Time seems to be running out for In the Style — the influencer-linked fashion e-tailer — with a report that it’s on the verge of an administration filing.
In The Style
Owner Baaj Capital is believed to be prepping FTS Recovery as administrator to the fast-fashion business, according to Sky News, which has a good track record of reliability on fashion and retail industry stories.
It’s only two years since the then-10-year-old business was sold and would be yet another low point in what had seemed to be a major success story not so many years ago.
Emerging from the Manchester online fast-fashion scene in 2013, it listed on the stock exchange in 2021 and at one point was valued at £105 million. But in a ‘fire sale’ to avoid administration two years later it fetched just £1.2 million.
The reborn company filed its accounts in December for the year to the end of March 2024 with a pre-tax loss of £2.6 million and a net loss of £2.61 million. Both those figures were better than the losses of the previous year but with revenue plummeting from £45.9 million a year earlier to £30.4 million this time, news that the company was selling more items at full price was scant comfort.
The brand launched its latest celebrity collab earlier this month (with BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2024 show winner Dianne Buswell) but its future looks very unclear at present.
Sky News said a source believes a pre-pack insolvency process potentially involving Baaj Capital is a possible outcome.
Baaj was also in the news recently as it was seen as the frontrunner to buy discount chain The Original Factory Shop, but was beaten by a higher offer from retail investor Modella Capital.
Skechers announced on Thursday the signing of Spanish football star Isco Alarcón, currently playing for Real Betis Balompié.
Skechers taps footballer Isco Alarcón as brand ambassador. – Skechers
In this role, Alarcón joins team Skechers and is already competing in the Skechers Razor 1.5 Elite boots. He will also play a key role in Skechers football’s marketing campaigns, further expanding the brand’s reach in Spain and beyond.
“Isco Alarcón is a great football player with a significant track record at the national level. He’s returning from an injury to his elite-level play, which is the perfect time to officially bring him onto Team Skechers,” said Txerra Díaz, country manager of Skechers Iberia.
“We believe he fully aligns with the brand’s profile and will help players across Spain and Portugal discover Skechers Football and the signature Comfort That Performs offered by our boots.”
Alarcón has established himself as one of the top midfielders of his generation. His career includes stints with Valencia CF, Málaga CF, and a highly successful period at Real Madrid, where he won five UEFA Champions League titles.
Since launching its football division at the start of the 2023/24 season with the signing of Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, Skechers has rapidly expanded its presence in the sport. The Skechers Football range spans three Elite styles for men and women, as well as a line of Academy boots perfect for all levels of play.
Alarcón joins an elite group of footballers in Spain competing in Skechers football boots, including Iker Losada from Celta, Antonio Sánchez from Real Mallorca, and Pere Milla from Espanyol.
Other top-tier athletes wearing Skechers Football boots include Turkish international Baris Alper Yilmaz, West Ham United and Ghana National Team winger Mohammed Kudus, Arsenal and Ukrainian National Team defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Nottingham Forest and Swedish National Team forward Anthony Elanga.
“Football and life are played better when you feel comfortable at every step,” said Alarcón. “I’m very excited to be part of the Skechers family in this next chapter in my career.”
Italian luxury group Prada has been given access, ahead of any other potential suitors, to the financial data of smaller rival Versace which owner Capri Holdings has put up for sale, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday.
Prada has four weeks to conduct its assessment, the source said, as it weighs an acquisition that would mark a significant shift in strategy. No decision on whether to actually pursue the deal has yet been taken at this stage, the source added.
Capri Holdingss is working with Barclays to explore a sale of its Versace and Jimmy Choo brands, sources told Reuters this year. Prada and Barclays declined to comment. Capri Holdings was not immediately available for a comment.
Prada last completed acquisitions of other brands in the late 1990s and has been focusing on internal growth since then, defying expectations it could aspire to create a larger Italian fashion hub.
The acquisition of Versace would allow Prada to target a different customer group, with tastes far from Prada’s trademark minimalism. But the Hong-Kong listed group would also have to deal with a challenging turnaround of the Medusa-logo brand, industry sources said. Versace reported a 15% decline in revenues in the third quarter ending on December 28 and the operating loss increased to $21 million in the period, from $14 million a year earlier.
Capri Holdings expects Versace’s revenues to drop to $810 million in the 2025 fiscal year and the operating margin to break even in the following fiscal year, according to long term financial targets published on Wednesday.
The brand’s performance and the sector’s bleak outlook could make it hard to set a price, complicating negotiations, according to industry sources, who said a turnaround would require investment.
Capri Holdings, formerly known as Michael Kors, bought Italian luxury brand Versace in 2018, for 1.83 billion euros including debt. The four week exclusivity deal was first reported on Thursday by Italian daily Il Sole 24.
The European Commission will propose at least five sets of legislation this year to spur investment and simplify regulation on companies, including in the field of artificial intelligence, the European Union’s digital chief said on Thursday.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen – Reuters
The executive Commission is under pressure from EU member countries such as France to ease regulations, and also faces challenges from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
A draft European Commission paper reported by Reuters last month showed AI, biotech and affordable clean energy were areas of focus as EU policymakers seek to make the bloc globally competitive.
“I personally think that we have too much of a heavy administrative burden and bureaucracy,” European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said on Thursday. “That is why the Commission will this year present at least five legislative simplification packages, which will cut down on the extra bureaucracy, above all in order to promote investment and innovation in Europe,” she told reporters in Helsinki.
Virkkunen last month said the European Union continues to enforce its big tech regulation despite some U.S. companies calling on Trump to stop the bloc from fining them.
One of the five packages, expected to be introduced late this year, would address overlap between the EU’s artificial intelligence act, the digital services act, the digital marketing act and the union’s general data protection regulation, Virkkunen said.
“But that does not mean that the goals of these legislations would not be enforced,” she said.
She added the aim was to streamline legislation to make operating easier for companies because often the same companies have to make sure they comply with several different acts.
Other packages would be designed to ease regulation covering sustainability, small companies and agriculture, Virkkunen said.