John D. Idol is a person who loves a gold emblem — however it seems the style exec has misplaced his Midas contact, based on a number of sources.
The multi-millionaire CEO of Capri Holdings made his fortune at America’s largest manufacturers, from Donna Karan to Michael Kors, earlier than shopping for Italian design home Versace for $2.1 billion in September 2018.
Now, the style business — rife with peacocking and gossip — has reacted with horror to the information that Idol “pushed out” Donatella Versace as inventive director of the model her brothers Gianni and Santo launched in 1978.
For some, although, it comes as no shock.
“He’s a God-complex, chest-beating, bulldozer of a man,” mentioned the insider of Idol.
Idol reportedly pushed the flamboyant Versace model to create a monogram much like Michael Kors’ “MK” or Louis Vuitton’s “LV” and to sideline its iconic Medusa emblem in favor of a extra stately Baroque V — whereas growing costs, simply as the luxurious market took a post-pandemic downturn.
“He will wrap your entire brand up into that gold medallion [style] he loves to hang off handbags. He thinks every brand has the same formula,” mentioned the style insider. The Capri spokesperson famous this was a administration staff determination.
Nevertheless, “He’s driven brands completely into the ground, like Jimmy Choo,” mentioned the insider. “He’s taken the heart out of them.”
The Capri spokesperson denied this, saying Capri had made vital investments in Jimmy Choo.
Idol purchased the shoe model for $1.2 billion in July 2017, and WWD has reported it’s now up on the market — as is Versace, which is reportedly in talks to be scooped up by Prada.
All of it comes after Idol’s bid to promote Capri — which additionally owns Michael Kors — for $8.5 billion to Tapestry, the father or mother of such distinguished US manufacturers as Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. That deal flopped final 12 months over antitrust points.
In keeping with the Wall Avenue Journal, Capri Holdings is now valued at roughly $2.3 billion—solely barely greater than what the corporate paid for Versace. It was additionally reported that Idol noticed his pay bundle shrink by 26.5%, to $10.5 million, in 2023 because the firm struggled with declining gross sales and income
“Maybe he’s been knocked off his perch by the Tapestry deal not having gone through,” the style insider added.
Idol has been within the trend enterprise for many years, serving within the mid Nineteen Nineties as Group President of Ralph Lauren and becoming a member of Donna Karan Worldwide Inc. as CEO in 1997, changing Karan herself. There, he was credited with turning across the financially-troubled model — and wooing LVMH as a purchaser in 2001.
Together with the Hong Kong-based personal fairness agency Sportswear Holdings, Idol acquired the Michael Kors model for $100 million in 2003 — when its income totaled $20 million — with plans to place it as a traditional American “jet-set” way of life model.
The outlook was rosy at first. The corporate’s 2011 IPO broke information and its shares jumped 25% upon debuting on the New York Inventory Alternate. That was excellent news for Idol, who took on the CEO position and later offered a few of his inventory for greater than $400 million. He nonetheless retains 1% of Michael Kors shares.
“When Michael Kors went public, the brand was on fire. Every quarter outperformed the previous one. Kors was like being in a Lamborghini without your seatbelt on while smoking a cigarette,” retail analyst Gabriella Santaniello advised The Put up.
Though the Kors enterprise initially boomed, gross sales have been on the decline in recent times.
“The undoing of Kors was its discounting” throughout a “giddy, heady time that lasted around five years,” mentioned one former worker.
Idol was warned a number of instances to not low cost, based on the worker. “He was told, ‘You’re over distributed,’ but all he could see was the cash register ringing.”
(The Capri spokesperson mentioned pricing technique was a administration staff determination.)
At one level, the worker added, an business knowledgeable in contrast the model to Duane Reade — as a result of the outlets have been on each nook and malls have been bursting with Kors purses.
“Our issue is we have pricing that is out of line for what the customer’s expectation is,” Idol advised analysts and buyers in a convention name after the Tapestry sale failed in November 2024. “They’re being much more choiceful today than they were two years ago.”
As Enterprise of Trend identified, Capri’s fortunes “begin and end with Michael Kors” — which made up 70% of the group’s web gross sales in its most up-to-date fiscal 12 months. International income is now at $3.5 billion.
“When the company started to falter, instead of paying attention to the Kors brand and fixing it, [Capri] acquired other brands. It’s going to be very hard for Capri to come back from all of this,” Santaniello mentioned. “They readily admitted [during the government hearings] that during the acquisition phase, they didn’t pay attention to their designs. They thought the merger was a sure thing.”
After a choose blocked the deal, Capri’s inventory tanked by almost 50% and has remained flat.
The Tapestry failure additionally confirmed how “very vindictive” Idol may be, the previous worker advised The Put up, pointing to the departure of Kors former CEO Cedric Wilmotte.
The exec testified at FTC hearings final September over the deliberate acquisition, through which he admitted the corporate’s turnaround efforts had fallen quick — and added that Tapestry was higher suited than Capri to run Kors, based on a WWD report.
Nevertheless it was an electronic mail to his spouse, which turned a part of the general public report, which will have finished in Wilmotte, the worker mentioned.
In it, the then CEO wrote: “US [business] is a disaster and this is all because of JI [Idol] trying to maintain top line with discounting all day long versus refocusing on creating brand heat.”
After 16 years with the corporate, Wilmotte was terminated in November. The Capri spokesperson mentioned his Wilmotte’s departure got here all the way down to Capri’s re-organization and expense-reduction initiatives.
Insiders additionally say Idol cherished displaying off his proximity to the glitzy aspect of trend. Onlookers described him wanting the “cat who got the cream” when he arrived “arm in arm” with Donatella on the 2019 Met Gala.
“We were at a fashion show, which is a $2 million event for just a six-minute presentation,” the previous Kors worker recalled. “John allowed older white dudes in the dressing room where the models were getting their hair and makeup done. Michael could be freaking out and John would have these dopes back there wandering around.”
The previous worker claimed that such backstage entry helped Idol acquire membership to an unique golf membership in Southampton, not removed from his $18 million property.
“John would say ‘I want to get into a golf club on Long Island, the hardest one to get into,’” the worker mentioned. “He got in … of course.”
One other supply advised us Idol is a member at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton. The Capri spokesperson mentioned the corporate doesn’t talk about Idol’s private issues.
Insiders mentioned that Idol’s relationship with Kors the designer had at instances been “volatile” and “strained,” regardless of the latest opening of a brand new Michael Kors boutique on Madison Avenue.
“I think Michael was planning to leave after the sale to Tapestry, but I doubt that he can just walk now,” mentioned the previous worker.
Denying any volatility, the Capri spokesperson mentioned, “Mr. Idol and Mr. Kors have had a strong partnership since 2003, which continues today.” A rep for Kors didn’t reply for remark.
Over at Versace, Idol — who has a $21.6 million Palm Seashore mansion — pushed Donatella to create garments that, based on the Wall Avenue Journal, have been “more Palm Beach than South Beach.” This reportedly led to a frantic conflict as, when the designs flopped, Donatella tried to salvage issues by returning to her extra acquainted horny type.
A number of sources have additionally mentioned that Emmanuel Gintzburger, who Capri employed as CEO of Versace in 2022, had clashed with Donatella. The designer didn’t reply for remark.
She’s going to now get replaced by Dario Vitale, who was design director on the Miu Miu model that’s owned by the Prada Group.
“The whole fashion world feels [Idol] underestimated Donatella’s power and John Idol may have met his match here — and he really needed to,” the style insider mentioned. “John has treated everybody so badly, that I hope this is a reckoning.”
