No one thought when Christopher Kane amicably ended his Versus gig at Versace that that would be the last we’d hear from him. Nor did anyone think when he was passed over for the Balenciaga job that it meant the end of the road for the London-based Scottish designer and the house’s owner, PPR. 

Sure enough, it was announced this evening that the French conglomerate had acquired a majority stake (51%) in the six-year-old company. Joining stablemates Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga (helmed by Alexander Wang), the popular label is now positioned to become a global luxury brand.

In a statement, PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault said: “Christopher is a truly great talent who has shown a real sense of modernity in the way he mixes elegance and subtle constructions. In just a few years, he has built a very distinctive and exciting brand with a unique DNA…and tremendous intrinsic growth potential. We thus have great ambitions for the brand and will enable it to benefit from our expertise and know-how while providing the space for it to further develop its own creative identity.”