Suppliers and staff left out of pocket following collapse of Julien Macdonald

Suppliers and workers, from seamstresses to stylists, have been left out of pocket after Julien Macdonald’s debt-ridden label was forced into liquidation.

In late July, the news broke that Julien Macdonald's fashion label was the next fashion victim forced into liquidation during unstable economic times. Alan Coleman and Marco Piacquadio were appointed joint liquidators to the fashion brand. At the time, on 23 July, Liquidators FTS Recovery confirmed that they are selling Julien Macdonald stock and other assets in order to seek repayment for creditors.

Macdonald made a name for himself at the ripe age of 21 under Karl Lagerfeld's helm at Chanel, who later appointed the young designer as Head Knitwear designer. Eager to strike out on his own, he left Chanel to launch his namesake label in 1997. Dressing every household name from Kylie Minogue to Jennifer Lopez, the designer quickly shot to celebrity status.

Now, the fashion label reportedly owes several hundred thousand pounds to creditors. Even Barclays Bank have been left in the lurch after supplying a £33,000 Bounce Back Loan after the pandemic.

Just this February, Julien Macdonald – known for his daringly-sexy designs – returned to London Fashion Week after a three-year hiatus. His comeback was nothing short of a show stopper, with a runway of sequin-clad numbers and cut-out mini dresses. The show, which was held in collaboration with Mexican Tycoon Gabriella Gonzalez, had been planned since September 2022. Some of the debts left unpaid relate to the show.

Extravagant looks from the Julien x Gabriela 2023 collection

One source, who is owed several hundreds of pounds for work on the show, said others had been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. Two sources, however, have told TheIndustry.fashion that some suppliers and workers on the show had received payment for their work.

"I know some got paid because they went through lawyers. However, when I sent my invoice via email, I didn’t get a response," one source said.

After following up several times, the source was asked to submit timesheets and was assured the accounts team would be in contact within the next 10 days, which did not happen.

In a statement, FTS blamed the Covid pandemic for Macdonald’s downfall, which "affected all aspects of the retail sector", adding, "No employees or existing contracts could be saved".

The company explained that Macdonald's loss from the pandemic was compounded by Debenhams' collapse in late 2020, which caused the label to lose "a significant proportion of revenue" (Macdonald had been a long-standing designer for the department store).

However, one worker on the London Fashion Week show, questioned the wisdom of staging it – despite the backing of Gonzalez – if the business had been struggling since the collapse of Debenhams and the Covid pandemic. "Everyone working on that show is up in arms. The press is writing ‘poor Julien’, but the show prep only started in September," the worker said.

Since the news of the company's downfall, Julien Macdonald has applied to the high court to continue trading under his name. In addition to this current legal battle, he incorporated two new companies in recent weeks. The companies JM Sparkles and Glitz and Sparkles are dedicated to ‘specialised design activities’.

The designer will also continue creating his spin-off lines with QVC and Freemans. A spokesperson for Freemans commented: "STAR by Julien Macdonald is here to stay at Freeman's. We are just getting ready to launch collections for AW23".

FTS Recovery declined to comment.