Swimwear brand Seafolly has entered voluntary administration as the “crippling financial impact” leaves the Australian brand reeling.
The company has appointed Scott Langdon and Rahul Goyal of KordaMentha to begin work immediately as administrators.
Mr Langdon has said that in spite of the revelations that Seafolly has entered administration, it’s business as usual for customers and the company’s staff.
“Given the quality of the brand and its reputation, there will inevitably be a high level of interest in purchasing the business,” Langdon said.
Administrators will begin the process of selling off various parts of the Seafolly brand immediately,
“All Seafolly gift cards and popular Beach Club Rewards points will continue to be redeemable at all Seafolly stores,” Langdon said, adding that “we encourage all loyal Seafolly customers to come to the retail stores and redeem their Beach Club Rewards, plus earn more points.”
Seafolly was founded in 1975, and is stocked globally, with 44 retail outlets in Australia and 12 overseas locations. It employs around 129 people in Australia.
In 2014, Seafolly was acquired by an American private equity firm, L Catterton, with a 70% stake purchased for a reported $70 million. L Catterton has a number of links to LVMH, which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Fendi.
A key competitor of Seafolly, Tigerlily earlier this year buckled under the pressure of the pandemic. Retail figures from the ABS show that turnover jumped 16.3% in the month of May, although consumer spending on clothing and footwear is expected to be outpaced by cafe and restaurant spending.
According to a report from the ABC, “the survey found 44 per cent of people had reduced their spending on clothing and footwear while coronavirus restrictions were in place, and 52 per cent of those expect to continue to spend lower amounts on these items as restrictions ease.”
