The whimsical footwear brand is closing all of its U.S. stores.
Charlotte Olympia Dellal at the Serpentine Galleries summer party in 2017. Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
Charlotte Olympia, the whimsical luxury accessories brand founded in 2007 by Charlotte Olympia Dellal, has run into some serious financial trouble. As first reported by Footwear News, the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware bankruptcy court on Feb. 17. The filing was made by Pinktoe Tarantula Ltd. and affiliates Desert Blonde Tarantula Ltd. and Red Pump Tarantula Ltd., which do business as Charlotte Olympia.
According to the filing, “The Debtors have filed these chapter 11 cases to effectuate an orderly liquidation of their assets.” The company checked boxes declaring assets of $1 million to $10 million and debt of $10 million to $50 million.
Chief Restructuring Officer William Kaye also said in the filing that he plans to close each of the brand’s four U.S. stores — one in Beverly Hills, one in Orange County, one in Las Vegas and one in upper Manhattan — noting that they had all been unprofitable. He blamed “the widespread disruption in the retail industry” for their failure. The brand also operates stores in the U.K., Dubai, Thailand and Moscow. Ssense, MyTheresa, Net-a-Porter, Saks and Bloomingdale’s are among its stockists; the shoes are often worn by celebrities on the red carpet; and the brand has expanded into categories including handbags and kids, and embarked on collaborations with Barbie and Marvel.
From what we can surmise, it is just the U.S. operations that are closing and being liquidated. “The closing of our stores in the U.S. is to effectuate a restructuring of our business post-partnership. This is due to the unprecedented disruption in the retail market,” Bonnie Takher, president of Charlotte Olympia, told Footwear News. A rep for the brand has yet to respond to our request for comment.
Judging by Instagram, things at the brand appear to be business as usual otherwise: Just 10 hours ago, set-up was underway for its usual Milan Fashion Week presentation.
