Kookaï announced Wednesday its placement in receivership. Adobe Stock
The brand born in 1983 was placed this Wednesday under the protection of the Paris Commercial Court by its Australian general management and its shareholder.
The consumer crisis in fashion has made a new victim: Kookaï. The company announced on Wednesday its placement in receivership due “to the economic difficulties facing the ready-to-wear sector in Europe, which the Covid-19 has only accentuated”.
Created in France in 1983, Kookaï developed in Australia in the 2000s. The success in the country was such that the brand was bought in 2017 by its Australian master franchisee, Rob Cromb, from the Vivarte group (Caroll, Minelli , La Halle, Naf Naf, Chevignon…). Even then, the company was in debt. But Rob Cromb had new ambitions for the brand. Today, Kookaï has 121 stores in France, plus 45 outlets in Australia and New Zealand, 17 in Switzerland plus a dozen in Spain. Last year, 45 of the 100 million euros in turnover were made in Europe.
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Only the Kookaï France entity – which did not obtain a PGE during the pandemic – is concerned by the receivership procedure. During the six-month observation period which has just begun, the 121 shops will remain open (like the merchant site Kookai.fr) and the 320 employees will still be in business. This time will be used to “implement a new strategy to return to profitability and prepare Kookaï for future episodes in its history”warns the company, for whom this procedure before the Paris Commercial Court “is not an end in itself”.
The sector remains reeling from the sudden liquidation of Camaïeu at the end of September, leading to the dismissal of 2,100 employees. Since the beginning of the year, the bad news continues. In mid-January, the Go Sport group, holding company of the brand specializing in sport, was declared in receivership. On Friday, the elected staff of the ready-to-wear brand Gap France exercised their right to alert in order to obtain information on the situation of their company. These three brands had been bought by the HPB group (Hermione, People & Brands) belonging to Michel Ohayon.