Made.com board to liquidate business following Next acquisition

Image: Made.com Furniture e-tailer Made.com has announced that its board has proposed a formal winding down of the business through a member’s voluntary liquidation. In a regulatory filing, the company said that the proposal represents the best and “most cost effective” option to protect and realise any shareholder value. As part of the decision, appointed liquidators will assess Made’s remaining assets following the completion of the administration. The British group fell into administration last month after putting itself up for sale in September following a slew of supply chain issues and a negatively impacted consumer market that left it in an overstocked position. It came after a number of parties interested in taking over the firm missed its sales process deadline, resulting in the suspension of new customer orders and London Stock Exchange listing. Ultimately, Next stepped up to acquire the brand, as well as its domain names and intellectual property for 3.4 million pounds. While Next has not yet outlined its plans for the company, former Made.com employees announced their intention to take the retailer to court over the way they were made redundant early November. According to the employees, which are being instructed by law firm Aticus Law, they were told over a Zoom call that they would be losing their jobs with immediate effect.
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Ackermann’s Gaultier debut and Balenciaga is absent in Haute Couture Week calendar

Image: Valentino Following on from its Paris Fashion Week Men’s announcement, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) has also unveiled its provisional schedule for the upcoming Haute Couture Week. The event for the spring/summer 2023 season is set to run from January 23 to 26, spanning 30 shows and one presentation, held by Iris Van Herpen. Schiaparelli will open the event with an invitation-only show at 10am, closely followed by Christopher Josse at 11am. Three new brands will be gracing the runway for this season, including Indian label Gaurav Gupta, Morocco’s Sara Chraibi and British brand Robert Wun, which will be closing the show on Thursday. Filling out the schedule is a cohort of names well known to Haute Couture Week, including Chanel, which will be hosting two runway shows, Viktor&Rolf, Giambattista Valli and Christian Dior. A notable addition to the line up is Haider Ackermann’s debut collection for Jean Paul Gaultier. Ackermann was announced as the latest guest designer for Gaultier’s fashion house, following on from the likes of Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing and Diesel’s Glenn Martens. Among the slew of prominent industry leaders, it could also be noted that Balenciaga was very much absent from the calendar. It comes as the brand continues to face backlash over recent controversial campaigns featuring children holding teddy bears sporting BDSM gear.
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Frasers Group acquires JD Sports’ premium fashion brands

Image: Tessuti Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has announced the acquisition of a number of premium fashion brands that JD Sports Fashion has stakes in. The company has snapped up 15 of the group’s retailers via shares held by JD, with all of the indebtedness to be transferred to subsidiaries of Frasers Group. Brands included in the deal are Tessuti, Base Childrenswear, Missy Empire, Choice, Clothingsites, Cricket, Giulio, Kids Cavern, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, Rascal Clothing, Scotts, Watch Shop and Topgrade Sportswear. In a regulatory filing, Frasers said the amount payable for the acquisition of the shares and indebtedness amounts to 47.5 million pounds, which will be funded by the group’s existing cash resources. The completion of the acquisition of several of the remaining businesses, such as Tessuti and Rascal Clothing, is expected to take place in early 2023. It comes as Frasers Group continues to expand its portfolio towards a more premium positioning, a strategy the company has increasingly focused on since the appointment of its new CEO Michael Murray. The group has carried out a slew of acquisitions in the past year, including takeovers of Missguided, Studio Retail and I Saw It First, as well as a series of stake increases in the likes of Hugo Boss and N Brown. JD Sports to focus on sports portfolio Its newest acquisition follows the implementation of a strategic review by JD Sports Group’s chief executive officer, Régis Schultz, who initially said he was carrying out the process in a bid to focus more fully on opportunities across the rest of the group. In a release, Schultz said: “JD is rightly recognised for its laser focus on the customer and we are convinced that the most significant opportunities lie in the continued international development of the group’s global sports fashion businesses. “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of these attractive, but non-core, brands and I would like to express my sincere thanks to all colleagues at the businesses which form part of the transaction for their hard work and contribution to the group over the year.” JD is now set to put all of its attention on the international and digital expansion of its core premium sports fashion labels, which include JD Sports itself, as well as Size?, Foot Patrol and Shoe Palace, among others. According to the group, the divestment will result in a non-cash exceptional charge in its annual accounts for the period to 28 January 2023 of approximately 100 million pounds.
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10 leather trends forecast for 2023

Image: Inverse Leather The leather industry is being revolutionised by new materials and finishes, as innovation disrupts its very essence in this era of climate change. Bio-based materials continue to drive innovation, but so is technology, creating previously unimagined finishes and textures. Other alternatives to bovine leather are getting noticed, too, like leathers created from invasive species, which revive pockets of ecosystems around the planet. This trend outlook for 2023 is compiled by Inversa Leathers, a company founded in 2020 with a mission to develop materials that solve an environmental crisis to protect biodiversity. Padded Padded leather, already championed by luxury houses like Bottega Veneta, will be a key look for early 2023. Texture As flat lengths of leather make their way out of the limelight, textured statements using latest innovative technologies, will be the next talked about leather trend. Eco-friendly leather alternatives From coffee, mushrooms and seaweed to fish and python invasive species, there is now a plethora of eco-friendly materials that designers are using and customers are demanding. Worn out / pull up finish As an increasing number of consumers embrace the height of second-hand clothing cool, designers draw inspiration from the ‘worn out’ effect, creating distressed leather surfaces and plenty of beautiful pull up finishing. Sea skin Vacation themes continue to take us on a journey in the fashion scene so the fantasy of embodying a mermaid has never been so enticing. Sea skin leather effects and sustainable fish skin leather will feature in accessories and outerwear, creating a sleek look that’s coveted by all. Regenerative leather Regenerative invasive leather pioneered by INVERSA Leathers is leading the way for the future of the leather industry. “Sustainable” as a term has become diluted as “greenwashing” has diminished the value of the word and weight of impact needed to use the term. Regenerative textiles ensure the brand is going beyond sustainable and is proactively doing good for the planet. This will become the new talked about topic in 2023. Vegetable tanned vibrant and natural dyes Vegetable tanned leathers will start replacing hazardous chrome-tanned skins, finished with naturally vibrant dyes to create the next wave of eco-friendly and eye-catching leather looks. Metallic and pearlized Leather is a timeless textile but the multitude of finishes it can take keeps the trends rolling, and in 2023 metallic and pearlized finishes will dominate. Exotic prints Fashion has started to reference the contours and textures from raw, natural earth, and will continue to do so in 2023. A variety of animal prints that live in gritty earth such as a python will be showcased in garments and accessories made in natural fibres. As consumers expand their knowledge in sustainable textiles, this trend can overlap with a trend of sourcing regenerative exotic leathers. Wet look (gloss) The wet look trend has made a continuous come back since the 80s, reinterpreted in countless ways using textiles to create illusions. Sensual and figure hugging, this trend embraces the beauty of the human body in all shapes and sizes which supports the industry’s push to be completely diverse in representation. This year, leather will take on the wet look using gloss finishes. Inversa Leather is backed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and supported by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). Its mission is to create a portfolio of Invasive Leathers, each one addressing a unique human-induced crisis to revive ecosystems around the world. For more information visit www.inversaleathers.com
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Black Friday and Christmas sales gave no uplift to retailers

Image: Ron Dauphin vía Unsplash UK retail sales volumes fell by 0.4 percent in November following a rise of 0.9 percent in October when there was a bounce back from the impact of the additional Bank Holiday in September for the State Funeral. Neither Black Friday or the run-up to the Christmas shopping season significantly lifted sales. Figures from the ONS said online retailers sales volumes fell by 2.8 percent last month, continuing a downward trend seen since early 2021, as the wider economy reopened and people could return to shopping in store; they are still 18.2 percent higher than their pre-coronavirus February 2020 levels. While average levels were down, clothing stores saw sales rise by 2.1 percent in November, boosted by footwear, but still remained 2 percent below pre-pandemic levels. Department stores also saw increased sales in November, with several retailers reporting longer Black Friday sales, as offers over the whole month of November potentially contributed to the increase in sales. The higher costs of living were reflected in online spending values, which rose by 0.6 percent, because of monthly increases across all industries except other non-food stores.
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