Jean-Louis Scherrell passed away on the 20th. The last time I saw the brand's name on the news was in 2009, when its Paris store on Avenue Montaigne closed.

My personal strongest memory of Jean-Louis Scherrell was when he came to Japan for his ready-to-wear and haute couture shows in Tokyo in May 1990. He wanted to visit Kyoto during his time off, so I was asked to act as his guide around the city, which also served as a cover shoot for the fashion magazine he was working for at the time.

He requested to see antiques, and since my day off was the 21st, I guided him through the Kobo-san (Toji) market in the morning. The schedule included a photo shoot at Ryoanji Temple in the afternoon, but I was surprised by the large number of staff members from Paris, over 10 in total, including his eldest and second daughters, and his Japanese entourage. I also remember being astonished by Scherrell's extravagance, including swords and braziers. This visit to Japan also drew attention as the Saison Group, together with Hermès, had invested in Jean-Louis Scherrer. While initially announced in Japan that the new president would come from the Saison Group, it was later announced that Jean-Louis Dumas would assume the role of president of Hermès. Two years later, in 1992, Scherrer was dismissed as designer, effectively stepping away from the management of the house. Looking back at history, this seems to be the first sensational news story of a founding designer losing the right to design his own signature brand following the acquisition of a luxury brand. Following Scherrer's case, similar cases became a regular occurrence following news of conglomerate M&A deals in the late 1990s, including those involving Christian Lacroix, Jil Sander, Kenzo, and Helmut Lang, along with the EU integration of 1992. Although the case is slightly different, the recent, much talked about announcement by A BATHING APE®'s NIGO® to go freelance also fits into this same context in the fashion business.

Incidentally, the next page of this article about Scherrer's stay in Kyoto in 1990 was an interview with the young Bernard Arnault, who had made a dramatic purchase of LVMH shares on the Paris stock market at the end of 1989 and had just become LVMH's chairman that April.
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