Roland Mouret Files for Administration – WWD

LONDON – After trying and failing, to raise new funds, Roland MouretTrademarks are registered, according to Company House, the UK’s business registry.

According to industry sources, the business is vacating its Mayfair townhouse at 8 Carlos Place and has laid off about 50 employees. Earlier this year, Mouret’s company welcomed Grosvenor as a minority investor, but that amount is not enough to keep the business running.

Grant Thornton has been appointed as administrator and it is understood that the intellectual property has been acquired by a third party.

Mouret declined to comment. The designer is a shareholder in the business along with Mark Langthorne, Managing director; Justine Rouch, who recently joined the brand as president; and Simon Fuller over 19 Entertainment ;.

Grosvenor, one of the largest property owners in the UK and Ireland, took a stake in Mouret’s business in June. It owns the Carlos Place townhouse, and the Mouret’s brand was once one of them. the oldest fashion tenants in the neighborhood.

This is the first time Grosvenor has invested in an equity stake in an occupant. The investment was made through the Grosvenor Tenant Investment Fund, and Grosvenor says it is the first investment from a UK property company.

Grosvenor declined to comment on the administration.

Mouret opened its lush six-story Mayfair townhouse in 2011. Located across from the Connaught hotel, it houses the designer’s first independent boutique, a gallery, design studio and offices. The two-story retail space spans 3,240 square feet.

While the brand has struggled to raise money behind the scenes, the brand is moving forward with a number of creative projects and looking for new growth avenues.

As reported last month, Mouret launches activewear the collection is called Roland Mouret The body, sold through stockpiles including Neiman Marcus, Mytheresa, Tsum, Selfridges and RolandMouret.com.

New pieces are in his spring 2022 collection, which he featured in a movie last September.

Instead of staging a runway show, Mouret gathered members of the press – and his friends – together at a London hotel to screen a short film called “Terma.” , a retelling of the story of Odysseus from the point of view of a woman.

Mouret commissioned and produced the film and commissioned actress and co-director Magaajyia Silberfeld to make a story about women and diversity.

Mouret is also the first European brand to launch with Amazon Luxury Store.

This designer opened his store on the platform in September 2020, and to mark the event, he showed a new CGI movie called “No Show” which he created. with Amazon and has the costume but no model and no carbon footprint.

At the time, he described Amazon as the “next frontier” for online luxury fashion. “At the moment – in my gut – feels so right. It’s part of the process of resetting the fashion industry,” he said.

This is not the first time Mouret .’s business Have trouble.

Mouret split from his supporters, Sharai and Andre Meyers, in October 2005 due to differences in strategic direction, and lost the rights to use his trademark. This couple holds 100% Roland Mouret Ltd., and Mouret eventually acquired it in 2010, after he partnered with Simon Fuller 19 Entertainment.

“My advice to young designers is to go for it no matter what – anything is possible,” he said after taking back his brand.

Mouret teamed up with Fuller, the British entertainer behind “Pop Idol” and the Spice Girls, in 2006. They formed a 50-50 fashion venture under Fuller 19 Entertainment, the global media organization.

A spokesman for Fuller declined to comment on the administration.