UK fashion will have a new label this spring with the debut of Akyn. And the creative force behind it? Amy Powney, who’s best known as creative director of Mother of Pearl.
Powney, who’s also well know for her sustainability commitment, has stepped down from Mother of Pearl to launch Akyn this May. Her former label has now closed and anyone who looks for it online is taken straight to the Akyn website that says “coming soon”.
We don’t know much about Akyn style-wise, apart from that it will be “crafting elevated, contemporary womenswear”.
It’s a big move as she’d been at Mother of Pearl for 19 years. But her new label looks set to continue the work she started when she converted Mother of Pearl into one of UK fashion’s most eco-focused brands.
Powney said Akyn will be “purpose-driven” and “grounded in elevated design and sustainability”. She added that wants to use her “voice and expertise on a wider scale, creating deeper impact and striving for continued and meaningful change within the industry”.
Mother of Pearl was founded by Maia Norman in 2002 and after joining in 2006 and working her way up in the business, Powney became both its creative chief and its minority co-owner, helping to edge it away from its original print-focused positioning and artist collabs to its more minimalist style and high-profile eco strategy.
Her work in this direction was the focus of the Fashion Reimagined documentary in 2023 that followed her push to make the label more sustainable.
“As creative director and partner of Akyn, Amy will be able to use her voice and expertise on a wider scale, creating deeper impact and striving for continued and meaningful change within the industry,” a statement released to announce the forthcoming launch said.
Failed shirtmaker and retailer TM Lewin has seen its debt load rise since its collapse. Its debts are understood to have grown by almost £10 million and it now owes unsecured creditors over £30 million.
The business, which isn’t the firm now operating as TM Lewin (the brand was bought post-administration by the parent company of its main lender) had 150 stores before the pandemic but struggled with the switch to working from home and the increasing casualisation of office-wear.
The Times reported that a document filed with Companies House shows unsecured creditor claims rose from £24.6 million to £33.8 million between June 30 and the end of December last year.
These are debts owed by a company that are unsecured against any asset and do not hold priority over other creditors, meaning they are unlikely to be repaid.
Administrator Evelyn Partners said the main reason for the rise was a creditor providing proof of claims for over £10 million, compared with an estimated liability of more than £5 million. HM Revenue & Customs had also submitted an unsecured claim for £1.9 million.
TM Lewin called in administrators in 2022 for the second time in less than two years. The business, which operated 150 stores pre-pandemic, had been a solely online business since first calling in administrators in June 2020.
The company was then owned by Torque Brands, part of the US-based private equity firm Stonebridge, after it bought it out of an earlier administration in 2020.
The latest documents show that £841,600 has been paid to preferential creditors. Preferential claims of £1 million were estimated in the statement of affairs, in respect of outstanding wages, holiday pay and pension arrears.
The administrators said they had increased their fee estimate from £386,000 to £864,000 as the restructuring process has “had to stay open significantly longer than originally envisioned”.
“Further time has had to be spent to ensure adequate case progression, including regular updates between the officeholders and their staff to consult on the best approach to overcome unforeseen hurdles surrounding employee claims and tax,” they said.
Trouva has suspended trading as the online fashion marketplace’s owner searches for a buyer. Project J has hired accountancy firm RSM to find the platform’s fifth owner in less than three years.
The online marketplace offers a platform for independent stores and boutiques that don’t have an online retail presence.
A source close to the company told Sky News, which broke the story, that it had taken the decision to pause orders and sales during the search for a new owner in order “to protect customers and sellers”.
Project J, itself a home and living marketplace, acquired the business last year. It said its wider business would be unaffected by the proposed sale process.
Jonathan Thomson, co-founder of Project J, added: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision, but we have decided to focus our efforts on building the Fy! brand and explore the options for a sale of Trouva.”
He added: “By exploring a potential sale, we are creating an opportunity for Trouva to continue its journey. We believe this is in the best interests of the business, boutiques and the team.”
Most recent previous Trouva owners have included Re:store in 2023, and Made.com which bought the business in spring 2022.
Launched in 2015, Trouva claims relationships with over 700 boutiques across Europe.
Serge Brunschwig has departed LVMH, the cerebral and affable executive has revealed. He made the announcement this weekend on his LinkedIn account, with a posting that began: “ Farewell hashtag#LVMH.”
In a three-decade career with LVMH, the French-born Brunschwig had ended as CEO of Fendi for six years until being succeeded by Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou in June 2024. At the time, LVMH spokespeople explained he was “pursuing another mission in the group.”
In an impressive career, Brunschwig had previously spent almost a decade at Christian Dior, ending as president of Dior Homme. Prior to that, he had been CEO of Celine, joining from Louis Vuitton, where he was director general for nearly four years. That came after two years as CEO of yet another LVMH company, Sephora.
“Always the unexpected since 1854. This is Louis Vuitton’s promise, leader of a luxury industry driven by this goal, as reveals its Latin etymology “luxus”: luxation, extravagance… This is the world I was fortunate to enter when meeting Bernard Arnault (LVMH CEO) as a consultant in 1992 to help him restructure champagne division, following (the) first Gulf War crisis,” wrote Brunschwig in his posting.
“These almost thirty years have been an extraordinary journey through LVMH treasures: Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Sephora, Celine. A series of exceptional encounters with people with spark in their eyes, passion for their maison, starting with artisans and sales associates. An apprenticeship of infinite exigence: the main enemy of every brand and every manager is success. Managing crisis is basic, managing success, ego, hubris,” added Brunschwig, a 1984 graduate of elite Paris college Science Po, who then cut his management teeth at McKinsey & Company.
His posting was greeted with scores of compliments by fellow contacts and professionals.
“I want to thank all my collaborators in every Maison and all my bosses through all these years : late Yves Carcelle, Sidney Toledano, Toni Belloni, Pierre Letzelter, Pierre-Yves Roussel. And, of course, Bernard Arnault for his ever-demanding trust,” he concluded, without revealing any future career position.