At its peak, Orsay operated more than 600 stores across Europe. But after running into trouble during the pandemic and then Russia’s war on Ukraine, the German low-cost fashion brand began closing stores and e-commerce.
Now, the brand is on the rise after the brands division of Gordon Brothers on Wednesday said it acquired the Orsay brand, intellectual property and archives.
“We’ve followed the Orsay story for years and have always been impressed with the brand’s strong connection with consumers,” said Tobias Nanda, president of Gordon Brothers, brand division, adding, “The Orsay brand has been successful in regions, countries and countries. distribution channels.”
The Boston restructuring and advisory firm is partnering with e-commerce software provider Scayle to continue marketing Orsay to European consumers. Scayle is the B2B arm and infrastructure behind About You, a distribution service provider that currently sells Orsay products on its e-commerce platform.
Although Orsay closed its stores in June, its fashions are currently sold through over 190 franchise and wholesale partner stores, as well as About You. The brand is also sold through several third-party marketplaces, including Zalando.
“We will continue to sell in over 20 countries across Europe. We are also looking at expanding into other countries within Europe and are evaluating new territories in the Americas,” said a spokeswoman for Gordon Brothers.
She added that franchises continue to be an important distribution channel for Orsay. “They are the face of the brand to the consumer. Additionally, we have more traditional wholesale accounts running mono-brand retail stores,” the spokeswoman said.
Founded in 1975, Willstatt, Germany-based Orsay fell on hard times last year. Last fall, the company filed for a “protective shield” proceeding under German bankruptcy law, similar to a “debtor in possession” under the U.S. bankruptcy code that allows bankruptcy to operate while it tries to restructure the business.
But the proceeding turned into a bankruptcy filing in January. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February hurt Orsay’s liquidity position, which hurt its ability to negotiate a deal with stakeholders and obtain additional funding to stay in business. A decision was made in March to close, and in June the company began closing stores and its e-commerce site, leaving 1,200 employees out of a job.
The Boston firm’s brands division has been an investor in the fashion and consumer space for many years. In 2017, the company acquired the IP assets of teen clothing chain The Wet Seal in a bankruptcy court auction for $3 million. A year later she bought British streetwear brand Bench Ltd, which she sold in 2020. That same year, Gordon Brothers bought Laura Ashley. Following a relaunch of the British house brand online and in selected Next plc stores in spring 2021, Gordon Brothers in April signed an IMG deal to bring the Laura Ashley brand to the fashion, beauty, homeware and hospitality categories through licensing and partnerships and retail partnerships across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and the Middle East.
And in February 2008, Gordon Brothers and competitor Hilco acquired the IP of home retailer Bombay Co., and were able to turn the brand into a licensed, asset-light operation that sold its goods through a variety of retail outlets. The US operation, known as Bombay Brands, was sold in 2011 to Hermes-Otto International, a subsidiary of mail-order firm Otto.
Most recently, Gordon Brothers in February took a majority stake in women’s lifestyle brand Nicole Miller. And in April, Gordon Brothers itself received $300 million in funding from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, giving it a capital base of more than $1 billion to make additional investments in the brand.
