A local textile trading company has threatened to sue Pierre Cardin, the iconic designer of the French fashion house, for breach of contract.
Management for designer Cardin, whose brand of the same name was the first foreign clothing name to enter China in the early 1980s, had reportedly reached an agreement to sell the trademark in its entirety to Shanghai Century Star Import & Export Corp, which said that it planned to revitalize the diminished brand.
But talks between the two companies quickly soured when Shanghai Century Star discovered last week that the management of Pierre Cardin was holding separate talks to sell the right of its trademark to Cardanro, a shoemaker in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province.
Yao Yuming, a legal advisor to Shanghai Century Star, said Monday said that his firm had already reached "an initial" agreement with Pierre Cardin officials on the terms of a sale in June.
In the negotiation, the Shanghai firm, a unit of State-owned China National Garments Group, had yet to agree on the final terms of the sale, but Yao said that the company had "already proceeded with the revitalization plan centering on a program of branding promotion and development."
Shanghai Century Star said it has secured the cooperation and support of more than 20 Pierre Cardin's major agents on the mainland to rebuild the brand into a top fashion name.
"That's why we insisted on becoming the sole owner of the brand," Yao said.
Yao said that Shanghai Century Star has made a strong request for Pierre Cardin to terminate its negotiation with Cardanro, which has reportedly offered 33.3 million euro ($50 million) for the right to use Pierre Cardin's trademark in its leather goods.