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Christopher Kane was once one of the buzziest labels on London’s fashion week schedule. Now, the company is on the brink of bankruptcy.
On Wednesday, the company said its board will file an intention to appoint insolvency firm FTS Recovery as administrators, with a goal to either refinance the company’s existing debt or find a buyer.
“This difficult decision has been reached to give the company sufficient time to implement a rescue plan,” the label said in a statement. “A period of accelerated marketing activity will now follow, with a view to locating potential interested parties to either refinance the company’s existing debt, or alternatively locate a purchaser for the business and assets.”
The company declined to comment further.
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In 2006 Christopher Kane was one of the buzziest new talents to emerge on the London Fashion scene, his award-winning graduate collection landing him the designer of the year title by the British Fashion Council.
In the years that followed, he launched a major collaboration with Topshop and was appointed creative director of Versace diffusion line Versus by mentor and champion Donatella Versace. In 2013, Gucci-owner Kering acquired a 51 percent stake in the company.
However, annual sales never surpassed the £10 million ($12.8 million) mark, and, in 2018, Kering sold its stake back to Kane and his co-founder and sister Tammy Kane. Losses mounted, public filings show.
Covid-19 delivered another blow, and the label cut staff and closed its store in London’s tony Mayfair neighbourhood.
In 2019, Kane launched More Joy, a more accessibly priced lifestyle brand selling products ranging from £50 slogan tees and £65 sunglasses to £75 door mats and £35 vibrators. Over the pandemic, the Kanes pivoted the business to focus on the line while pressing pause on showing its mainline during fashion weeks.
More Joy was incorporated as a separate entity in June 2020. The company declined to comment on whether More Joy would be impacted by Christopher Kane’s administration filing.
