The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the ready-to-wear sector to its knees. The Naf Naf brand is no exception. Faced with “rent payment arrears” from the time of the pandemic, she requested her placement in receivership at the start of the week, a spokesperson said on Thursday, confirming information from the specialized site Fashion Network.
Naf Naf had not been eligible for aid during the health crisis, said the spokesperson. The French brand launched in 1973 by two brothers employs 660 people in France, owns 131 stores and has a 2022 turnover of 141 million euros, “growing”, according to the spokesperson.
A “continuation plan”
A hearing should be held “early next week” with the Bobigny commercial court (Seine-Saint-Denis) and the company should “file a continuation plan”, according to a source familiar with the matter. The company had begun to restructure and cut 27 positions in June 2023 as part of a PSE, the spokesperson said.
It had already been placed in receivership in May 2020 and taken over by the Franco-Turkish group SY, which is still its shareholder, and which had already acquired the Sinéquanone brand in 2019. The ready-to-wear sector in France has been shaken for several months by a violent crisis.
An explosive economic cocktail
Camaïeu, Kookaï, Burton of London, Gap France, André, San Marina, Kaporal, Don’t Call Me Jennyfer, Du Pareil au Même and Sergent Major… These brands well known to French consumers suffered from an explosive cocktail: pandemic, inflation, rising costs of energy, raw materials, rents and wages and competition for second-hand goods.
It was fatal for certain brands, which were liquidated, such as Camaïeu in September 2022, whose dismissal of 2,100 employees made a strong impression. Others are in receivership, such as Kookaï or Burton of London. Without reaching that point, still others are cutting back, cutting staff and closing stores, such as Princesse Tam Tam, Comptoir des Cotonniers (Fast Retailing group) or Pimkie.