Marc Ecko Facing Financial Woes

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 26th 2009 at 8:01PM

Earlier this month the NY Post reported that fashion designer Marc Ecko had listed a colonial home he owns in New Jersey for $1.299 million in order to help satisfy more than $2.1 million in construction liens for his New Jersey castle, Stronghold. Now the Post reveals that Ecko has more problems than just his castle, which he reportedly has spent nearly $22 million fixing up.

The Post says that Ecko has hired investment bank Peter J. Solomon to help refinance at least $170 million in debt. The debts are owed to a couple of important business partners. If he can't find a willing lender, Ecko may have to sell off some assets. Like many fashion outfits, the Marc Ecko brand took a hit during the past retail season. The Post's sources say the company owes more than $100 million to Li & Fung, a global trading company that helps manufacture Marc Ecko products. He also also defaulted on a term loan of more than $70 million from a syndicate led by commercial-lending giant CIT and although he won forbearance on the loan, CIT will have to be paid by summer.

Michael Golden, chief marketing officer at Marc Ecko Enterprises, shrugged off concerns to the Post saying that the company is still strong. Rumors persist that the company is trying to lease out part of its new York City headquarters. A few years ago, Ecko contemplated offers from Jones Apparel Group and Tommy Hilfiger in the $500 million range but would be hard-pressed to find a similar deal now.

Tags: designer, fashion, marc ecko, MarcEcko, new jersey, NewJersey, stronghold

Filed under: Apparel, Wealth

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DEBT By DESIGN Mar 26th 2009 9:21PM

170 MILLION in Debt, Well. Well, Well- WE are UNAPOLOGETIC

shieldsbrown Mar 26th 2009 11:45PM

Never heard of him, dunno what his clothes are like, but clearly not much of a businessman.

Andy Mar 26th 2009 11:55PM

He deserves it all. He thinks that he is more talented than he really his.

William Mar 27th 2009 8:02AM

I know it's not very politically correct to say, but the type of people that normally buy his stuff would be the ones hardest hit by the recession - sleeping in their Cadillac Escalades as their house goes under foreclosure.

I'd say 50% of his typical consumers are suburban kids, and the other 50% are 'thugz fo life'. So when the thugz go down, so does his business.

Evelyn Guzman Mar 28th 2009 7:20AM

Almost everyone is in financial trouble these days even those with castles and million dollar homes. We just hope the recession will soon be gone so we can resume the same style of living as before. At least the stock market seems to be rallying. I keep my fingers crossed.

Evelyn Guzman
http://www.debtchallenges.com (If you want to visit, just click but if it doesn’t work, copy and paste it onto your browser.)