83 032
Fashion Jobs
ADIDAS
Project Manager - Global Team Sports
Permanent · PORTLAND
QVC
Security Shift Leader
Permanent · SUFFOLK
QVC
on Camera Talent Recruitment & Casting Partner
Permanent · WEST CHESTER
BLOOMINGDALE'S
Asset Protection Visual Security Officer, Part Time - Norwalk
Permanent · NORWALK
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Full Time
Permanent · FRANKLIN
BELK
Asset Protection Lead - Full Time
Permanent · AUBURN
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Full Time
Permanent · SAVANNAH
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Part Time - Independence Mall
Permanent · WILMINGTON
BELK
Asset Protection Associate - Full Time
Permanent · ROCKY MOUNT
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Part Time - Coastal Grand
Permanent · MYRTLE BEACH
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Full Time - Bridgestreet
Permanent · HUNTSVILLE
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Full Time
Permanent · TUPELO
BELK
Store Fulfillment Associate - Part Time
Permanent · SAVANNAH
BELK
Asset Protection Manager - Triangle
Permanent · RALEIGH
ALO YOGA
Construction Project Manager
Permanent · LOS ANGELES
SUN VALLEY
Sun Valley Marketing Manager
Permanent · SUN VALLEY
LULULEMON
Community Specialist | (Contract) Market Street The Woodlands
Permanent · THE WOODLANDS
LULULEMON
Community Specialist | Orlando Premium Outlet
Permanent · ORLANDO
LULULEMON
Full-Time Community Specialist | Cumberland Mall
Permanent · ATLANTA
FOSSIL
Dam/Dynamic Media Administrator
Permanent ·
KOHLS
Operations Supervisor - Weekend Days
Permanent · PLAINFIELD
KOHLS
Technical Project Manager
Permanent · MENOMONEE FALLS
Published
Jul 10, 2020
Reading time
3 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Mulberry to discontinue ready-to-wear line

Published
Jul 10, 2020

Last month Mulberry announced that it was planning to let go of a quarter of its global workforce. The British brand best known for its luxury handbags has lost no time in implementing the strategy and is already preparing to shut down its communications teams in Paris and Hong Kong. Starting from Spring/Summer 2021, the brand also intends to discontinue its footwear and ready-to-wear collections, which are produced under licence by Onward Luxury Group. 


A Johnny Coca design for Fall/Winter 2020-21 - Mulberry.com


The company has confirmed this to Fashionnetwork.com saying: "We can confirm that we have made the decision with our partner OLG not to renew our ready-to-wear and footwear licences in order to focus on our core product category of leather goods, that make up around 90% of our turnover. Autumn/Winter ‘20 will therefore be our final season that we sell ready-to-wear and footwear under license. We will continue to develop and invest in our other lifestyle categories across soft accessories, eyewear and jewellery, alongside leather goods."

The brand is aiming to refocus on its London team and leather goods, its core activity. Bags and small leather goods account for 70% of the brand's total sales. 

Both Brexit and the current economic climate have been hard on the brand which, faced with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, is now in serious trouble. On 8 June, Mulberry issued a profit warning and announced that it would have to "manage [its] operations and cost base accordingly to ensure the company is the correct size and structure to reflect market conditions."
 
In reality, the fate of the brand's ready-to-wear line already looked to be sealed in March, with the announcement of the departure of creative director Johnny Coca. His last collection for Fall/Winter 2020-21 is still on sale. Coca joined the house in July 2015, as it sought to reposition itself around the high-quality accessible luxury segment and push forward with its international development. 

According to Drapers, Mulberry is also on the verge of closing one of its two British, Somerset-based production sites, where the company manufactures almost half of its bags and leather goods. The factory in question is "The Rookery," which is located not far from Bath, in Chilcompton, where the brand was founded in 1971. 
 
Drapers claims that around 50 of the site's 180 employees will be kept on and redeployed at the company's other factory, "The Willow," located in the historic industrial town of Bridgwater, also in Somerset. 
 
The strategy laid out by CEO Thierry Andretta a few years ago involved the expansion of Mulberry's offering in order to transform the company into a lifestyle brand, develop its brand universe and generate traffic. However, Covid-19 and the economic crisis that it has caused have put paid to these plans. 
 
For the six-month period ended last November, the company's revenues totalled £68.9 million, flat in comparison to the same period in the previous year, while its gross profit fell from £42 million to £41 million and its pre-tax loss came to £9.9 million.

In February, British investor Mike Ashley acquired a 12.5% stake in Mulberry through Frasers Group, whose flagship House of Fraser department stores have sold the brand's products for several years. 

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.