François-Henri Pinault.Photo: Getty Images

PPR owner (and Salma Hayek's husband) François-Henri Pinault is looking to sell some of his less glamorous brands to pay off debts and invest in mid-market clothing brands. Brands owned by PPR include Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Sergio Rossi. But the luxury conglomerate also owns Conforama, La Redoute, the Golf Warehouse, and FNAC. Conforama is a mid-market European furniture chain, while FNAC is sort of like Target but without the one-off lines by designers like Rodarte. Meanwhile, La Redoute is a JCPenney-ish mail-order business. So if PPR were an outfit, it would be like Miley Cyrus's $6 Wal-Mart leggings paired with an Alexander Wang dress, and Pinault can't be seen in that. No need to buy a $425 Wang pair, but he may as well spring for American Apparel tights. PPR is said to be looking to invest in Ralph Lauren, Levi Strauss, and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Gucci-owner could trigger massive retail shake-up [Telegraph UK]
PPR to sell lower-margin retail units [FT]