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Almost 11,000 jobs are at stake after BHS announced rescue attempts to save the 88-year-old high street chain failed. The news come less than a month after commercial landlords agreed to reduce rent on some of its stores in a bid to save BHS from administration, and after last-minute talks to sell some of the 164 UK stores to Sports Direct floundered over the weekend. Duff & Phelps have been called in to handle administration and will keep stores open as it tries to find a buyer.

Harsha Wickremasinghe, Associate at Livingstone Partners, comments on the BHS collapse: “The BHS business model itself is at the root of the problem. Its relevance to the current market is unclear – in terms of product range, brand appeal and distribution strategy. These structural weaknesses, coupled with soaring rents, high business rates and pension liabilities, alongside the impact of the National Living Wage, gave BHS little room to manoeuvre.”

She adds that BHS has been a ‘problem-child’ for some time as “its offer lacked any clarity, whilst rivals such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis have all invested heavily in developing their ranges, multichannel capabilities and heavily-refurbishing their stores.” BHS has over £1.3bn in debts including £571m in pension liabilities to be investigated by the Pensions Regulator, which will also consider whether to force former BHS owner Sir Philip Green, who sold BHS for £1 last year, to contribute towards the company’s pension deficit.

Christina Tolvas-Vincent, Head of Retail Employment at Bond Dickinson, comments: “Press reports suggest various officials at the shopworkers’ union USDAW are calling for urgent talks with the company. The experience with Woolworths suggests that the union is certainly not averse to taking legal action when it believes that appropriate consultation with employees has not taken place. However, employers desperate to rescue a struggling business often find it difficult to gauge when and how to engage with the workforce as there is little clarity on whether a sale of the business is likely to be possible or whether redundancies may prove necessary; something that is usually a decision for the administrators at a later stage in any event.”

“The legal requirements can be difficult to interpret and cases are still progressing through the courts on potential criminal liabilities where there has been a failure to notify The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The potential penalties are enormous: an unlimited fine for a failure to notify BIS and compensation of up to 90 days’ actual pay for each affected employee for a failure to carry out collective redundancy consultation properly,” Tolvas-Vincent adds.

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British e-commerce site, UKTights.com, has announced today that it has officially signed for ownership of MyTights.com and MyTights.co.uk. The move ensures that UKTights.com is now the largest retailer in terms of stock holdings, size and seniority and business generated.

MyTights.com started in 2000 and carved a unique place in etailing. Dawn Barber, MD of UK Tights.com commented exclusively to Underlines: “We began our own journey in 2005 and 11 years later we have achieved more than we ever hoped to. I would like to extend my best wishes to the founders and director of My Tights, Laura Godsal and Bobbie Bhogal. We have competed against each other in business, but there has always been a great mutual respect between us.”

This move marks an exciting new chapter for Dawn and her team, following on from their creation of UKSwimwear.com and most recently, UKLingerie.com. Dawn further commented: “We will continue to offer the extensive selection that we are well known for… and for our partners and suppliers we can look forward to more business. In short, we are stronger together than we can ever be apart.”

Full exclusive interview in the May issue of Underlines.

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At the forthcoming Collection Première Moscow, to be held in Moscow’s Expocentre from 31 August to 3 September 2016, CPM will join forces with the Schneider Group. Headquartered in Moscow, the Schneider Group will act as a ‘one-stop partner’ for European SMEs helping them enter the Russian market and expand into Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and Poland, by offering market consultancy services as well as support with tax, imports,  customs and legal matters.

CPM Moscow constantly focuses on initiating business relationships and in this year’s CPM Start Up segment small companies will be able to present themselves to interested agencies. Furthermore, they can also test the Russian market and forge new contacts at a reasonable price.

“Thanks to the additional partnership with the Schneider Group and the Fashion Fast Track process offered companies will be able to deliver goods to Russia within 10 days. We are delighted to have been able to also create another attractive offering for our newcomers through this additional cooperation. This will also attract new producers previously shying away from trade fair participation due to import requirements,” delights Christian Kasch, Project Manager at CPM.

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Agent Provocateur announced today the appointment of Fabrizio Malverdi as its new Chief Executive with immediate effect. Fabrizio has over 15 years’ experience leading luxury retail businesses including Dior Homme, John Galliano and Givenchy. Chris Woodhouse, Chairman of Agent Provocateur, commented: “Renowned for his focus on creative product, growth and value creation, Fabrizio is a hugely respected professional. I am sure that his extensive industry experience and skills will be invaluable to Agent Provocateur and I am very much looking forward to working with him.”

Fabrizio Malverdi adds: “I’m really excited to be joining Agent Provocateur, a very successful business with a unique heritage. I look forward to working with the existing management team to lead Agent Provocateur in the next phase of its growth, consolidating its position as a key player in the luxury fashion sector.”

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For the third consecutive year, Maison Close and its ‘erotic & chic’ philosophy has seduced the jury of Lemon Curve’s Lingerie Awards. The brand was nominated in its category of choice, Seduction Brand of the Year, but for the first time also in the Bodysuit of the Year category – the selected style is a thong body from La Cavalière collection in black microfibre and sand rose Leavers lace.

The jury, comprised of lingerie professionals, bloggers and celebrities, will cast their votes and reveal the winners next month.

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The UK economy is expected to grow at a slower rate through 2016 and 2017, and there are signs that global economic risks including uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum are starting to weigh on investment plans, according to the latest CBI economic forecast. The leading business group’s latest forecast predicts that the UK will see 2.0% GDP growth in both 2016 and 2017, both of which are downgrades from its last forecast in February (2016 – 2.3%, 2017 – 2.1%).

Growth is again expected to be driven by household spending and investment, but the deterioration in the global economic outlook, including weaker prospects for China and other emerging markets, continue to represent major challenges. The CBI’s central economic forecast was carried out on the basis of our current membership of the European Union.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: “We expect the UK’s growth path to continue but it is likely to be at a slower rate than previously thought. A dark cloud of uncertainty is looming over global growth, particularly around weakening emerging markets and the outcome of the EU referendum, which is chilling some firms’ plans to invest. At present, the economic signals are mixed – we are in an unusually uncertain period.”

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Naturana have launched their own lingerie week from Monday 16 – Sunday 22 May and are celebrating the occasion with a special 25% off promotion on all cotton vest top and brief sets. The brand is also running a competition together with The Sun’s Fabulous magazine, offering 4 lucky readers the change to win £250 each to spend on Naturana lingerie, and will be looking back at lingerie over the last 100 years with an engaging social media campaign.

Commenting on the launch of Naturana’s National Lingerie Week, UK Sales Manager Tom Kavanagh said: “We are really excited about this new venture which is intended to become a yearly event, designed to create greater awareness of our heritage brand, and the incredible diversity of the comprehensive product range that Naturana has to offer.”

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Bjorn Borg Sport Couture capsule collection

Björn Borg has acquired the shares held by the minority shareholder of subsidiary Björn Borg UK Limited, representing 20% of total share, in a step towards becoming a more vertically integrated company. The UK subsidiary is now wholly owned by the group and former UK Sales Manager Neil Smith will take over as Country Sales Manager for the UK branch.

Björn Borg CEO Henrik Bunge says: “We have now taken yet another step to cut the distance between the Björn Borg headquarters and the end consumer. Integration is crucial to understand and consequently make a difference for consumers on our different markets.”

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Marie Boutique are celebrating a milestone this September with the launch of an exciting project in collaboration with lingerie brands. To mark the boutique’s 80th birthday, the Marie team are organising a pop up exhibition aimed at educating current and potential clients on traditional corsetry-making techniques, fabric development and how lingerie shapes and styling have changed over the last 80 years. Lingerie brands that wish to participate are encouraged to send historical pieces, old illustrations or adverts that will help tell the story of our industry.

Old newspaper articles and historical artefacts are also going to be included in the exhibition as well as customer memoirs to celebrate Marie being a part of the local community for so long. Marie Boutique’s 80th Birthday Exhibition will take place in the Abingdon County Hall Museum (pictured below) between 8th-16th September 2016.

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Panache Lingerie has announced the appointment of Victoria Sargeson as Head of Marketing with immediate effect. Victoria joins Panache bringing 13 years of marketing experience, having formerly held the position of Head of Marketing and Retail Channel at Marcolin Group, where she was responsible eyewear brands such as GUESS, Gant, Swarovski, Diesel and Tom Ford.

Victoria says: “I am delighted to join the business at this very exciting time with our consumer campaign ‘Modelled by Role Models’ launching later this year as well as many other new initiatives.”

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REDValentino is pleased to announce the official opening of the label’s new flagship store, located in Rome’s Via del Babuino, boasting a new concept developed by Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli together with renowned designer and architect India Mahdavi.

The new Autumn/Winter 16-17 Pre Collection was unveiled in an exclusive event at the new flagship store, which included a live performance by street and crochet artist London Kaye. The American artist also created a unique and colourful installation within the store window inspired by the latest collection, dedicated to spontaneous, eccentric, passionate girls who represent the kaleidoscopic joys of femininity.

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Panache Lingerie at Selfridges

Sheffield-based lingerie supplier, Panache, has takenImage may be NSFW.
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The Body Studio at Selfridges is the largest intimate apparel, swimwear, loungewear, hosiery and fitnesswear development ever, covering 37,000 sq ft and opened in April 2016.

Panache Lingerie Ltd is a family-owned business started in the early 1980’s and the company now has a collection of brands primarily aimed at the larger cupped size consumer (Panache, Panache Black, Panache Swim, Cleo by Panache, Cleo Swim by Panache, Panache Sports and Sculptresse).

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Wolford has announced the company is centralizing its sales and marketing organization in Bregenz. The sales and marketing platform will be responsible for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and Wolford is also introducing the same strategy to America and Asia through its business hubs in New York and Hong Kong.

The new EMEA organization will provide online and offline support for the activities of all company sales channels as well as trade marketing, visual merchandising, communications and art direction, which means 20 new jobs will be created in Bregenz. “The far-reaching reorganization of marketing and sales is the logical result of the resolute orientation of the entire company to retail requirements and thus to the end customer, regardless through which sales channel they are reached”, states Ashish Sensarma, CEO.

These measures go hand in hand with the systematic optimization of the online and offline sales experience, including implementation of a new shop concept and new appearance for the 16 global online boutiques. Wolford has also set a goal of gradually increasing its EBIT margin to 10 percent in order to match the performance of other luxury brands, and measures already initiated in 2014 to increase revenue and reduce costs were expanded in the past financial year.

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Reports have come in from the Derby Telegraph that iconic British manufacturer Courtaulds, established in 1919, ceased its operations yesterday resulting in a loss of 350 jobs. CUK Clothing which merged with Courtaulds in 2006 also went into administration, and the company partially blamed the BHS collapse for the situation as the high street retailer was one of Courtaulds’ largest customers.

Dilip Dattani, partner at RSM Restructuring Advisory and one of the administrators to Courtaulds, said: “The administration of BHS has added to the challenge of operating within a fiercely competitive market for seasonal products. This has left the directors with little choice but to place the companies into administration. Regrettably, we have been forced to make 350 employees redundant to align with the current order book, and we are assisting them with their claims to the Redundancy Payments service.”

Some of the brands produced in the Belper factory were Pretty Polly and Aristoc as well as private-label garments for retailers including hosiery, lingerie, casual wear, jackets and coats.

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Lingerie, swimwear and nightwear brand Boux Avenue, is supporting Graduate Fashion Week 2016 by sponsoring the Lingerie and Swimwear Award. Boux Avenue leapt on the lingerie scene in 2011 and has had rapid success in this competitive marketplace.

When the opportunity arose for Boux Avenue to become involved with Graduate Fashion Week, the brand welcomed the chance to celebrate emerging talent in the UK and show its support for the charity. For a brand that prides itself on expert bra fitting and unrivalled high quality garments, Boux Avenue’s COO, Buying Director and Marketing & Ecommerce Director will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the judging panel for this award.

“We are thrilled to be sponsoring the Lingerie and Swimwear Award at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week – two categories that are obviously very close to our hearts! We feel very strongly about supporting young talent and are really excited to see all their hard work pay off at the show.

“The winner will also get the opportunity to do a six week placement at Boux Avenue where they will be fully immersed in the day to day running of a successful lingerie and swimwear brand, gaining invaluable experience that will help kick start their career in the industry.”

Alex Paphitis, Boux Avenue COO.

Boux Avenue will host a competition on their social channels to win tickets to attend Graduate Fashion Week which will be running from 5^th – 8^th June.

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