Charlotte Olympia files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US

London - Charlotte Olympia, the luxury footwear and accessories label from Charlotte Dellal has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. The London-based label's three US subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, as it prepares to close all of its stores in the US, according to media reports.

Pinktoe Tarantula Ltd and its affiliates Desert Blonde Tarantula Ltd and Red Pump Tarantula Ltd, which had been operating Charlotte Olympia's US business, filed a petition on Saturday in the US bankruptcy court due to "unprecedented" changes to the brick and mortar retail environment. The debtors estimated the value of their assets at 3.26 million US dollars, which was overshadowed by their 20 million US dollars in unsecured debts, according to Footwear News.

Charlotte Olympia to close down US operations

According to court documents, Charlotte Olympia's retail stores, located in New York, California and Nevada, had a history of being unprofitable. "The brick-and-mortar retail environment has been experiencing, and continues to experience, unprecedented disruption due to a confluence of factors, including the proliferation of online retailers, changing consumer tastes and demographics, and increased competition," stated chief restructuring officer William Kaye in the filing.

"Despite selling the iconic Charlotte Olympia brand and taking steps to reduce their expenditures, the debtors’ operations are not profitable due to the widespread disruption in the retail industry." Charlotte Olympia aims to liquidate all of its US inventory and close all of its US closes as soon as possible. The US subsidiaries have secured 410,000 US dollars in debtor-in-possession financing from Three14 Ltd., a UK subsidiary of Charlotte Olympia Holdings Ltd led by Dellal and Takhar.

Although Charlotte Olympia will be shutting down its US stores, it aims to maintain a US presence through its wholesale business. "The closing of our stores in the US is to effectuate a restructuring of our business post-partnership. This is due to the unprecedented disruption in the retail market," said a spokesperson for Charlotte Olympia to Footwear News.

Dellal trained at Giambattista Valli before going on to launch her own eponymous London based brand in January 2008. She opened her first store in London in 2010, followed by her debut US store in New York in 2012.

FashionUnited has contacted the brand for additional commentary.

Photos: Charlotte Olympia SS17, Catwalkpictures