Marithé & François Girbaud closes both Belgian stores

Three bankrupted companies

The label’s eight own stores – five in Paris, one in Lyon and two in
Belgium – have been closed with a
possible take-over in mind, but ten franchise stores are still open. After a Parisian commercial court had declared the three companies responsible for the
production and distribution to be bankrupt, store shutdowns were unavoidable.

The denim brand was founded in the seventies and was a pioneer in ‘stone washing’, but
had been struggling since 2008. Its American operations took a beating, leading
to losses and the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (triggering creditor
protection). American business bank Rothschild was asked by the end of 2011 to
look for possible buyers or new partners.

Eventually Indian Fibres & Fabrics International
‘saved’ the brand, but to no avail. CEO
Denis Noharet believes the brand can
re-ignite at the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014, with the support of
founders Marithé Bachellerie and François Girbaud and with the assistance of an
international group. There has been no
confirmation yet about who that specific partner is, even though talks are
still ongoing according to Noharet.

(translated by Gary Peeters)