L Catterton buys majority stake in Japanese denim brand Kapital

L Catterton continues to boost its investment portfolio. Through its Asian branch, the investment fund linked to LVMH and the Arnault family acquired a stake in Japanese denim brand Kapital at the end of 2024. Kapital was founded in 1985 by Toshikiyo Hirata, who passed away last year. The value of the transaction was not disclosed, nor the size of the shareholders’ stakes.

Investing in Kapital is a different kind of operation for L Catterton than those it made for Ganni (in 2017), Jott (2021), and Birkenstock (2021), brands with a premium positioning and a large clientèle. It is instead more in line with the acquisition of APC (in 2024), or the investment in Swedish label Our Legacy, whose brand values are strongly linked to product culture and their founder’s creativity.

Toshikiyo Hirata fell in love with American denim culture while spending time in the USA as a karate instructor. Back in Japan in 1984, he set up a denim factory in his home-town of Kojima, the cradle of Japanese denim manufacturing.

A year later, he launched his own brand Kapital, blending traditional Japanese weaving techniques typical of artisanal craftsmanship, such as Boro (patchwork), with a US-inspired style. Kapital soon became a benchmark in vintage denim for its stylistic research and experimentation with materials treatment.

In the 2000s, Hirata’s son Kiro joined the family business and took charge of design at Kapital, a role he still holds today. It remains to be seen what L Catterton is planning to do with Kapital. The fund carried out this operation through its L Catterton Asia III fund, which specialises in investments ranging from $25 million to $150 million. Kapital creates limited-edition series of highly directional products, adopting a development model in which innovation and experimentation play a major part.

Kapital’s five-pocket 14oz jeans are priced around €150, and some items can retail at over €1,000, depending on the treatments applied. The brand also sells shirts from €300, sweatshirts from €350, and T-shirts from €120. Kapital operates 13 stores in Japan and is distributed internationally via some 60 retailers, as well as various high-end e-tailers and denim specialists worldwide.