Heron Preston is indipendent again The founder bought back the brand from the ex-New Guards Group.
The collapse of New Guards Group may have been catastrophic, but it opened the door to a return to independence for several brands. And after Alanui and Ambush, Heron Preston is the most recent designer to regain control of his brand from the New Guards Group. In an announcement shared Wednesday, the designer revealed that he had reacquired full ownership of the legal and commercial rights tied to his name, previously held by the Farfetch-owned group and now in the hands of South Korean company Coupang. A liberation that is not only an entrepreneurial emancipation, but also the beginning of a new chapter for the brand, originally launched in 2017 under the wing of the New Guards Group. Preston, along with Virgil Abloh, Matthew M. Williams and Justin Saunders, was one of the strongest voices of the new wave of designers who helped revolutionize menswear by riding the massive wave of luxury streetwear. As the phenomenon faded and New Guards Group faced problems, Heron Preston too slipped into the background, and its founder fought for years to regain control of the brand.
As mentioned, in recent times, many former New Guards Group members have been returning to independence. Some, like Off-White, Marcelo Burlon – County of Milan and Palm Angels have simply changed ownership over the years, but others like Ambush, Alanui and now Heron Preston have returned to independence – also following that macro-trend seen in recent months where both Stella McCartney and Giuseppe Zanotti took back full control of their brands or reacquired minority shares from LVMH. Today Heron Preston is no longer based in Milan but in Brooklyn, and the next collection is expected in October. Now that there are no external investors or managers to report to, it seems that Preston wants to expand and evolve his vision. Meanwhile, Preston has also ended his collaboration with H&M, where he had served as creative advisor for menswear in 2023. After launching two capsule collections with the fast fashion giant, the designer has decided to pause all external partnerships to focus entirely on his own brand. Part of this new commitment is the L.E.D. Studio project, a design platform that focuses on sustainability and material innovation. Understandably, Preston is very enthusiastic about it: «I no longer have to ask any partner for permission», he said in his statement, presumably with no small amount of excitement. And who could blame him?
