Crown's Intimates Gambit: The Strategy Behind the Cosabella Takeover

NEW YORK, NY – July 27, 2026 – In a move that solidifies its rapid ascent in the world of brand management, Crown Brands Group today announced its acquisition of Cosabella, the Italian luxury lingerie brand. The deal, which sees Crown acquiring the brand from the Swiss-listed CALIDA GROUP, marks the firm’s second major purchase in the premium intimates space in just seven months, following its acquisition of Hanky Panky in late 2025.

This rapid-fire dealmaking signals more than just an appetite for acquisition; it reveals a meticulously crafted strategy to build a modern brand empire on the foundation of legacy names. Backed by G72 Holdings, the family office of the Gindi family who co-founded the iconic Century 21 Stores, Crown is positioning itself not merely as a buyer, but as a strategic revitalizer. The company’s model—acquiring heritage brands and outsourcing operations to best-in-class partners—is being put to the test, with the intimate apparel market as its first major proving ground.

A New Crown in Brand Management

Crown Brands Group is executing a playbook that diverges from traditional retail ownership. Rather than integrating acquisitions into a monolithic corporate structure, its strategy is surgical. Crown retains control of the high-level brand direction—global strategy, marketing, and licensing—while entrusting the complex, capital-intensive operational mechanics to specialized partners.

For Cosabella, this means its core intimate apparel business will be exclusively managed by Rafar Group, the parent company of industry veteran Gelmart International. Rafar, which also holds the license for Hanky Panky, brings over 70 years of experience and a proven track record, including the successful incubation of the direct-to-consumer brand LIVELY. This partnership immediately creates operational synergy and scale across Crown’s intimates portfolio. Meanwhile, the license for Cosabella's sleepwear and loungewear categories has been awarded to Dreamwear, a firm with deep experience in designing and manufacturing for major global retailers.

This licensing-centric model allows Crown to remain asset-light and focused on brand equity, while its partners leverage their existing infrastructure and supply chains to drive efficiency and product innovation. "Cosabella is everything we look for in a brand: true Italian craftsmanship, a devoted customer, and a name that means something in every major market," said Raymond Dayan, CEO of Crown Brands Group, in the official announcement. "Alongside Hanky Panky, Cosabella gives Crown a clear leadership position in premium intimates, and it validates the model we set out to build."

Dayan's background in private equity, combined with the Gindi family’s multi-generational retail acumen, creates a potent combination of financial discipline and market intuition. The strategy is clear: identify under-leveraged heritage brands, inject strategic oversight, and unlock growth through expert operational partnerships.

Revitalizing a "Beautiful Thing"

Founded in 1983, Cosabella—Italian for "beautiful thing"—built a loyal following on its promise of Italian craftsmanship and modern design. However, its recent performance tells a story of unrealized potential. Under its previous owner, CALIDA GROUP, which acquired the brand in 2022 for a reported $80 million, Cosabella struggled.

Despite restructuring efforts, sales continued to decline. In the first half of 2026, Cosabella’s net sales plummeted by approximately 37% to just 4.3 million Swiss francs, a stark contrast to the $29 million in revenue it generated in 2021. The brand was becoming a drag on CALIDA's overall performance, prompting the Swiss firm to divest and refocus on its core brands. This created the perfect opportunity for a strategic buyer like Crown.

Crown's challenge—and opportunity—is to reverse this trajectory by preserving the brand’s cherished heritage while aggressively modernizing its operations and market reach. The partnership with Rafar Group is central to this plan. By consolidating the operations of both Hanky Panky and Cosabella under a single, highly experienced licensee, Crown can streamline everything from product development and e-commerce to distribution. This unified approach is expected to expand the brands' presence across department stores, specialty boutiques, and international markets far more effectively than either could alone. The goal is to restore the luster to a brand that has a strong identity but has suffered from operational and strategic misalignment.

The Kingmaker Model in a Shifting Market

Crown’s acquisition of Cosabella is not happening in a vacuum. It reflects a broader tectonic shift in the retail and luxury landscape, where brand management firms are emerging as the new kingmakers. Companies like WHP Global and Bluestar Alliance have been actively consolidating heritage brands, using their expertise in licensing and marketing to extract new value from established names.

This trend is fueled by larger corporations seeking to streamline their portfolios by divesting non-core or underperforming assets, as seen with CALIDA GROUP. For these established players, it’s a move toward strategic focus. For brand management firms, it’s an opportunity to acquire globally recognized brands at a favorable valuation.

The luxury lingerie market itself is a fertile ground for such strategies. Valued at nearly $14 billion in 2024, the market is projected to more than double to almost $29 billion by 2033, driven by rising disposable incomes and a cultural shift towards personal indulgence and self-care. Consumers are increasingly willing to invest in premium products that offer quality, comfort, and sophisticated design—all hallmarks of the Cosabella brand.

Crown's strategy appears perfectly timed to capitalize on these converging trends. By establishing a strong, synergistic vertical in the high-growth intimates category, the company is building a powerful foundation. As Dayan noted, "Intimates is our first vertical, and Cosabella strengthens our foundation there as we look ahead to new categories." This statement serves as a clear signal of ambition, suggesting that the model being perfected with Hanky Panky and Cosabella will soon be deployed across other segments of the consumer goods landscape. The success of this intimates power play will be a closely watched indicator of the future of brand revitalization in an increasingly dynamic retail world.