Together Group has announced two acquisitions, Imerza and Visualisation One, for an undisclosed price. They’re “pioneers in digital twin technologies, immersive content production and digital animation”.
Together Group
The company is a “curated collective of high-quality creative consultancies, immersive technology, marketing and production studios, crafting the future of luxury and lifestyle experiences”. It includes Harvey Nichols, Dior, Liberty, Skims, Selfridges, Chanel and Louis Vuitton among its clients and said the “strategic acquisitions enhance [its] ability to deliver transformative customer experiences across all key luxury segments, including real estate and placemaking, as well as fashion, beauty, hospitality, art, design and culture, responding to the growing demand for innovation in the experience economy as well as for the coming together of luxury and entertainment”.
For instance, for fashion and beauty, Together said “next-generation digital flagship store environments, interactive product try-ons, and personalised, immersive virtual shows and campaigns can redefine consumer engagement”.
And CEO Christian Kurtzke added: “We create emotionally engaging and highly-personalised immersive digital luxury experiences that reach well beyond what traditional websites, movies or live events can offer. The integration of Imerza and Visualisation One allows us to offer unparalleled capabilities in digital twin and realtime visualisation technologies, creating life-like digital environments driven by real-time data – empowering destinations and brands to reimagine the way they connect with their audiences in both physical and virtual worlds. In short, we blend creativity, culture and cutting edge immersive technologies to take ideation, storytelling and entertainment to the next level.”
So what do the two businesses it has bought do? Imerza is a US leader in architectural game-engine technology and visualisation and is Epic Games’ official US partner studio for Digital Twins.
And Visualisation One (V1), led by founder Vince Flynn, is known for its cinematic architectural visualisations and immersive VR experiences for “top-tier global clients”.
The integration of both into Together Group’s Noë & Associates Studios “will create an advanced hub for immersive digital innovation and experiences, with offices in London, New York, and Dubai”, in addition to Imerza’s and V1’s respective HQs in Florida, US, and Chester, UK.
Noë & Associates Studios is a “curated collective of contemporary artists, next-gen technologists, and artisans tasked with redefining how people interact with environments, realms, and ,” we’re told.
The new additions “significantly expand Together Group’s ability to serve brands in sectors undergoing profound transformation”.
The company added that buying the two businesses means it has made its 12th and 13th acquisition since the group acquired its first agency, Purple communications in 2021.
Steven Madden Ltd. warned investors that the company is “cautious” on the near-term outlook due to tariffs.
“We face meaningful headwinds in 2025, most notably the impact of new tariffs on goods imported into the United States,” the company said Wednesday in a statement when it reported quarterly earnings.
The shoe retailer joined other consumer companies in raising concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. On Tuesday, Kontoor Brands Inc. said that US shoppers were “confused” and feeling “under attack” amid all the uncertainty.
Despite the cautious approach, Steve Madden forecast revenue to increase as much as 19% this year. Meanwhile, the company’s profit in the most recent quarter beat estimates.
The retailer’s stock was little changed in trading before US markets opened. The shares had fallen about 11% this year through Tuesday’s close, trailing a roughly 1% advance by the Russel 1000 Index.
The company said in November, after Donald Trump was elected president, that it was accelerating plans to shift production from China because it anticipated higher tariffs. The White House enacted additional 10% levies on Chinese imports earlier this month.
Luxury cashmere fashion brand Wyse London has quickly appointed a new CEO, with Kara Groves taking up the key post. She replaces Suzy Slavid who has just returned to fashion retailer River Island as its trading managing director.
Kara Groves
However Slavid, who had been CEO of Wyse London for two years, will remain a non-executive director there.
Her replacement Groves will be responsible for driving the brand’s direct-to-consumer business in the UK while also spearheading further expansion in the US.
She brings over 15 years’ executive level experience having held senior roles with several premium/lifestyle brands.
Most recently, Groves was chief executive at chidrenswear brand Bambino Mio where she focused on the brand’s repositioning to reinvigorate growth.
Previous to that she was chief operating officer at womenswear brand Mint Velvet where she was charged with reshaping the brand’s store portfolio and heading international expansion.
Meanwhile, Groves also spent seven years at Joules, latterly as chief commercial officer until 2018, spearheading a threefold increase in turnover through an expansion of the lifestyle brand’s product offer across many routes to market, including the US.
Groves said: “What I find most rewarding is working with founder-led businesses – Marielle [Wyse] is a real inspiration and brings energy and life to so many creative aspects of the brand as well as a laser-focused attention to detail.”
She added: “Our mindset will remain customer centric – we deeply understand our loyal customer base and will continue to cultivate grow and evolve with her needs. We like to push boundaries and elevate wherever we can. We are looking forward to expanding our presence both here in the UK and in the US market.”
Conscious fashion brand Lucy & Yak is expanding its sustainability programme by taking its in-store Re:Yak workshops online to allow more customers to “return, recirculate and recycle their well loved Yaks”.
Lucy & Yak
Customers can now exchange old products for vouchers to spend either online or in any one of Lucy & Yak’s 11 UK stores.
Through the new online service, items will either be resold or upcycled and repaired by Lucy & Yak’s in-house experts. The mended items will be available for purchase through Lucy & Yak’s stores, online or at The Outlet in Castleford. There will also be limited one off items such as hand embroidered pieces from the Re:Yak Studio.
Lucy Greenwood, co-founder of Lucy & Yak, said: “When [we] launched… in 2017, we realised that, if we wanted to be truly circular, we had a responsibility for the lifecycle of anything we created, even after the customer has ownership of the piece.
“In 2023 we launched our first buyback scheme in our shops, which was a huge success and instantly highlighted the demand for an online presence. Now, rebranded as PreLoved, this has been a real passion project and I can’t wait to see it expand into further regions in the future.”