US clothing retailer Vince Holding Corp. is in transition. The results for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year published on Thursday evening already reflected the first effects of the radical streamlining of business activities. Over the past few months, the group has discontinued its Rebecca Taylor brand and sold the intellectual property rights of the women’s fashion label Parker. The company will only market the core brand Vince as a license partner in the future.
For the three months ended April 29, consolidated revenue was $64.1 million (EUR 59.5 million). It shrank by 18.3 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. According to the company, the significant losses were mainly due to the loss of revenue from Rebecca Taylor. In addition, the Vince brand had to accept a drop in sales of 6.3 percent.
The net loss, which was $7.2 million in the prior-year period, was reduced to $0.4 million. The group benefited from the income from the sale of the rights to Parker and tax benefits. Adjusted for special effects, the net loss amounted to 4.4 million US dollars.
In the future, the company is relying on a new business model: At the end of May, it brought all the intellectual property rights of the Vince label into the ABG Vince joint venture, in which the Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) holds a 75 percent majority. Vince Holding received the remaining 25 percent and payments totaling $76.5 million used to service debt. At the same time, the group entered into a ten-year licensing partnership with Authentic Brands Group, under which it will continue to handle the wholesale and retail distribution of Vince’s products.