Julien Macdonald is latest victim of tough times, goes into liquidation

High-profile fashion businesses are continuing to go under and Sunday saw news of a big name — Julien Macdonald— being placed in liquidation. 

Alan Coleman and Marco Piacquadio, who are directors at FTS Recovery, have been appointed as joint liquidators. 

They said that “the business fell into trouble during the Covid pandemic, which affected all aspects of the retail sector”. But Julien Macdonald also “lost a significant proportion of revenue following the collapse of Debenhams at the end of 2020”.

The designer — known for his in-your-face-sexy style — had appeared to be bouncing back and signed a three-year deal with Freemans for his Star by Julien Macdonald label in July 2020. And that deal seems to have been working well with Freemans this February reporting “a cracker of a Christmas” and saying overall designer range collaborations did well, especially the one with Macdonald. It was a “standout success as people celebrated with a ‘dress-up-and-socialising-in-confidence’ Christmas”, the company said. The brand is still available on the Freemans website.

Macdonald has always been a headline-grabber and he’s worked with brands such as Chanel, Givenchy and also redesigned the flight attendant uniforms for British Airways. His clothing has been worn by celebrities including Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Lopez and the designer has appeared as a judge on TV show Britain & Ireland’s next top model. 

But neither the Freemans deal nor a very high profile appear to have been enough. In announcing the liquidation, Alan Coleman said that “due to the loss and underperformance of several key contracts, including its main UK retail licensee, along with a previously growing licensee based in the United States, which severely impacted cash flow, the company is now in liquidation.

“The cash flow issues were compounded by general inflationary costs, which impacted on all aspects of the business.

“No employees or existing contracts could be saved. However, the liquidators are selling stock and other assets in order to seek repayment for creditors.”