Authentic Brands Group partners with Saks Global on luxury venture

Authentic Brands Group, the global brand development, marketing, and entertainment platform, is launching a joint venture with Saks Global to grow its luxury and accessible luxury brands, building on its successful collaboration with Barneys New York.

The new venture, called Authentic Luxury Group, will leverage the combined capabilities of Authentic and Saks Global to maximise the potential of Authentic’s luxury brands across key sectors, including fashion, retail, digital, hospitality, real estate, art and travel, such as developing branded luxury residences, condominiums and hotels.

Authentic Luxury Group (ALG) will serve as an incubator for brand growth through new strategic licensing agreements and distribution channels, initially focusing on Authentic Brands-owned luxury and accessible luxury names, including Barneys New York, Judith Leiber Couture, Hervé Léger and Vince.

The idea is to redefine and expand the modern luxury experience for customers worldwide, leveraging Authentic’s expertise as a global licensing powerhouse with Saks Global’s elevated e-commerce experiences and well-located store fleets to generate growth opportunities and create value for its strategic licensing and distribution partners.

Jamie Salter, founder, chairman, and chief executive of Authentic, said in a statement: “The creation of ALG represents years of successful collaboration under our initial licensing agreement with Saks for Barneys New York.

“Building on our complementary strengths, ALG will further cultivate our brands by creating a multifaceted environment that reaches a broader audience through a wide range of offerings and experiences. Our shared commitment to excellence and strategic vision positions us at the forefront of modern luxury.”

Authentic teams up with Saks Global to maximise the potential of its luxury brands

Barneys New York, which has a significant presence in Japan and a namesake beauty line, will be the first brand positioned for accelerated growth under the ALG platform to extend the US retailer and its brands beyond fashion and into lifestyle categories, like the Barneys New York Residences, which opened in Tulum, Mexico earlier this year.

The brand’s expansion will also include an enhanced presence at Saks Fifth Avenue, a strengthened retail footprint, a dedicated e-commerce platform, and the launch of Barneys New York residences.

This follows Barneys New York's recent collaboration with Hourglass with a pop-up on Prince Street in Soho, New York. The pop-up showcases a curated collection of luxury art and fashion, a coffee truck by the renowned Freds and a series of notable events, highlighting opportunities for expansion under ALG's leadership.

Richard Baker, executive chairman of Saks Global, added: “With ALG, we are able to further our efforts to serve the full continuum of luxury consumers. We always strive to use our platform to give both established and emerging brands greater opportunities to extend their reach in luxury fashion, and this new platform will do just that.

“We are proud to further enhance our partnership with Authentic and leverage our collective capabilities to unlock access to new audiences and reimagine the luxury experience.”