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Symbiose (ex-Sinequanone) placed in receivership
After Cop.Copine, San Marina or Roseanna, another French fashion company is forced to request the opening of a receivership procedure at the end of this year, the women's clothing brand Symbiose, which is the new name of the ready-to-wear brand Sinéquanone since last September. Its owner since the end of 2019, the company SY, has thus organized this fall a relaunch of the brand born in the Parisian Sentier in 1973.
The procedure was initiated on December 15, 2022 by the Commercial Court of Paris, where the company is domiciled. The cessation of payments occurred on November 30. "Having the protection of the court is a necessity, our objective is to preserve jobs (75 employees, editor's note). We will not give up and are focusing more than ever on the collections and our know-how," says the management.
The Covid-19 crisis, which occurred just after the buyout, the weight of commercial rents and the slump in fashion consumption have impacted the brand's activity. The management is keen to stress that the name change in September "did not lower the turnover", and helped to increase its number of followers on social networks (it has 34,300 followers on Instagram).
In the fall, the brand unveiled to FashionNetwork.com its modernization strategy, through a new name and the 'premiumization' of its offer, as well as the integration of more responsible materials. The objective was to rejuvenate the clientele, while continuing to seduce the 50-60 year olds who are now the majority of its followers.
Within the framework of the current procedure, the various options available to the brand (a recovery plan, a possible sale...) have not yet been decided by the management. A six-month observation period has been opened for the company, which achieved 4.5 million euros in sales in 2021.
In addition to its e-commerce site, which is due to be redesigned for spring-summer 2023, Symbiose relies on a network of thirteen branded boutiques (according to data from its e-shop), and around twenty corners in department stores including Printemps in France and Inno in Belgium. It is not distributed through multi-brand retailers.
SY, which has its own production workshops in Tunisia, has also owned the women's fashion chain Naf Naf for two years, which remains independent of Symbiose. At the end of 2019, SY took over the ready-to-wear business and the network of Sinéquanone, which was in receivership at the time, while the Cabrelux company had for its part taken over the brand name and developed the shoes and accessories business.
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