Mulberry is resizing and restructuring at pace.
One month after revealing plans to lay off 25% of its staff, the company has confirmed it will no longer offer ready-to-wear or footwear and will instead focus on its core leather goods category.
Last month, the brand had said that recovery from COVID-19 store closures would be “gradual” due to social distancing measures, a slowdown in footfall and lack of international tourism, and that it needed to act swiftly to manage its operations and cost base.
On Friday, Mulberry confirmed it was shelving the RTW and footwear collections, which had been produced under license by Onward Luxury Group since 2015, as part of its push to become a 360-degree lifestyle brand.
Mulberry’s shares on the London Stock Exchange closed down 0.6% at 1.80 pounds at the close of trading on Friday.
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“We have made the decision with our partner OLG not to renew our ready-to-wear and footwear licenses in order to focus on our core product category of leather goods, which make up around 90% of our turnover,” a Mulberry spokesperson said.
The person added that the fall/winter 2020 collection of RTW and accessories, which is in stores now, will be the last one it sells under license, although the brand “will continue to develop and invest in our other lifestyle categories across soft accessories, eyewear and jewelry, alongside leather goods.”
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com. To read the full story, please go to WWD.com.
