Moorfields Advisory Appointed Administrators of Women's Fashion Brand Basler

Arron Kendall and Simon Thomas, Partners at Moorfields Advisory, were appointed joint administrators of the UK arm of upmarket women’s fashion brand Basler on 1 September 2017. Basler UK is a subsidiary of the long-established Basler Fashion Group GmbH, which is headquartered in Goldbach, Germany, and also operates in the United States, Australia and throughout Europe.

Since May 2017, Basler Fashion Group GmbH has been subject to formal restructuring in Germany, including a sale process which failed to generate acceptable offers for the business. As a result, Basler Fashion Group GmbH has now entered into a formal liquidation process. The knock-on effect is that the UK and other subsidiaries will have to enter insolvency procedures.

Basler UK has three own-brand stores located at Bond Street in London, Chichester and Epsom, a factory outlet in York, 17 concessions and over 100 wholesale customers throughout the UK and Ireland. Basler collections can be found in stores, such as House of Fraser, Harrods and Beales.

Moorfields Advisory will continue to trade the Basler UK operations as normal to fulfil wholesale orders, whilst conducting a stock liquidation through the retail outlets. We invite customers to visit their local store to take advantage of the large discounts available on all collections.

Arron Kendall, Partner at Moorfields Advisory, says: “Like many premium clothing brands, Basler has struggled to keep itself relevant to its core customer base, which has been exacerbated by difficult trading conditions and a reduction in discretionary spend.” 

Basler was founded in Berlin in 1936 and originally specialised in manufacturing jackets and coats. In the 1960s, Basler extended its ranges to include its first women’s suit “Mona” and “co-ordinates”, and in 1997 it opened its first store in Hamburg. The first Basler store opened in London in 2007, which was followed a year later by a store in Paris.

Basler collections are feminine, exclusive and modern, with product ranges from sporty chic to evening-wear and couture, covering all areas of womenswear.  Its operations involve retailing its elegant and high quality women’s collections through its global network of stores and concessions as well as wholesales to other retailers. Basler Fashion Group’s women’s outerwear label reported sales of €108m (£100m) last year. The Group employed over 1,100 people worldwide and operated more than 1,900 points of sale, including 40 own-brand stores, 80 concessions and 13 outlets.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Katie Smith

Tel: +44 (0)20 7186 1144

Email: ksmith@moorfieldscr.com

About Moorfields

Moorfields is one of the UK's leading independent firms of restructuring and insolvency specialists. Our highly skilled teams include restructuring professionals and licensed insolvency practitioners who provide leadership, experience and high quality advice to companies and their stakeholders in financially distressed situations.

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