Is Escada Facing The End?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 13th 2009 at 8:01PM

Back in March I wrote about the troubles facing womenswear brand Escada but now it looks like things have gotten worse. Chairman Bruno Saelzer is said to have told German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag that the company has been talking with insolvency experts. The company has enough liquidity to last until next month but not beyond that. Escada's last ditch efforts include a pitching a debt restructuring plan to its creditors which must be approved by 80 percent of them by July 31. Without that agreement it seems likely that Escada will have to cease trading because this is a bit of a Hail Mary move and all other avenues have already been tried and failed.

Tags: escada, fashion

Filed under: Apparel

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lana Tolman Jul 14th 2009 1:38PM

This is the saddest news i have heard in my retail thearpy. I have been shopping at Escada for over 15 years. They had the triple wammy happen to this company

1) The very bad decision to fire Brian Rennie the head designer since Ley died

2) The extrememly bad decision to hire Damiano Biella...He lost all of the loyal customers that Escada had built up over 15 years in 2 seasons.

3) A bad enconmy that would of taken it's toll on anyone.

I hope that the management can pull this one out because i don't know where i would go to shop. I guess we will have to start shopping Gant where Brian Rennie is now.

jrwerthit Jul 14th 2009 9:35PM

I totally agree with you. I was very upset to hear this as I have been an Escada customer for 20 years. Your summary is 100% correct. I have felt that Escada has moved away from the original concept that Margareta Ley started - The sizing changed and their loyal customer base was ignored.
Damiano created impracticle clothing that one could not wear to the office. The outlet stores are full of his mistakes.

michaelvs22 Jul 20th 2009 6:53PM

As your friendly local professional, I never could afford to get Escada for my better half -- though I always wanted to -- but I always appreciated the colour, textures, simplicity of design, and that ephemeral quality which most designers really don't have [because you either have it or you don't and it can't be taught easily]: taste.

Damn shame.

Michael Jul 20th 2009 7:02PM

As your friendly, local professional, I always wished I could have afforded some Escada for my better half but never could. As a trained artist, I always appreciated the excellent sense of colour, texture, design, and that extremely rare commodity [which either you have or don't and it can't be taught easily]: taste.

And, if all of what you say is true and I have no reason to doubt it, it's just a damn shame.