Industry News – April 11th, 2016

Curated fashion industry news links for Monday, April 11th, 2016…

TEEN APPAREL RETAILER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY – FootwearNews
“In a not unexpected move, beleaguered teen apparel retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection. In a court filing on Thursday in Delaware, the Anaheim, California-based retailer listed assets in the range of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. It listed Simon Property Group and Nike Inc. among its top creditors. The chain named RCS Real Estate Advisors, New York, as its real estate advisor. Under a debt-for-equity restructuring agreement, PacSun plans to be taken private by Golden Gate Capital. The agreement calls for the retailer to convert more than 65% of its debt into equity and receive at least $20 million in new capital from Golden Gate.”

FOUNDER OF AMERICAN APPAREL PLANS NEW VENTURE – RetailingToday
“Dov Charney, the founder and ousted CEO of American Apparel, is scouting sites for a factory in South Central Los Angeles as he plots his comeback, Bloomberg reported. Charney’s new venture reportedly will sell USA-made basics, starting off as a wholesale business and then expanding into a consumer online brand.”

NIKELAB’S ESSENTIALS COLLECTION IS THE PERFECT BLEND OF FORM AND FUNCTION – Hypebeast
“We’ve become accustomed to a high level of premium sportswear attires and footwear releases from NikeLab over the years, and its latest Essentials collection is no exception. Highlighted by a selection of light outerwear pieces, the label also offers up sleek Tech Fleece garments featuring minimal branding and taped seams in trendy olive and black colorways. Performance tees, long-sleeve shirts and shorts make up the rest of the range. ”

KENDALL JENNER, GIGI HADID, AND MORE ARE BEST DRESSED AT 2016 MOVIE AWARDS – MTV
“Once awards season ends, we rarely get to see a bunch of our faves in the same place. Thankfully, the 2016 MTV Movie Awards exist, bringing everyone we love and care about onto the same red carpet. Even better, it seems like everyone coordinated beforehand and decided a black color palette was the way to go — a uniform we always appreciate (watch as these ladies slay the red carpet in the clip above).”

WE WENT TO GAP TO SEE HOW IT’S TRYING TO FIX THE BIGGEST ISSUES WITH THE BRAND – Business Insider
“Is Gap’s comeback happening yet? The retailer, which has been promising a turnaround for a while, has consistently pinned Spring 2016 as the moment that we would see major changes. Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck had reinforced on multiple earnings calls that the company was working on a comeback. Sales have been plummeting; for fiscal 2015, comparable sales for the store had sunk 6%, compared to -5% for fiscal 2014. But now, it’s Spring 2016, the moment the company had been waiting for, and sales still aren’t up. For March, comparable sales were down 3%. What’s taking the company so long to dig itself out of this hole?”

WOMEN’S CLOTHING RETAILER J.JILL TAPS BANKS FOR IPO – FashionMag
“Women’s apparel and footwear retailer J.Jill Group has tapped Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Group LLC as underwriters for a possible initial public offering, a source familiar with the matter said. Private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners LP, which bought the retailer last year, could raise about $150 million in an offering that could value J.Jill at around $750 million to $800 million, the source said.”