A maternity-wear chain that joined the London stock market listing boom in 2021 is on the brink of collapse, putting about 100 jobs at risk.
Seraphine, worn by the Princess of Wales during all her three pregnancies, has filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators from Interpath Advisory.
• Seraphine: Kate’s favourite maternity brand struggles to deliver
The brand went public in July 2021 under the ticker “BUMP” but like a succession of companies that floated during the period it struggled to meet investor expectations.
Seraphine was taken private in 2023 by Mayfair Equity Partners, the same private equity firm that had previously backed it before its float, at 30p a share, down from its 295p listing price.
The company blamed an “extraordinary convergence of challenges” for its poor performance after the listing, including a slowdown in spending on clothes during the cost of living crisis, the global supply-chain crisis and “substantial” inflation in online marketing costs.
Seraphine employs about a hundred staff and has only its first shop left, in Kensington, west London, after a recent string of closures. It had seven shops across the UK, France and the US in 2023.
The company’s downfall echoes other high-profile failures from the same IPO wave. The online furniture retailer Made.com floated in July 2021 with a £775 million valuation but fell into administration in 2022 after supply-chain problems mounted. The online fashion retailer In The Style, which listed at 200p a share in March 2021, held a strategic review in December 2022 after its stock collapsed into penny territory.
• Made.com shutters shop after sale talks collapse
The Princess of Wales wore the brand during her three pregnancies
MAX MUMBY/GETTY IMAGES
Many companies have struggled since the 2021 UK listing boom owing to a combination of factors including overvalued initial public offerings, a challenging macroeconomic environment and a perceived decline in the attractiveness of the London Stock Exchange. This has led to underperformance in share prices and a reluctance among some companies to list in London and instead choosing the US.
• Bumpy stock market debut for Seraphine
Earlier this year Seraphine hired Interpath to find new backers in a last-ditch attempt to shore up its finances but the search failed to deliver a rescue deal. Some buyers expressed interest in the brand, according to the Financial Times, which first reported on the development, but no viable investor emerged for the company as a whole.
Seraphine, founded in 2002 by the French entrepreneur Cécile Reinaud, started out almost by accident. After designing a few maternity outfits for pregnant friends, she found herself inundated with requests.
Reinaud opened the Kensington shop in 2002 before expanding into France and the US. She is understood to have earned close to £20 million when Mayfair Equity Partners led a management buyout of the business in 2020.
The London-based brand received huge attention worldwide when Catherine, then the Duchess of Cambridge, wore one of its pieces in the first official pictures of Prince George in 2013. The Jolene fuchsia dress sold out in two hours and she wore Seraphine outfits again in 2015 when pregnant with Charlotte and in 2018 while expecting Louis. Reinaud said she had no idea that the princess would wear her designs.
Other fans of the label have included the musician and TV presenter Myleene Klass, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, actress Anne Hathaway and Catherine’s sister Pippa Middleton.
Since late last year, the business has been led by Jonathon Brown, its chief executive, the former boss of the fashion brand Joules, which collapsed in November 2022. Before that David Williams was its chief executive and oversaw the company’s listing and subsequent take-private deal.
In March Reinaud claimed that the brand had lost its British heritage when its new leadership team and owners unveiled a fresh look and modern approach to maternity fashion. In a LinkedIn post, she accused the company of having lost its way with a rebrand that ditched its “regal purple” for what she described as a “Scandinavian” look.
“My original vision was to create clothes you’d want to wear even if you weren’t pregnant,” she wrote on the social media platform. “That guiding principle seems to have vanished now. Just yesterday, the brand unveiled a new logo that makes it resemble a Scandinavian label. Why abandon our unique British heritage and signature regal purple? Seraphine was once a proud example of British fashion entrepreneurship, recipient of two Queen’s Awards; now, it seems to have lost its recognisable identity.”
A source close to Seraphine said the brand had received feedback that it urgently needed an update and rebrand, which it based on partner guidance, they said.
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