Burberry and Chanel are among a who’s who of the luxury world owed money by glitzy department store owner Saks Global as it filed for bankruptcy protection.
The British fashion house is joined on the list of creditors by everyone from the owners of Gucci, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace to LVMH and Christian Louboutin.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Burberry, which is owed £7million by Saks Global
Bankruptcy documents reveal Saks Global – the parent of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman – owed a total of £2.5billion when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week.
It marked one of the largest retail collapses of recent years and plunged the future of an outfit that dates back to 1867 and built a reputation dressing Hollywood stars and society figures into doubt.
The once-glitzy flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York became a tourist attraction in its own right and long-loved by the rich and famous, from Gary Cooper to Grace Kelly.
But it is struggling under a mountain of debt and competition from online as well as from luxury brands opening their own stores.
As its troubles mounted, and it struggled to pay suppliers, they began withholding stock, driving shoppers to rivals such as Bloomingdale’s.
‘Rich people are still buying,’ Morningstar analyst David Swartz said last month, ‘just not so much at Saks.’
French fashion house Chanel is listed as the largest unsecured creditor with around £100million of unpaid bills followed by Gucci owner Kering at £45million.
Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace owner Capri Holdings is owed £25million, Richemont, whose brands include Cartier, Dunhill and Montblanc is owed £22.5million and LVMH, the luxury giant behind Dior, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Tiffany as well as Moet & Chandon and Glenmorange, has a claim of close to £20million.
Christian Louboutin, meanwhile, is owed £16million and Burberry £7million.
Charlize Theron features in adverts for Dior, which is owned by LVMH, the luxury goods giant owed close to £20million
Saks Global continues to trade and has appointed Geoffroy van Raemdonck, the boss of Neiman Marcus, its chief executive to lead it through the process – raising hopes that creditors could be paid.
Gary Wassner, chief executive of financing company Hilldun Corp, said the prospects for getting repaid in the coming months depend on whether Saks Global becomes profitable after emerging from bankruptcy.
‘The more they make, the more they pay to the unsecured creditors,’ Wassner told Bloomberg. ‘I believe the new management will take steps to reduce operating costs and increase their margins and turn this into a profitable situation.’
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