Ethical retailing can come at a cost as former Body Shop suppliers are finding out. The unsecured creditors from the beauty retailer’s administration last year, including manufacturers, landlords, local councils and small charities, are to receive just 16-27% of the £219 million owed to them when the retailer went under.
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The retailer, which was founded by Anita Roddick in 1976 and was once part of both L’Oréal’s and Natura’s extensive beauty portfolios, fell into administration via its previous owner, German restructuring specialist Aurelius.
At the time of its collapse, administrators said the Body Shop’s debts totalled over £276 million, The Guardian reported.
The brand was rescued by a consortium led by the British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania in September, paying at least £44.3 million for the retailer, saving 1,300 jobs. However, its initial failure came at a cost of 80 stores closed and 750 jobs lost, taking its UK high street tally to 113.
In their latest update, administrators from FRP said UK tax authorities would be paid in full from the proceeds of the administration and workers would receive holiday pay owed. However it confirmed unsecured creditors owed £219 million in total, would receive only between 16% and 27% of the money owed.
The report shows the Body Shop owed millions of pounds to suppliers around the world, the most to Avon, the cosmetics group owned by Natura, at just over £13 million for products it manufactured.
The retailer’s former owner Aurelius did not receive any payment, the report said.
The group, now run by the former Molton Brown boss Charles Denton, has reportedly said the business “had achieved a profit in its first 100 days”.
Neous, the British luxury shoes and bags specialist, has opened a springtime concession inside Selfridges, London, with the space created in collaboration with design studio Monument.
Vanissa Antonious in the Neous pop-up
The “immersive ‘Home-from-Home’ concession [is] a milestone for the London-based brand’s physical presence,” we’re told.
It showcases the latest spring/summer and high summer 2025 “artisanal” collection of accessories, alongside a selection of exclusive-to-Selfridges pieces, “within a carefully curated environment that reflects the brand’s refined minimalism and commitment to craftsmanship”.
The company, which was founded by its creative director Vanissa Antonious, avoids “fleeting trends” and said its core collection of recognisable pieces will be available, including the golden spherical magnetic closure of the Phoenix bag, the “structured yet sensuous forms of its footwear”, and the “fan-favourite” Irena kitten slingback heel.
The exclusives include the Taurus 1.0 mini bag, a new iteration of the voluminous Taurus bag that debuts in dark chocolate suede, sand suede, and fine-woven raffia trimmed with dark chocolate leather.
And the Berenices bag is reimagined in a rich burgundy suede and leather. It’s a voluminous holdall with shoulder straps wrapping around its body, and magnetic folds at the corners.
The concession is on the ground floor within the Accessories Hall and will be open until 20 April.
The installation “brings together design, materiality, and form” and is intended to offer visitors “an inviting and intimate introduction to [the label’s] distinctive approach to luxury footwear and handbags”.
As mentioned, it was co-designed with Monument Store, the London-based, female-founded design studio of Leah Forsyth-Steel and Victoria Spicer. The company said its reflects Monument’s “meticulous curation of furniture and art objects, each chosen for its form, material synergy, story, personality, and permanence. Their vision aligns effortlessly with Neous”.
The pieces Monument has chosen include a Kazuki Chair by Kazuhide Takahama, Steltman Chair by Gerrit Rietveld, Megaron and Poul Poul lamps, and a custom-made lacquer coffee table, mirroring the shapes of two Neous bags.
Selfridges’ Sara Wong, director of buying for accessories, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Neous on their first physical pop-up at Selfridges, a brand that is renowned for its modern minimalism and considered designs. We have been a long-time champion of [the label], recognising its unique blend of London sophistication and global design influences in both their handbags and footwear.”
It’s official, Loewe has named the Proenza Schouler duo of Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez to be the house’s new creative directors.
Jack McCollough (left) and Lazaro Hernandez will join Loewe as the new creative directors on April 7. – Courtesy
The appointment had been widely expected, and applauded even before the official confirmatipn. The announcement comes five days after Loewe revealed that its longstanding designer Jonathan Anderson was leaving the house after 11 years at the helm.
Anderson is widely expected to be named the creative director of Dior – another fashion house withing the giant LVMH group – in the not-too-distant future.
“We are incredibly honored to join Loewe, a house whose values and mission along closely with our own,” McCollough and Hernandez said in a press release from Loewe.
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez will have the entire creative responsibility of all Loewe collections across womenswear, menswear, leather goods and accessories, Loewe underlined in its release.
Their appointment takes effect of April 7, though their arrival had been anticipated ever since they announced plans to step down from their Proenza Schouler, the New York based fashion house they founded a quarter century ago, in January of this year.
The brand name Proenza Schouler is taken from the maiden name of the designers’ two mothers. McCollough and Hernandez debuted their runway career in 2002 immediately winning a loyal following for their sophisticated uptown cool-gal style. Graduates of Parsons School of Design, the duo built a successful label that became one of the half dozen must-see collections during each New York Fashion Week. They even staged two shows in Paris in 2017 and 2018 that were highly acclaimed by local French and international critics.
McCollough and Hernandez certainly have large shoes to fill. Under Anderson, Loewe’s sales rose from just below €250 million to close to €1 billion during the Norther Irish designer’s tenure. Prior to Anderson, Loewe had difficult filling the seats at its Loewe, but after his arrival the Spanish-born label became the hottest ticket in Paris Fashion Week, as he connected inventive craftmanship with avant garde tailoring and draping, and soupcon of upbeat surrealism.
“We look forward to working alongside its extraordinary teams and artisans, whose talent – under the exceptional creative direction of Jonathan Anderson – has shaped Loewe into the cultural force it is today,” they added.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to Bernard Arnault, Delphine Arnault, Sidney Toledano, and to Pascale Lepoivre for entrusting us with this remarkable house’s next chapter,” added the American duo, referring the Arnault family which controls LVMH.
“Jack and Lazaro’s vision and creativity are a perfect match for the codes of the house that we have built,” added Lepoivre, Loewe chief executive officer, in Monday’s statement.
“I have long admired Jack and Lazaro’s work at Proenza Schouler, their eclectic creativity and dedication to craft make them a natural choice to build the next chapter for Loewe,” commented Toledano, the CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, which encompasses a half dozen brands including Loewe, Givenchy, Celine, Kenzo and Pucci.
The design of Jack and Lazaro – as they are universally called – over the past two decades has played an important role in shaping modern fashion while cultivating an ongoing dialogue with contemporary culture. Their design practice, rooted in a rigorous exploration of craft filtered through an artistic sensibility, has evolved the industry’s landscape, and aligns with the values which underscore Loewe’s 179-year heritage, the house added.
Nike Inc. shares tumbled on Friday, sending the sportswear company’s market value below $100 billion for the first time since the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic after its earnings report signaled that revenue and profitability will remain under pressure.
Reuters
Its shares slid as much as 9.3% to hit the lowest level since March 2020. Friday’s drop erased roughly $9 billion in value, giving the company a market capitalization of $97 billion. Nike’s shares have now declined in the session after earnings for six straight quarters. The stock is down more than 60% from a record high in November 2021, when the company’s market value stood around $281 billion.
Nike predicted further declines in revenue and profitability in the current quarter due to an ongoing merchandise reset that it says is necessary to revive growth. The company, which has manufacturing locations in both China and Mexico, said its outlook also reflects the estimated impact from newly implemented tariffs on imports from the countries.
The fiscal third-quarter report was the latest in a string of disappointing updates from Nike, which has been grappling with a sales slump that began under previous Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe.
Still, some on Wall Street continue to have confidence that CEO Elliott Hill, a longtime Nike executive who came out of retirement to take the top role in October, is the right leader to guide the company back to growth.
“He’s eyes wide open and understands how much lifting is required,” said Kevin McCarthy, a portfolio manager for the Neuberger Berman Connected Consumer ETF, while holds Nike shares. “There’s a very real turnaround with a smart architect at the top, but it’s a tanker ship and it’s going to take time to move it around.”