Charlotte Olympia Files For Bankruptcy, Will Shutter All U.S. Stores

Charlotte Olympia Dellal

UNITED STATES — It was just announced that British luxury footwear and accessories label Charlotte Olympia has filed for bankruptcy in Delaware.

Charlotte Olympia Dellal launched her whimsical luxury footwear and accessories brand in 2007, after graduating from the London College of Fashion‘s Cordwainer‘s footwear design course.

A decade later, Charlotte Olympia is closing up shop in the United States.

Pinktoe Tarantula Ltd. and affiliates Desert Blonde Tarantula Ltd. and Red Pump Tarantula Ltd. — doing business as Charlotte Olympia — filed a Chapter 11 petition on Saturday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

As first reported by Footwear News, “The debtors — an entity of U.K.-based Charlotte Olympia Holdings Ltd. — estimated the value of their assets at $3.26 million, dwarfed by liabilities of $19.2 million.”

“In a declaration filed with the courts, chief restructuring officer William Kaye said Charlotte Olympia’s U.S. retail outposts — consisting of four locations in New York, California, and Nevada — had historically been unprofitable. (Previously, the company operated a store in Bal Harbour, Florida, which was closed in 2017.)”

“The brick-and-mortar retail environment has been experiencing, and continues to experience, unprecedented disruption due to a confluence of factors, including the proliferation of online retailers, changing consumer tastes and demographics, and increased competition,” Kaye stated in the filing. “Despite selling the iconic Charlotte Olympia brand and taking steps to reduce their expenditures, the debtors’ operations are not profitable due to the widespread disruption in the retail industry.”

“Through bankruptcy, Pinktoe Tarantula, Desert Blonde Tarantula and Red Rump Tarantula plan to liquidate inventory and close all stores.”

“The companies have secured $410,000 in debtor-in-possession financing from Three14 Ltd. to support their operations and liquidation costs.”

“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,” said Bonnie Takhar, president of Charlotte Olympia, when reached for comment.

Photos Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Source: Footwear News