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Christopher Kane, the Scottish designer and a star name on the London fashion scene, is appointing an administrator in a fight to save his namesake fashion brand from collapse. It comes as designers battle rising costs, the demands of new legislative requirements around sustainability and — in the UK — the ongoing challenges of post-Brexit bureaucracy.
On Wednesday, Christopher Kane filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator as it seeks to refinance or find a buyer. The notice protects the brand from legal action by creditors, giving it 10 days to find a solution to avoid liquidation. Insolvency firm FTS Recovery is named as the applicant for the notice, and Glaisyers Solicitors have been listed as legal representatives.
“This difficult decision has been reached to give the company sufficient time to implement a rescue plan,” a statement issued on behalf of the Christopher Kane brand reads. “Key stakeholders have been notified. A period of accelerated marketing activity will now follow, with a view to locating potential interested parties to either refinance the company’s existing debt, or alternatively locate a purchaser for the business and assets.”
Kane burst onto the fashion stage in 2006 directly after graduation from the MA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins. He quickly established himself as a rising star on both the London and international fashion scene. His final student collection landed him the highly coveted Harrods Design Award and got him noticed by Donatella Versace, who hired him to design Versus for six seasons from 2009 to 2012.
Kane and his sister and business partner Tammy developed his own brand, Christopher Kane, into one of London Fashion Week’s regular highlights, with press and buyers enthusiastic about his fresh take on fashion. Celebrity supporters included Alexa Chung, Poppy Delevingne, Pip Millett and Magaajyia Silberfeld. The brand has stockists worldwide, including Net-a-Porter, Mytheresa and Neiman Marcus.
In 2013, the future of the brand seemed assured when Kering bought a 51 per cent stake in Christopher Kane. A flagship store was opened on Mount Street in London’s Mayfair. But five years later, the business was sold back to the designer and his sister Tammy, who each now own half of the business, according to filings at Companies House.
In 2019, Christopher Kane launched a playful sub-label titled More Joy, selling branded everyday products such as T-shirts, swimwear, umbrellas, door mats, water bottles and sex toys on its website. The company struggled when the pandemic hit and was forced to shut its store in 2020. Still, the designer was enthusiastic about returning to the runway in 2022 — his first since the pandemic — with a show in north London. “I wanted it to be really jam-packed,” the designer told Vogue Business backstage afterwards. “Physicality is so important, especially in this day and age. Selling your brand, it’s always about that communication tool, Instagram, social media experience, the press. You need to see the details to believe it.”
In a strategy update in June, the British Fashion Council addressed the challenges faced by designers as the industry emerges from the pandemic. “The UK fashion industry is harder to navigate than ever, with new international trading terms post-Brexit, challenges to access finance, longer payment terms, increasing regulation on the horizon as our industry transitions to net zero, the need to create a truly diverse workforce with equal access, and the opportunity sighted through Web3,” said BFC chair David Pemsel. It called on the industry to come together to create an environment in which fashion businesses can grow sustainably.
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