The crisis in the French clothing industry continues: the Lingerie brand Princesse Tam Tam and the clothing company Comptoir of the Cotonnier was opened. The AFP learned this on Wednesday from a source that is familiar with the process.
The two brands have been in difficulties for several years. They struggled to withstand a “non -improving market context”. At the end of June, this had declared a source compared to the AFP at the time the insolvency proceedings were initiated.
The owner, Fast Retailing France, a subsidiary of the Japanese giant Fast Retailing, whose flagship brand is Uniqlo, had to submit an application to the Paris Business Court at the end of June. This was granted on Tuesday.
For several years, the brands of the middle price segment have been put under pressure by “ultra-fast fashion” and second-hand clothing. These attract consumers: inside with low prices.
According to a Médiamétrie study 2024, the Singapore-based website Shein made three percent of the clothing and shoes on the French market. In the area of secondhand, the sales of the Lithuanian platform Vinted in France rose by 32 percent compared to 2022 in 2023, according to the Joko app.
Princesse Tam Tam and Comptoir of the Cotonnier had taken measures to “adapt to the developments of the clothing market”. The group explained this in June 2023 to justify a social plan.
The project provided for the closure of 28 of the 67 sales points of Comptoir of the Cotonnier and the dismantling of 101 of the 272 permanent places. At Princesse Tam Tam, 27 out of 69 boutiques and 84 out of 235 permanent bodies were affected. In addition, there was a reduction of 119 jobs at Fast Retailing France.
Since then, the group has no longer commented on the implementation of this plan. Today there are still “about a hundred Princesse-Tam-Tam and Comptoir-des-Cotonniers boutiques in France and around 500 employees at Fast Retailing France, including the headquarters,” said the same source compared to AFP.
Covid and inflation
Other traditional fashion brands that had been transferred to insolvency proceedings had managed to find a buyer. Sometimes, however, they were again transferred to bankruptcy proceedings or even liquidated immediately.
The well-known clothing transactions in the inner cities and shopping centers had already suffered from the covid pandemic and the standstill of economic activity. After that, inflation, the increase in energy costs, raw material prices, rents and wages were added.
The brands Camaïeu, Kookaï, Burton of London, Gap France, André, San Marina, Kaporal, Jennyfer, du Pareil au Même, Sergent Major, Esprit, C&A, NAF NAF and IKKS have already felt this.
In order to counter the “Fast Fashion”, the European Commission proposed in May to raise a fee of two euros for each “small” package with a value of less than 150 euros, which is currently in the EU. The vast majority of these packages come from China.
The CARREFOUR CEO, Alexandre Bombard, wants to go even further and asked for a “Trump-like” tax of 100 percent of the value of the goods on Wednesday on Wednesday. “I fight for low prices every day, but there is a limit for the price at all costs,” said Bompard to these packages.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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