Julien Macdonald, the Welsh fashion designer who made his name in knitwear before building a brand on ultra-glam, figure-hugging ball gowns, has been placed in liquidation.
His label, which was founded in 1998, hit headlines in February thanks to a blow-out catwalk on London Fashion Week’s official schedule: a camp, feather-trimmed and diamante-dripping bonanza that attracted lesser seen faces to LFW’s front row, including Gemma Collins, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli.
But a riot of red carpet ready eccentricity appears to have fallen flat for the one-time judge of Britain’s Next Top Model. Over the course of his career Macdoland consolidated his place as an A-list favourite, dressing stars like Beyonce, Kylie Minogue, Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Gigi Hadid.
A statement from FTS Recovery cites economic instability for the sad demise of the company. “The business fell into trouble during the Covid pandemic which affected all aspects of the retail sector. Julien Macdonald lost a significant proportion of revenue following the collapse of Debenhams at the end of 2020.”
It also states: “No employees or existing contracts could be saved. However, the liquidators are selling stock and other assets in order to seek repayment for creditors.” Alan Coleman, a director of FTS Recovery, added “the cashflow issues were compounded by general inflationary costs, which impacted on all aspects of the business.”
Macdonald found success following his studies at the Royal College of Art in 1997, when he was picked by Karl Lagerfeld to assist in the knitwear department of Chanel.
During this time, he contributed knitted pieces to a then up-and-coming Alexander McQueen, including looks for his infamous early collections ‘Banshee’ (AW94) and ‘Highland Rape’ (AW95).
Macdonald went on to replace McQueen as creative director of the house of Givenchy in 2001, telling Vogue at the time “I wanted to go back to classic ideals of Parisian glamour,” following McQueen’s scandalous tenure. That same year, he was named British Fashion Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards.
His televsion career hit a peak in 2010 when he was announced as a judge on Britain’s Next Top Model alongside supermodel Elle Macpherson, but his credits also include appearances on the British version of Project Runway, Project Catwalk, as well as the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The news comes at a difficult time for all UK fashion businesses. Christopher Kane announced he was filing for administration at the end of June, before FTS Recovery announced yesterday (July 24) that he and sister Tammy Kane had bought back the trademarks and intellectual property associated with the label for an undisclosed sum.
The Vampire’s Wife, a British label by Susie Cave, also faced a liquidation petition from HMRC for unpaid debts at at the end of June, which was resolved by existing investors on July 12.
