Last Thursday, 33-year-old Megha Mittal won the bidding war for Escada. She notably beat out an offer by Sean Ley, the son of Escada’s founder. Mittal will buy Escada for an undisclosed amount. Current CEO Bruno Saelzer is slated to stay, whereas Ley and his team had planned to hire Giacomo Santucci, the former head of Gucci. Mitall is behind in current CEO Saelzer’s plan of turning Escada into an affordable luxury label by adding more day-wear to the collection, which currently relies heavily on high-priced red carpet formal wear.
You may be wondering who Megha Mittal is exactly. It’s not a name I’ve heard yet in the fashion world. It turns out she is the daughter-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal who is the chief executive of ArcelorMittal, the largest steel company in the world. Lakshmi Mittal is the richest person in the whole United Kingdom, not to mention the 8th-richest person worldwide. Megha had also expressed interest in Gianfranco Ferré, as she has been considering a big fashion investment for about a year.

Day-wear from Escada? Count me in! I’d love to see a line with elegant designs that can be worn more often. This is one we’ll want to watch.