French prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible fraud linked to the acquisition of the publisher of L’Officiel, a century-old institution in fashion and luxury, by a Chinese group, following a complaint from the magazine’s historic owners, AFP has learned from the Paris prosecutor’s office and sources close to the case.
The magazine is published in many countries, notably in Asia and the Middle East. – L’Officiel
When questioned, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it had assigned the investigation to the financial investigations unit of the Paris judicial police, after receiving a complaint on March 5, 2025.
The Jalou family, which founded the publishing house behind L’Officiel, accuses AMTD, the Chinese conglomerate that took over the publishing group in 2022, of “trademark infringement, tax fraud, and misuse of corporate assets,” the prosecutor’s office said.
In the complaint, which AFP has seen, the plaintiffs accuse the Chinese investors of misappropriations that allegedly caused losses of “at least €40 million” to Éditions Jalou’s creditors.
When it was sold to the Hong Kong-based giant AMTD, the company was subject to a court-supervised restructuring plan. The plan, which runs until 2028, is explicit: it prohibits the disposal or transfer of the business and the trademarks.
However, since the takeover, “the strategy of the new owners has been to squander the company’s assets,” the Jalou family asserts.
They cite, for example, the unlawful registration of the “L’Officiel” trademark in around 40 countries through a foreign subsidiary registered in the British Virgin Islands, as well as schemes involving licence agreements that were terminated and then transferred to companies abroad.
For the Jalou family, all this amounts to “serious and repeated violations of the recovery plan,” which is intended to safeguard the interests of employees, URSSAF, the tax authorities, and suppliers.
“L’Officiel is a century-old institution of French fashion and cannot be treated as a mere speculative asset,” the Jalou family’s lawyers, Céline Bekerman and Antoine Cadeo, told AFP.
“We have full confidence in our country’s justice system to uphold the law and protect all creditors, first and foremost the French state in respect of its tax claims,” they added.
When contacted, AMTD, a conglomerate diversified across digital solutions, media, entertainment, and hospitality, did not respond.
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L.L. Bean announced on Friday the promotion of company veteran Greg Elder to the role of president and chief executive officer.
Greg Elder – Courtesy
Elder succeeds Stephen Smith, who will depart the American heritage apparel company after ten years as CEO.
Elder will transition into his new role as CEO during the first quarter, with Smith continuing to serve on the board as an adviser until March.
Joining L.L. Bean in 2007, Elder has held several leadership positions at the company, including chief retail officer, his most recent post.
Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Eddie Bauer and Dayton Hudson Corporation, now known as Target. Elder is also a member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
“We were deliberate in finding a leader who will continue to honor our brand heritage while positioning us for the next era of growth,” Shawn Gorman, chairman of the board of L.L. Bean said in a statement. “Greg rose to the top because of his deep respect for our history, incredible knowledge of our business, strong track record of results and clear vision for the future.”
Elder will be the Freeport, Maine-based company’s fifth CEO in its 114-year history.
“What makes L.L.Bean truly special is its people and purpose. I’m proud to take on this responsibility alongside such a committed and talented team, and I’m grateful for the trust of the Bean family and our board as we begin this next chapter together,” said Elder.
“I’m also thankful for the past 10 years of leadership and friendship from Stephen Smith, who has led the company with heart and conviction through some particularly challenging seasons.
“This brand has been part of my life for many years, and it has deep personal meaning for me to accept this role. Our heritage, our connection to the outdoors and our culture of service and craftsmanship are powerful foundations. At the same time, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to keep evolving: to sharpen our product focus, deepen our connection with customers and ensure L.L.Bean remains relevant and inspiring for the next generation.”
The SFDA Creative Talent Program announced on Friday the finalists of the inaugural New Wave Fashion Awards.
SFDA unveils finalists for inaugural New Wave Fashion Awards. – SFDA
After three months of open submissions and professional review, six finalists were selected: Chen Sifan by Sifan Chen, Angus Chiang by Angus Chiang, Moto Guo by Moto Guo and Kinder Huang, 8ON8 by Li Gong, Mayali by Maya Li, and Feng Chen Wang by Feng Chen Wang.
Conceived as a long-term talent incubation initiative rather than a one-off competition, the New Wave Fashion Awards positions itself as a platform for identifying and cultivating designers with multi-dimensional capabilities spanning product, aesthetics, narrative, and brand structure.
The framework is designed to mirror the responsibilities of a modern creative director, offering an alternative to traditional fashion awards that focus primarily on runway collections.
“We launched this creative talent support program to build a long-term, systematic, and future-oriented training mechanism to help China’s new generation of creative talents achieve leaps in continuous practice and move towards a clearer and more internationally-oriented development direction,” said Madame LV, EVP of SFDA and secretary-general of Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee.
The New Wave Fashion Awards will culminate during AW26 Shanghai Fashion Week in late March. The six shortlisted designers will present comprehensive brand expressions on site, translating their concepts into immersive spatial experiences.
These presentations will be evaluated by a jury with international perspective and industry authority, drawing from global fashion media, retail and brand operations, as well as the public.
For nearly two decades, sports brands benefited as people swapped out dress shoes for sneakers when heading everywhere from the airport to fancy restaurants and even the office.
Nike
That’s been a boon for Adidas AG, Nike Inc. and Puma SE, which capitalized on consumers’ changing tastes by serving up snazzy, comfy kicks that people wanted to wear on and off the playing field. The rising demand for sports shoes also underpinned the rapid growth of challengers like Hoka and On Holding AG, which emerged in the wake of the financial crisis and quickly became popular brands.
Now the future of that longstanding sneaker boom is being called into question, most notably by Bank of America analysts led by Thierry Cota. They rocked the footwear world last week with a 61-page analysis concluding that the growth prospects for these sports brands are rapidly dimming.
They argue that the sporting goods sector had enjoyed a 20-year “upcycle” that lifted sneakers from less than a quarter of world footwear sales to at least a half — a trend that culminated during the Covid pandemic, when millions of people were suddenly working from home. “With this structural shift largely complete, prospects for future revenue growth are now significantly reduced,” the analysts said.
They accompanied that view with a rare “double downgrade” of Adidas, abandoning their “buy” rating and declaring the stock one of the least attractive in the industry.
Their contention that the sneaker boom has passed its peak prompted a backlash from skeptics who say the casual footwear trend has room to run. Longtime industry analyst Matt Powell, an adviser at consulting firm Spurwink River, conveyed that sentiment on LinkedIn, where he posted a Barron’s article about the research and commented: “C’mon, man! No evidence of this.”
Adidas shares plunged as much as 7.6% in response to the downgrade on Tuesday, before recovering part of those losses by the end of the week.
Sneakers now make up about 60% of footwear sales in the US, according to Beth Goldstein, an analyst at Circana in New York. Sport shoes have won over the population as part of a wider societal push toward comfort, health and wellness, priorities that probably aren’t going to disappear anytime soon, she said. The US sneaker category grew 4% last year through November, while the fashion category dropped 3%, she added.
“The sneaker business is larger than ever,” she said. “I wouldn’t even call casualization a trend — it’s just a key consumer preference.”
Yet the sneaker makers have run into headwinds since the pandemic as they sometimes failed to keep up with shoppers’ fickle tastes, saw sales cool particularly in China, and faced the threat of US tariffs. Shares of Adidas are down by almost a third in the past year, and even On Holding’s stock is down by more than 10% in the period, despite strong revenue growth.
“We don’t believe the casualization trend is over — rather, it has stabilized, with wardrobes now more balanced,” said Poonam Goyal, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“The category has moved beyond the pandemic-driven demand spike and is now operating in a more normalized environment.”
There are signs that sneakers are bleeding into the dress shoe category. In 2025, the top-traded loafer on Stockx, an online resale platform, was the New Balance 1906L, which looks like the offspring of a preppy boat shoe and a marathon trainer. It’s also common these days to see movie stars and fashion influencers donning spiffed-up, expensive versions of trainers, often in collaboration with luxury brands like Gucci and Moncler.
The analysts at Bank of America didn’t suggest that people are going to ditch their sneakers for patent leather oxfords anytime soon. Rather, they indicated that sporting goods — after booming during the pandemic — have since mid-2023 been growing at a slower-than-average pace compared with the past couple of decades.
While that typically could mean the industry is poised to take off again, no big rebound is apparent, the analysts argued. They cited data ranging from recent credit card purchases to sluggish sales figures from Asian footwear and apparel suppliers to less-than-bullish commentary from industry leaders regarding the outlook for 2026.
If the sporting goods industry grew by an average of about 9% a year since 2007, as millions of people traded in dress shoes for sneakers, the future annual expansion may only be about 4% or 5%, they suggested.
Their optimistic take is that the industry is in a prolonged slump because of consumers fearing economic conditions and recent stumbles at Nike. That could mean that the sneaker boom still has legs and will resurge as early as 2027.
“The alternative is much worse and more likely, in our view,” the Bank of America analysts added. “The emergence of a new, less favorable long-term industry paradigm.”
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