Beloved Australian fashion label Sass & Bide is set to close 10 stores across the country from October 6.
The brand has been at the forefront of women’s designer fashion for 25 years.
The stores impacted include Bondi, Paddington, Miranda and Chadstone in New South Wales, Rundle Street in South Australia, Doncaster and Emporium in Victoria, Karrinyup in Western Australia and Newmarket in New Zealand.
Only a selected few will remain open – including one in Victoria, one in WA and two in Queensland.
Sass & Bide managing director Paula Mackenzie confirmed the news on Wednesday.
‘We will be offering all available support to them and will offer redeployment, where possible, for our store team members,’ she told Rag Trader.
‘These decisions were not taken lightly but they are necessary to ensure the business is repositioned for growth and is sustainable into the future.’
The brand will also reduce support office roles, though an exact number hasn’t been revealed.
From October 6, 10 Sass & Bide stores across Australia and New Zealand will close. The Aussie brand’s managing director Paula Mackenzie confirmed the unexpected news
The brand has been at the forefront of women’s designer fashion for 25 years (pictured 2013)
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sass & Bide for comment.
Best friends Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton launched the brand in 1999. In September 2013 the two co-founders handed the business over to Myer who bought it for $72.3 million.
At the time Ms Middleton told Vogue Australia it was a joint decision to leave the brand that they built up from a London market stall.
‘It was an instinctive decision that we both felt and we’ve always based our larger decisions in the business on intuition,’ she said.
Ms Clarke added: ‘We came together, we’re leaving together. We just felt that was the perfect cycle.’
Best friends Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton launched the brand in 1999. In September 2013 the two co-founders handed the business over to Myer who bought it for $72.3 million
The Australian franchise of fashion label Dion Lee has also collapsed into liquidation after a major partnership deal collapsed (pop star Taylor Swift centre, wore a Dion Lee Crochet Corset Top at the SuperBowl in February)
It follows the shock news that celebrity-beloved brand Dion Lee owes $35million to creditors after collapsing into liquidation.
The high-end line was a favourite of global superstars, including Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa, and entered voluntary administration in May after a partnership deal collapsed.
On Thursday night creditors opted to put the business into liquidation after receiving no ‘acceptable’ offers to buy out the brand.
Stores will shut in late September and early October.
Antony Resnick, a liquidator from insolvency firm dVT Group, was appointed as the administrator for the brand.
‘The second creditors meeting heard that while there had been interest from potential buyers of the brand no acceptable offer was as yet forthcoming,’ the liquidators said in a statement to news.com.au.
Major clothing label Cue Clothing Co, reportedly ended their partnership agreement with Dion Lee and also cancelled their investment in the business according to The Australian.
Cue Clothing Co first became a partner with Dion Lee more than a decade ago and the company was also a shareholder in the business.