The Vampire's Wife to cease trading due to wholesale market upheaval
The Vampire's Wife, the gothic-inpsired luxury fashion brand from former model Susie Cave, will cease trading this week citing upheaval in the wholesale market.
It will stage a final sale of its products on 24-26 May at The Music Room in London's Mayfair before closing its doors for good, according to a statement published today.
Cave launched the brand 10 years ago and garnered a cult following for its signature dresses, in particular the Falconetti mid-length design which was seen on countless celebrities and which was immortalised in an official portrait of the Princess of Wales painted by artist Jamie Coreth in 2022 to mark the tenth anniversary of her wedding to the Prince of Wales.
The Princess also wore a design from The Vampire's Wife during a tour of the Caribbean in 2022.
The Princess of Wales (then Duchess of Cambridge) wears The Vampire's Wife on a tour of the Caribbean (Jane Barlow/PA)
In an Instagram post, Cave said: "After ten years as The Creative Director of The Vampire’s Wife, it is time for me to say goodbye. I say this with great sadness and want to express my undying gratitude to you all for your support.
"I wish to thank my extended family at The Vampire’s Wife who helped me create such beautiful things. I cannot describe how much you have all meant to me.
"I love you all, Susie."
View this post on Instagram
The brand hit the headlines in 2023 when it was issued with a winding up petition from HMRC due to unpaid taxes. The company said at the time that HMRC had has rejected its request for a Time To Pay Arrangement, and the tax debts had been built up during the pandemic.
Before the petition was heard at court the brand, with the support of its investors who included the American music mogul Jimmy Iovine and his wife, the British supermodel and entrepreneur Liberty Ross, settled the debt.
The Vampire's Wife had counted retailers such as Browns and Matches as high profile stockists but those businesses themselves have been challenged. Browns parent Farfetch was sold in an emergency deal to Korean retail giant Coupang at the end of last year while Matches was sold to Frasers Group, which put it into administration a matter of weeks later.
Frasers subsequently bought back the Matches name and other IP while administrators at Teneo are currently conducting a fire sale of its stock. The Vampire's Wife is owed more than £30,000 by Matches and is one of a string of brands to be left out of pocket by its collapse.
In its statement, The Vampire's Wife said: "Despite a period of positive growth and sales, the upheaval in the wholesale market had dramatic implications for the brand. The Vampire's Wife therefore announces that it has sadly made the decision to cease trading with immediate effect."
