French fashion chain IKKS is cutting 202 jobs and closing 77 outlets, joining a multitude of fashion companies in the country to run into financial difficulties due to “unprecedented turbulence”.
Adjusting footprint
IKKS has announced a reorganisation plan called PhoenIKKS that includes the cuts in jobs and outlets. The combination of several external factors – including the aftermath of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflation – have caused “unprecedented turbulence”, management reported according to Fashion Network. More than a tenth of production happened in Ukraine before the Russian invasion.
To what extent the restructuring will also impact foreign operations, is not yet known. Currently, only store closures in France are announced. 604 of the group’s 700 points of sale are in France. More downsizing is to be expected, however, as “the PhoenIKKS plan aims to strategically refocus the brand on its most profitable ready-to-wear businesses and adjust its geographical footprint”.
This is not the first time IKKS has been in trouble: in 2019, the company fell into the hands of its creditors, American funds Avenue Capital, Carval Investors and Marathon Asset Management. Since then, Ludovic Manzon has been at the helm, but the premium brand has never been able to reach pre-pandemic sales levels again.
