Indian company 'rescues' Girbaud

French fashion label Marithé & François Girbaud has found an investor. The company that was forced to apply for deferment of payment last week and was placed under supervision of the court is being rescued by Indian firm Fibres & Fabrics

International (FFI). The extent of Girbaud's financial difficulties are unknown, but according to daily paper Le Figaro, the company is losing millions of euros. FFI is acquiring the brand's production and distribution activities under license. Founders Marithé Bachellerie, François Girbaud and their son Olivier Bachellerie will remain owners and maintain creative control of the company. Girbaud has been looking for investors since November last year, a move that would have seemed 'inconceivable' in the forty years prior.

Marithé and François Girbaud established their eponymous brand in 1972. The label was a huge success in the eighties and nineties. At the time, Girbaud was a very popular denim label and a pioneer in the stone washing technique. Since 2008, the company has suffered as a result of the economic downturn. Ever since, its popularity has waned, particularly in the US. According to Le Figaro, Girbaud also waited too long to jump on the web shop bandwagon. The brand has around 110 stores, 50 corners and approximately 2000 points of sale worldwide. Last year it sealed a distribution agreement with a partner in China, of which much is expected. Under terms of the agreement, thirty new stores will open in China in three years' time. New shops are also expected to open in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands.

Girbaud's production and distribution were previously outsourced to production locations in Italy and France. FFI has revealed that it will continue to employ a number of production locations in Italy and the creative team in Florence, which employs fifteen people. This way Girbaud can continue to use its 'made in Italy' label. FFI, which is based in Bangalore and is run by Anupam Kothari, produces approximately 10 million pairs of jeans per year. The company employs 10,000 people.