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NEW YORK (AP) - The maker of Candies — those high-heeled, slide-on shoes that teenage girls in the late 1970s had to have — has transformed itself to model the cutting edge, if not of haute couture, then of fashion finance.
Like many U.S. apparel companies, the firm, which changed its name this summer to Iconix Brand Group, stopped manufacturing years ago and became an outfit that licenses its name to manufacturers and retailers.
After years of ups and downs — including a lull for the brand when a majority stake was held by a British firm — the company is now following an acquisition strategy that allows it to bank on the value of brands, building a platform for several familiar apparel names. Since the name change, its stock price has nearly doubled.
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