Carlyle takes full control of Italian fashion brand TWINSET

MILAN (Reuters) - U.S. private equity group Carlyle Group has gained full control of Italian fashion brand TWINSET by buying the remaining 10 percent stake from founder Simona Barbieri, who will step down as the affordable luxury label's creative director.

Sales at TWINSET rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2016 to 203.6 million euros ($216 million). The group is yet to publish its full-year results.

Carlyle bought 72 percent of TWINSET in 2012 and went on to raise its stake to 90 percent in 2015, appointing a new chief executive to oversee the group's retail expansion.

Founded in Carpi, a textile industrial district in northern Italy that was hit hard by competition from low-cost producers, TWINSET established its brand by tapping into growing consumer appetite for accessibly priced luxury goods. ($1 = 0.9412 euros)

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Hugh Lawson)