Seraphine’s 95 UK workers have been left reeling when it was introduced at 3pm on Monday 7 July that the corporate had referred to as in directors from Interpath Advisory and ceased buying and selling instantly.
Based in 2002 by Cecile Reinaud (pictured), Seraphine acquired worldwide consideration when the Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge, was pictured carrying the designer maternity garments by means of all three of her pregnancies. Reinaud offered the model to Mayfair Fairness Companions in 2021.
Within the days following the collapse, Subsequent and Frasers Group are being tipped as the highest contenders in shopping for Seraphine out of administration, a number of trade veterans instructed Drapers.
As demand for maternitywear shrinks amid weak client confidence and reducing delivery charges, a purchase order is more likely to be within the “low single-digit thousands and thousands”, one former vogue retail CEO instructed Drapers: “Subsequent is more likely to get deal on Seraphine, however it will not be desirous about shopping for the whole enterprise – simply the IP [intellectual property]. And it might restrict it to on-line solely [on the Next platform].”
In the meantime, Seraphine’s larger value factors might place it “match proper in” with Frasers Group’s portfolio of manufacturers, one grocery store vogue govt instructed Drapers: “It is going to be a tough purchase. It is a area of interest sector and delivery charges are falling, however there’ll all the time be demand for maternitywear.”
This was echoed by a CEO of 1 UK maternitywear and childrenswear model, who instructed Drapers that “being a full-price retailer in such a distinct segment and discretionary market throughout a price of residing disaster was all the time a harmful place to be”.
“Transferring from a £1.5m revenue in 2022 to losses of over £16m simply two years later is a stunning swing – it seems to be like administrative prices have ballooned whereas revenues have been in regular decline.
“A 3rd of [Seraphine’s] enterprise got here from the US, so [president Donald] Trump’s tariffs gained’t have made issues any simpler,” he added.
Tariff uncertainty has not discouraged US curiosity in Seraphine, which is reportedly being circled by different US-based personal fairness corporations, one retail trade veteran instructed Drapers.
Drapers has contacted Subsequent, Frasers Group and Interpath Advisory for remark.
