The global pandemic has not only generated what looks like a prolonged economic crisis, but also shifted people’s sentiment toward consumerism. How the fashion industry will be affected in the long term is a difficult question to answer.
Still, for an entrepreneur, a designer, a creator, there is a patent and comprehensible sense of nervousness around selling. Equally, ethical sourcing, recycling or environmentally friendly production can constitute a primary activity. In this case, make sure that the terms in the contract protect your focus on sustainable design principles.
All in all, a balance must be reached. Yes, once you sell, you are not independent anymore, but you can certainly retain a level of autonomy that must be outlined as much as possible in advance. Since your style, your imagination and your creativity are at the heart of what you do, you ought to talk candidly. Not every future problem can be foreseen, but ensuring your red lines are understood — and hopefully, agreed — by the acquirer, can limit future disruption.
And you can also accept, in some specific circumstances, to be partially paid in shares of the acquiring group — if, in addition to cash, you had received LVMH or Kering stocks 10 years ago, you would not complain today. That is why valuation can widely vary between potential buyers. I saw multiples of up to four between the lowest and the highest valuation for the same firm.