French company Camaieu placed in receivership by the commercial court of Lille.
The French ready-to-wear company, hit by the health crisis, is out of payment, two years after it was taken over by the Bordeaux real estate financial.
Camaieu hopes to leave on new bases despite the financial difficulties. The ready-to-wear company was placed in receivership on Monday by the Lille court. It is out of payment, two years after it was taken over by Bordeaux Real Estate Finance. "We take note of the decision of the court which pronounces the opening of a judicial reorganization procedure at the request of Camaieu," said the management, specifying that they are working "from now on on the continuation plan", the objective of the brand, which employs 2,571 employees, "being to preserve the activity of the company and the Camaieu brand".
French company Camaieu
"This decision should allow Camaieu, a historic French textile brand, to have a period of observation and then present a continuation plan in order to continue the transformation initiated by the group and thus ensure the sustainability of the company," said the Hermione People and Brands Group (HPB), the distribution division of Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon's FIB, in a statement.
The brand, which has 538 stores in France, had requested the opening of this procedure last Monday, declaring itself to be in default of payment, led in particular by unpaid rents. This request was made "after a period of several months marked by a series of exogenous difficulties", HPB developed.
French company Camaieu statements
"Already very fragile at the time of its recovery" in 2020, "Camaieu was faced with a wave of major and unprecedented successive crises due to the Covid-19 crisis, repeated lockdowns (...) and the disorganization of global transport," according to the statement. HPB also cites a "cyber-attack of exceptional magnitude as well as the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the increase in the price of raw materials".
"Already largely weakened by this unprecedented succession of facts, Camaieu has had to face, since June 30, the judgment of the Court of Cassation, denying merchants the right to request a reduction in their rents during the Covid period," adds HPB. "Even if the court validates a continuity plan, we know very well that there will be a reorganization of the workforce, so a social plan, so social disruption," Thierry Siwik, CGT delegate of Camaïeu, reacted for AFP. "To minimize this social breakdown, we will build an action with the CGT HPB," he added.
French company Camaieu comments
- A not very dynamic and aging brand image.
The ready-to-wear business is over-competitive, it was sure that some actors will end up breaking their faces.
You go to a shopping arcade, you have 50% of the stores that sell the same thing. Of which 80% are exclusively for women.
Those who succeed are those who invest in the digital transformation and the ecological transformation of their business model.
- Where that does not decrease in standing while maintaining prices.
I still have camaïeu clothes from 20 years ago, but at the time it came from Europe or the Maghreb and especially the quality was much higher.
The problem is especially 50% of stores that sell the same thing, low-end but mid-range price.
When a 20-year-old sweater is still wearable (bought for 200 frs = 30 €) and the same one that barely lasts 1 month before the 1st broken threads for the same price. The reasoning is quickly done.
To want to produce everything in China to dress the whole world....
- Camaïeu, was a good brand, but it was 20 years ago, then came the time of low-end clothing, ugly and poorly tailored.
it's been years since I've been back
