Luxury retailer Pink Shirtmaker is reportedly up for sale, with parent company LVMH looking to offload the corporate menswear brand, as the demand for office wear during the Covid-19 pandemic declines.
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Several potential buyers have been approached to view financial information in a data-room opened last week, according to the Evening Standard, despite LVMH failing to decline or comment on the news. However, it is believed that the sale of Pink Shirtmaker does not include any stock, although there is a revenue stream from a venture with lingerie group Victoria’s Secret, and its Pink brand.
Founded in 1984 by three Irish brothers, James, Peter and John Mullen, as Thomas Pink, the men’s tailor went on to rebrand as Pink Shirtmaker in November, 2018, under LVMH, who bought out the brothers in 2000, in a bid to revamp the brand as a high-end shirt maker.
Today, Pink Shirtmaker is helmed by CEO Christopher Zanardi- Landi and new creative director John Ray, who joined Pink Shirtmaker in 2017 from fellow high-end British menswear brand, Dunhill. Both were instrumental in the brand’s 2018 rebrand.
Pre-relaunch accounts for Thomas Pink Limited in the year to 31 December, 2018 showed operating losses dropped 20% to US$31.27 million. Revenue also fell to US$16.4 million from US$20.7 million in the prior year.
In the accounts signed off in September, the business said it remained positive and could “face the challenge [of Covid-19] in the best possible way,” according to the Evening Standard report.
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More recently over the summer, in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Pink Shirtmaker shuttered its flagship stores in London’s West End and the city, alongside its Heathrow Airport terminal 2 and 5 stores. Globally, its Madison Avenue New York store remains closed, along with the brand’s e-commerce and social platforms.