Escada to cut 200 jobs

The troubled Munich-based luxury brand is planning to lay off hundreds of employees in an effort to remain competitive in the luxury market. To reduce costs, the womenswear retailer will cut 200 out of its nearly 2000 jobs worldwide, most of them at its headquarters in Aschheim near Munich, in Germany.

The existing restructuring process of Escada has been insufficient, said the company’s interim CEO, Jörg Wahlers, on Thursday.

In August, Wahlers took on the position of CEO of the Escada group on an interim basis after its former chief executive, Glenn McMahon, stepped down after seven months in the role.

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The luxury label is now focusing on the expansion of its e-commerce business to keep up with current shopping habits of its worldwide customers. According to the German newspaper, Die Welt, the company’s operations in Russia and China have seen a major downturn in the last months.

In its heyday, Escada was one of the most famous womenswear fashion brands in the world, but that changed in the summer of 2009 when it filed for bankruptcy. The struggling company was then acquired by Megha Mittal, an Indian businesswoman who is now Escada’s chairwoman and managing director. The brand has not reported its financial figures for years.