Loco for Luxe

By Kate Betts

NOT SINCE 1999 HAS DEALMAKING been such a hot trend. Sure, leggings and chunky shoes are In for fall, but the real must-have of the moment is a megadeal. Everywhere you look in the global luxury business, a merger or acquisition is going down. Private-equity players like Apax Partners are snapping up such brands as Tommy Hilfiger; giant manufacturers like Samsonite are investing in small leather-goods businesses such as Lambertson Truex. Department stores like Italy's La Rinascente are swallowing Printemps, its competition in France. And established names like Valentino are diving into such emerging markets as India. Last month the Gucci Group was rumored to be eyeing the London-based Alice Temperley label. Next thing you know, parent company PPR will be purchasing Italian jeweler Bulgari. Beauty conglomerates like Estee Lauder and L'Oreal are once again hunting for acquisitions, armed with multimillion-dollar checkbooks.

In this special supplement to TIME magazine, we look at the deals and, more specifically, the dealmakers rocking the luxury business. What's fascinating in creative sectors like fashion and beauty is that often it's the outsiders who take the biggest risks and cash the biggest checks. Witness the way Renzo Rosso, once a lowly production manager at Diesel, eventually bought the company and propelled it into a $1.4 billion brand. Similarly, and against the odds, Max Azria transformed California-casual style into the $1 billion business BCBG. At the heart of any fashion deal is talent, and managing creative talent is a business skill all its own. Perhaps one of the most successful examples of that is LVMH boss Bernard Arnault, once an outsider himself. He started off in real estate in Florida. Now he manages some of the greatest talent in the luxury business, reaping great financial rewards, of course.