BA & SH: A Fashion Fairytale

Picture this: you and your best friend share a love of all things fashion and you decide to start your own label; you agree that your aesthetic is going to be a blend of bohemian and rock'n'roll influences; you create collections that sell out of every department store that buys them; you travel the world seeking inspiration for your designs for 11 years; and then LVMH come knocking at your door wanting to invest in your company and take you from being a ubiquitous European high-street presence to a global establishment. Sound like the dream? For BA&SH it's the trajectory of its business.

Founders Barbara Boccara and Sharon Krief (the label takes the first two letters of their names), are naturally counting their blessings, but openly admit that they weren't seeking out a partner before the deal with L Capital - the private-equity subsidiary of LVMH - was made.

"If it was not for L Capital, we would have remained some time without a partner," Boccara told us. "We didn't want anything to change - our DNA, our team and so on. Our balance was, and is, very important to us." For L Capital, the decision to bring BA&SH into its stable was one driven by the label's "original fashion content, honest price and selective and highly qualitative distribution" that it believes is the "current and future customer expectation".

"BA&SH is a genuine contemporary designer apparel proposition with enormous potential for international development. It's a new and fresh fashion proposition on the contemporary space," explained Eduardo Velasco, partner at L Capital, adding that its strategy is to identify brands that are unique and "help them structure themselves to develop on the long term"

It's a strategy that has been quickly implemented since the acquisition earlier this year, according to Boccara who told us that L Capital has already accelerated the brands international development using its knowledge and expertise. But a global presence doesn't mean following global trends, Krief outlined.

"Since the beginning, we wanted to add to our collections our own vision of fashion and style, without attaching the importance to global trends," she told us. "Moreover, the style signature has evolved around the concept of the ideal wardrobe: everyday pieces made of sumptuous fabrics with the right balance between femininity and sophistication."

It's not just L Capital that have bought into the aesthetic. Bar Refaeli, Charlotte Casaraghi, Melanie Laurent and Constance Jablonski are all fans, and will no doubt be queuing up when BA&SH's line of accessories launches next year - something made possible by the investment.

"We already have the perfect clothing line so we want to evolve out accessories offering," enthused Boccara, before Krief chimed in: "High-end accessories - we're so excited!"

With 40 retail outlets around the world down and more of the horizon, they have every reason to be. A picture-perfect plan.