2016, will join with WHP Global in its ownership of the Marc Jacobs brand. G-III will also acquire and operate certain parts of the brand’s global direct-to-consumer and wholesale businesses. “Together, WHP Global, G-III and Marc Jacobs will accelerate the brand’s next phase of growth through WHP Global’s licensing platform and G-III’s best-in-class operating capabilities,” the press release reads.

“Marc Jacobs is a designer of rare creativity and unique vision,” LVMH chair and CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement on Thursday. “His impact on the world of fashion is undeniable, and I want to warmly thank him for his contribution to the success of the maison and the LVMH Group over the last 30 years. I am confident that this new chapter will offer new avenues of opportunity for Marc Jacobs, that the brand and its designer will continue to inspire customers and creators around the world.”

With the addition of the Marc Jacobs brand, WHP Global will surpass $9.5 billion in global retail sales, according to the press release.

Following the closing of the transaction, Marc Jacobs will continue in his role as founder and creative director, ensuring continuity of the brand’s vision, runway collections, and fashion shows.

“When I met with Yehuda Shmidman [WHP Global chair and CEO] it was abundantly clear that his respect, admiration, appreciation and love for the house we built was genuine and sincere (and by we, I mean all of us),” Jacobs posted on Instagram. “As I continue on my journey as creative director, I want to express my indebtedness to all of the passionate, hardworking, devoted, creative and talented teams of people at Marc Jacobs International…I am forever grateful to Bernard Arnault for his support, belief and trust in me over the last 30 years. It has been an honor and privilege to work alongside the Arnault family and LVMH.”

The Marc Jacobs brand was founded in 1984 by Jacobs and his business partner Robert Duffy. In 1997, after Jacobs was appointed the first creative director of Louis Vuitton, LVMH acquired a majority stake in the business.

Under LVMH’s ownership, the brand transformed from a niche New York label into an internationally recognized fashion house. Although LVMH doesn’t break down sales of its fashion and leather goods division, Marc Jacobs is one of the smaller brands within its stable. (Usually, LVMH mentions when a brand surpasses the €1 billion mark, and Marc Jacobs is rarely mentioned in the group’s earnings calls.)

In 2001, Marc Jacobs launched a diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, which was discontinued in 2015. Then, in 2020, the company launched Heaven by Marc Jacobs, aimed at a younger audience and known for its Y2K-inspired aesthetic and sought-after collaborations.

Positioned in the accessible luxury segment, Marc Jacobs is more exposed to the ongoing slowdown in luxury spending than ultra-high-end houses such as LVMH-owned Loro Piana, whose ultra-wealthy clientele continues to spend. During the first-quarter earnings call, CFO Cécile Cabanis noted that most brands in the fashion division underperformed the division’s average decline of 2%, with the exceptions of Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana, and Rimowa.

The Marc Jacobs collections have been the most directional and fashion-forward in New York in recent years. His Spring/Summer 2026 show, however, felt more restrained. Vogue Business and Vogue Runway global director Nicole Phelps wrote in her review: “Following a Covid-time pause, Jacobs returned to the runway flaunting a taste for wild exaggeration, with silhouettes taken to the extreme in the manner of designer icons of his, like Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo. It was fashion as performance art, and it made for great pictures, but nobody was wearing these pieces to the office or out on a first date. Tonight’s collection, though, it got the heart pumping. “What a great show! Clothes we can wear,” cheered Jacobs’s friend, the designer Anna Sui.”

A fashion legend, Jacobs recently got the documentary treatment, courtesy of his longtime friend Sofia Coppola. Marc by Sofia premiered at the Venice Film Festival and came out in the US in the spring. He also had a cameo in The Devil Wears Prada 2.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) first reported in July 2025 that LVMH was close to a potential sale, with the valuation estimated at around $1 billion. WSJ had cited WHP Global among the companies interested, as well as Authentic Brands Group (whose stable includes Reebok, Brooks Brothers, and Barneys New York), and Bluestar Alliance (which includes Off-White, Palm Angels, Scotch & Soda, and Catherine Malandrino).

It comes a decade after LVMH sold another American brand, Donna Karan, to G-III Apparel Group in a deal valued at $650 million. More recently, the group sold Off-White to Bluestar Alliance in 2024, its stake in Stella McCartney in January 2025, and divested duty-free operator DFS’s operations in Greater China in January 2026.

With the luxury sector still in recovery, companies may view this as an opportune moment to reassess their brand portfolios and concentrate on their megabrands and highest profit contributors.

Asked whether LVMH intends to rationalize its brand portfolio, notably in the beauty and wine and spirits space, during the group’s first-quarter earnings call, group CFO Cécile Cabanis said: “Whenever we have an underperforming brand, the first priority is to fix it. And if in some cases, as it happened with DFS and Stella McCartney, we have a discussion with an operator where we believe it will be a good place for the brand to land, then we make a deal.”