Rag & Bone Gain New Investor

Rag & Bone designer team David Neville and Marcus Wainwright have found a new investor in John Howard's Irving Place Capital reported WWD.

Irving Place Capital is a Private equity firm where Howard heads as chief executive officer. They have taken a minority stake in the quickly growing New York-based brand. As it stands now, Neville, Wainwright, Andrew Rosen and Irving Place now each own roughly a quarter of the business.

"This company is a rocket ship and the people who run it are unbelievably talented," Howard told WWD Tuesday. "I love the brand. I understand its point of view. There's a special sensibility and aesthetic and mentality to the brand. It's a little bit unanticipated and fun, yet elegant. Every button and every lining, it's thought about. The job as the company gets large is to maintain the same kind of vigilance and sense of humor."

Howard said Rag & Bone works for both men and women and cuts across the age divide. "You can be 16 or 65 and wear the product, the same product," he said.

As an investor, Howard said Irving Place plans to help Rag & Bone accelerate its e-commerce business as well as lend a hand in other areas such as human resources and strategic planning. He also recogizes the brand's potential to expand its accessories business and its international presence.

Commenting on their success and growth since 2002 Neville said this: "We're lucky. We're not a giant brand. We're a small, nimble brand in a growth phase, so the environment affects us less than it would an established business. We don't see it as something to stop us from pushing forward."

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