Acquisition of LIM College by Japan Educational Foundation Completed

It’s a done deal.

LIM College and Japan Educational Foundation have closed their deal under which JEF has acquired LIM. The deal was first revealed in May.

LIM is now part of JEF’s global portfolio, which includes colleges, universities and campuses throughout the world. Among these are the Professional Institute of International Fashion, the only university specializing in the business of fashion in Japan, and ESMOD, the first fashion school in France, which was founded in 1841 and acquired by JEF last year.

“This is an exciting day. For nearly nine decades, LIM has been a leader in preparing students for careers in the fashion industry,” said Dr. Yoshinori Yamashita, a director of JEF. “This expertise, as well as LIM’S location in the center of New York City, will bring tremendous advantages to students around the world. We welcome LIM to JEF and look forward to helping students realize their dream careers through high-quality education, underpinned by résumé-building, real-world experience.”

Marshall was chief executive officer of Claire’s Stores Inc. from 2016 to 2019 and previously was president and CEO of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., a supermarket chain, and CEO of bookseller Borders Group. Since 2019, he has been a member of the LIM College board and has served as a consultant and senior adviser to LIM’s executive leadership team on strategic, financial and operational matters. As LIM College president, Marshall succeeded his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Marcuse, who served as president for 21 years.

“We now have access to an expanded global platform as well as broader academic capabilities and financial resources, all of which will strengthen the value of a LIM education. We are pleased to get started on this exciting next chapter for LIM College as the global leader in higher education for fashion,” said Marshall.

As with other JEF-owned institutions, LIM College will continue to operate independently, and its name and campus facilities will remain intact. No changes are planned as a result of the transaction with respect to faculty or staff at LIM, nor will there be any changes for the 1,500 students, other than enhanced opportunities created by the new partnership.

In an interview, Marshall was asked why LIM wanted to sell the college, and what he sees as the benefits of the JEF acquisition.

“I think there were a variety of really good reasons,” said Marshall. “One is it’s been owned by the Marcuse family since its founding in 1939, and we knew that at some point we’d have to find long-term, permanent ownership of the institution. We were looking for a buyer who had the same sort of values and principles that the family had personified over that period of time. My very strong belief is that JEF has that.”

Marshall said the long-term plan for LIM is to create some sort of global network of like-mindedness, understanding that since fashion is a global industry they needed to prepare an educational footprint that matched that.

Marshall said they weren’t looking necessarily to sell, but were identifying candidates out there who we could have close relationships with, in terms of curriculum, in terms of recruitment, and JEF arose during that process. “And as we got to know more about them, and they got to know more about us, this seemed like the logical next step,” he said.

Among the benefits is that LIM will continue with the same values and principles, and secondly, it allows LIM to have a relationship with ESMOD.

“That was a very important consideration for us. Because as not only a design school that teaches the business of fashion, we think that the relationship with ESMOD is going to be a tremendous opportunity for us,” said Marshall.

He foresees joint programs, and LIM students will be participating in degree programs there. “It’s going to be much, much deeper and we look forward to having bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that we work on in conjunction with ESMOD,” said Marshall.

The third benefit is that JEF operates in three separate verticals. They have the original fashion school, a technology school called HAL and they have a medical services school. He plans to go with a team of people to Japan in January to work with them and see how they can infuse technology into everything they do in the LIM curriculum.

At LIM, they are committed to making sure their students have the critical thinking skills, communication skills and technological skills to be successful in today’s world, he said. “We’re looking forward to JEF helping us elevate our level of acumen and skill from a technological perspective. Everybody talks about AI now, but also virtual reality and augmented reality and use of 3D printing,” he said.

Marshall said JEF is very advanced in those areas, and LIM needs improvement in those categories.

Marshall said JEF will have board representation “but their policy and their practice is to let the institutions essentially continue as they have been run before.”

Overall, he said, the JEF affiliation gives them a global platform to expand LIM, not only to Japan, but also to France and beyond to the various countries where ESMOD has campuses.

The opportunities to enhance LIM’s acumen and technology and expand globally through JEF and ESMOD will be very significant, said Marshall. “Because having an international student body and having a global footprint has been one of my priorities,” said Marshall. At present, a quarter of LIM’s students are international.

Marshall said the students he’s spoken to are thrilled about the acquisition. “I have students who regularly walk up to me in the hall asking when they could study in Tokyo,” he said.

Marshall said LIM students would need to take ESMOD classes overseas because ESMOD doesn’t have a virtual campus. He said ESMOD is split evenly between the business of fashion and pure fashion design.

Asked if LIM would ever consider adding more of the fashion design element into their curriculum, Marshall replied, “Stay tuned.”

He said he wasn’t ready to discuss any specific programs at this point. “But obviously they are just a reservoir of intellectual capital and relationships in the industry which I’m really looking forward to taking advantage of, and I certainly would expect that our curriculum will evolve over time to benefit from that,” he said.

Does he foresee students from ESMOD also studying here at LIM in New York? “Everyone wants to study in New York,” he said.

The three shareholders of LIM, who are family members, have left with the closing of the transaction. The remaining board members remain intact.

Asked about their alums’ reaction, he said, “They really see this as helping to lift LIM to the next level.’

JEF started in 1966 as a fashion-focused higher-education institution founded by two brothers, Masaru and Toshihiko Kasuya. Today, JEF’s universities and specialized colleges educate students in fashion, technology, and medical services, with campuses in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. ESMOD, a top French fashion school, focuses on preparing students for careers in fashion design and the business of fashion. ESMOD has six campuses in France and more than 10 franchise schools around the world, including in Oslo, Seoul, Istanbul, and Dubai. JEF also founded CREAPOLE in Paris, which offers creative training in art, product design, automobile design, and architectural and interior design.

LIM College was founded in 1939 as the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising. It began as a private women’s college in New York City specializing in the business of fashion and lifestyle. It was established by Maxwell F. Marcuse at the request of retailers to create a school focused on fashion merchandising. The college became coed in 1971 and is known for its “learning by doing” approach, which includes required internships and immersive, real-world experiences integrated into its degree programs.

In 2009, it officially changed its name to LIM College to reflect its expanded mission beyond just merchandising to the broader business of fashion. The institution offers master’s, bachelor’s, and associate degree programs. In 2023, The Marcuse School of Graduate Studies became the name under which master’s degree programs at LIM College are offered.

LIM College has increasingly stepped into the spotlight with students who have consistently been taking top honors in major industry competitions and alums who are employed by the most notable names in the business.

Alumni of LIM have gone on to work for companies such as Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Vogue, The Estée Lauder Cos., Microsoft, Saks Fifth Avenue, Walmart, Macy’s and Nike.