Despite weeks of rumours, the buying of Burberry by Moncler is not happening

The new Burberry store at Wisma Atria

No matter how many more trench coats they hope to sell, even having their eager staff here model them in store, Burberry is not impressing brands enough so that they desire to have a stake in the British name. Rumours have been going round for more than a week that the Italian outerwear brand Moncler was exploring a takeover bit of Burberry. The hearsay was positive enough that the company’s share prices even increased briefly. Moncler has finally refuted the chatter. Reuters reported that the 72-year-old Milan-headquarted company had responded to enquiries about the purported interest in Burberry as “unsubstantiated rumours” and would not comment. But that was not an outright no either.

As with many industry rumours these days, the Moncler pursuit of Burberry was shared by Ms Tweed through an “exclusive” Instagram post, through which she wrote that “Moncler mulls bid for Burberry… to create an outdoor specialist giant”. Later, the Daily Mail asserted with the headline that Burberry was “set for takeover” by the Italian brand. The paper did say that both parties were “tight-lipped over the plans” and that “staff had been told not to discuss the offer with outsiders ‘until an official statement has come out’”. That such a speculation could have emerged might be due to LVMH’s acquisition of a ten-percent share last September in Double R, the parent company of Moncler. And the French conglomerate is know for its expansionistic fervour.

While the Brits could be thrilled with non-native investments in their beloved, but ailing brand, an Italian name owning a traditional British one is a coming together of two distinctly different labels that may not benefit each other. (The brand had already had a taste of Italian refashioning when Riccardo Tisci was with them—and we know how that went.) Moreover, there is their cultural disparity to consider and that they target very different markets, with Burberry said to be desirous of going less luxurious in their positioning. This seems to be true, given how simple the new store design is—possibly conceived to pair better with creative director Daniel Lee’s clearly approachable designs. Burberry might be better off sticking to their Britishness and welcoming some needed eccentricity to their placid image.