Only the Brave

If you thought Nicolas Ghesquière would have more time to tend to his new Twitter account now that he's not creative director of a major brand anymore, think again. Word has it the former Balenciaga designer isn't resting on his laurels, and has had offers to finance his own brand from a number of investors.

Alexa, the fashion arm of The New York Post, reports that firms including Li & Fung and Only the Brave (which owns Diesel) have joined LVMH in offering to back a Ghesquière label, despite some analysts commenting that starting a new luxury brand from scratch is a risky proposition.

"Everyone is trying to get him," one source told the magazine. But not everyone has been willing or able to meet Ghesquière's terms, which reportedly include an equity stake in the new venture.

Whenever and however Ghesquière makes his return, he'll likely be welcomed back to the design world with open arms. Karl Lagerfeld said Ghesquière starting his own label "is not a bad idea," and the designer's personal friend Grace Coddington seemed confident he would find his way back into the industry at some point.

"He will bide his time and come back," she said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "He's too brilliant to just disappear. He's very passionate about what he does."

After months of speculation that Diesel founder Renzo Rosso would buy a stake in Marni, Rosso confirmed on Thursday that the brand is now in his portfolio.

The exact figures of the deal were not disclosed, but Reuters reports that Rosso made the acquisition through his holding company, Only the Brave, which in addition to Diesel also controls Maison Martin Margiela and Viktor & Rolf. Rosso told WWD that it's his ultimate goal to crate the industry's next big fashion conglomerate.

"It's my big dream to create a modern group that is an alternative to the existing ones," he said. "We are beginning to become one such group, and we are working on consolidating it."

Rosso's investment will not only help open more Marni boutiques around the world, but also push the brand into markets like China. That's the kind of support Marni founder and CEO Gianni Castiglioni said he was looking for in October.

"We would like to double our sales in five years through a further development of retail but without drastically overturning our company," he said. "I would be open to consider a partner only if he would share my vision in managing the company. We are looking at industrial partners that can provide competence and long-term vision."

Industrially speaking, Rosso is a good fit. Through its subsidiaries, Only the Brave manufactures clothing for Vivienne Westwood, Dsquared2, and Marc Jacobs's menswear line. Rosso is also invested in the ecommerce giant Yoox, and in Marcolin, a company that produces eyewear for Tom Ford, Roberto Cavalli, and — naturally — Diesel.