The wave of bankruptcies in the German fashion industry continues. The Esprit company has filed applications for insolvency under self-administration at the Düsseldorf District Court for its parent company, Esprit Europe GmbH, and six other German subsidiaries. Esprit announced this in a statement on Wednesday.
Business operations will continue until further notice. The approximately 1,500 affected employees in Germany were informed, it was said. There are already discussions with a financial investor who has expressed interest in the trademark rights for Europe. According to the announcement, the previous managing director Man Yi Yip will be leaving the company.
The lawyers Christian Gerloff and Christian Stoffler are to take over the management and restructure the fashion group. Esprit has been suffering from falling sales for “some time now,” said Gerloff. Significant parts of the European business are affected by the insolvency. Esprit had already filed for bankruptcy in Belgium and Switzerland in March.
This is the second insolvency procedure for Esprit within four years. During the Corona pandemic in 2020, the fashion chain had already taken refuge under the protective umbrella of insolvency law in view of the closed stores, laid off around a third of the workforce and closed 100 branches.
Esprit is active in around 40 countries worldwide and has its headquarters in Ratingen and Hong Kong. Germany is the most important market for the group. According to the company, there are 57 branches nationwide and 124 in Europe. The parent company Esprit Holdings is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, but the focus of the business is in Europe. Germany alone recently accounted for more than half of sales.
The insolvency experts Christian Gerloff and Christian Stoffler have already made a name for themselves in restructuring in the fashion industry (Escada, Gerry Weber, Adler Modemarken), reports Reuters. “Esprit is a globally known mainstream fashion brand, but has been suffering from declining sales for some time, coupled with numerous restructuring and management changes,” said Gerloff.
In the event of insolvency, the European business should now be set up so that it can become sustainably profitable.
