Japanese clothing firm Renown collapses

Heritage Japanese clothing firm Renown has filed for bankruptcy. The company is best known for its D’Urban and Arnold Palmer brands, although business has been in decline since its heyday in the 1990s due to increasing competition and the rise of e-commerce. It was once one of the largest apparel manufacturers on the globe.

According to a report in Nikkei, the 118-year-old firm – now under the majority ownership of Chinese textiles and clothing firm Shandong Ruyi – has become Japan’s first such victim of the Covid-19 pandemic, cauterized from its revenue stream by the closures of department stores and regular retailers.

The bankruptcy was approved on Friday, the same day it was filed with the Tokyo District Court, listing ¥13.9 billion (US$130 million) in liabilities. Renown had previously posted a net loss of ¥6.7 billion ($62.55 million) in the last financial year. Shares in the firm are now likely to be delisted from the first section of Tokyo’s stock exchange.

Analysts expect the clothing firm Renown to take about a month before the company identifies a turnaround partner to enable it to resume business.