Sad news for the brand well-loved by vintage vixens everywhere.
Fashion-forward e-tailer Nasty Gal is reportedly filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The clothing business, which grew from a grassroots eBay operation founded by Sophia Amoruso in 2006, petitioned a court in California on Wednesday with the motion to file Chapter 11 protection, reports WWD. If granted, the motion will basically give the business an opportunity to regroup it’s financial position and give the debtor a fresh start.
32-year-old Amoruso is famous for not only founding the company, but creating the #GIRLBOSS movement (the title of her first book) and amassing a net worth of $280 million in just ten years of trade. She was recently named by Forbes as ‘Fashion’s New Phenom’, and the The New York Times has previously dubbed her ‘the Cinderella of tech’.
Amoruso stepped down as CEO of her company in 2015 and was replaced by Sheree Waterson. Amoruso stayed on as Nasty Gal’s executive chairman but it is reported that she is now resigning from that post also.
“Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring will enable us to address our immediate liquidity issues, restructure our balance sheet and correct structural issues including reducing our high occupancy costs and restoring compliance with our debt covenants,” said Waterson in a press release to Fortune.
The retail company has been through a difficult few years. Job cuts were made this year and last, and the company has also been sued by former employees claiming discrimination.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJgwkJPgn5I/?taken-by=sophiaamoruso&hl=en
In its official statement, Nasty Gal assured that its customers’ shopping experience wouldn’t be affected in light of this petition. “We expect to maintain our high level of customer service and emerge stronger and even better able to deliver the product and experience that our customers expect and that we take pride in bringing to market.”
There’s no word yet as to what will happen to the brand’s two physical retail locations.
Despite setbacks to her business and significant changes to her personal life – she divorced from her musician husband Joel Jarek DeGraff in August this year – Amoruso continues to stride forward like the #GIRLBOSS she is.
Her New York Times bestseller business guide #GIRLBOSS is being made into a Netflix series, and her second book, Nasty Galaxy, a coffee-table sized tome, based on the Nasty Gal blog was released in October.
