Koché changes strategy, ends OTB licence

Koché has redesigned its business model. According to information obtained by FashionNetwork.com, the Parisian street couture label led by Christelle Kocher has taken direct control of its ready-to-wear collections’ production and distribution. Since 2019, they had been managed under licence by Italian fashion group OTB. The move has prompted Koché to reorganise the company and hire new management.

OTB President Renzo Rosso met Kocher when she won the ANDAM Prize in 2019, and benefited from a one-year mentoring by the Italian fashion group, which owns among others Diesel, Maison Margiela, Jil Sander and Marni. At the time, Koché inked a licence agreement with OTB’s manufacturing arm Staff International, which became responsible for developing, producing and distributing the label’s collections.

The partnership ended with the Fall/Winter 2023-24 season. Starting with Spring/Summer 2024, Koché has decided to strike out on a new path, producing its collections in-house and taking direct control of their commercialisation. As a result, Koché decided to present its womenswear and menswear collections earlier in the season, during Paris Fashion Week Men.

The label inaugurated this new chapter in June, with a co-ed show staged by an open-air swimming pool floating on the river Seine, underscoring a marked design change. Kocher, who is also the creative director of Parisian feather artisan Lemarié (owned by Chanel), seemed on that occasion to shift away from the street couture spirit that had characterised her style until then, to embrace a “more serene fashion vision,” focusing on clothes that looked more pared-down, but were no less sophisticated in their details.

To deploy this new strategy, Koché hired Rajat Kumar as managing director in June. Kumar was previously in charge of merchandising at Ami Paris. Koché has also tapped Guillaume Lambert, founder of accessories brand Aesther Ekme, as a consultant.

The label’s revamp also relates to its digital communication and e-shop, which is being upgraded, as indicated on the Koché website. “Koché is currently in the process of making exciting changes. As part of this transformative journey, our website is undergoing a makeover and our e-commerce platform will be temporarily offline,” states the home page.

Kocher spent many years working at luxury labels like Bottega Veneta, Dries Van Noten and Chloé, before founding Koché in 2015. The label showed for the first time in Paris in September the same year. From the outset, she positioned the label as a street-sportswear, multi-ethnic luxury brand, developing collaborations with the likes of Puma, Nike and Converse, as well as top football clubs like AC Milan and PSG. Koché is currently distributed via some 40 e-tailers and multibrand retailers worldwide.