Italian Retailer Modes Placed Under Judicial Liquidation
MILAN — Italian retailer Modes has been placed under judicial liquidation after failing to carry forward with its business restructuring plan.
As reported, the company had filed for a “compositions with creditors” procedures with a Milan court in May 2024 against slowing sales and a deteriorated business environment.
In the final verdict seen by WWD, the court deemed Modes no longer eligible for the court-mediated continuity procedure and ruled in favor of a judicial liquidation, originally filed by creditor FGF Industry — the Italian outerwear player parent to Blauer and Ten C — and later supported by Tod’s, in addition to the court.
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In its ruling the court highlighted Modes’ worsened business performance and most recent financials, a lack of adequate governance, as well as alleged irregularities in the retailer’s 2023 financial statements.
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“The prerequisites and conditions for the opening of the judicial liquidation are met in light of the debtor’s severe state of financial distress and the apparent absence of adequate means to address it,” the ruling reads.
According to estimates compiled by the court-appointed commissioner based on recent sale performances, Modes’ revenues in 2025 would amount to 10.8 million euros, far below the 17.81 million euros forecast in the business restructuring plan the retailer has submitted.
In the March 2024 to January 2025 period, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization stood at negative 5.3 million euros, compared with a forecast of negative 2.7 million euros, suggesting a growing financial deficit.
The development dims the hopes of Aldo Carpinteri, president of Modes, for a revival of the retailer.
Last March he had told WWD that he was confident that retooling the business as a pure, traditional retailer would help drag it out of the quagmire.
Talking to WWD on Thursday, Carpinteri declined to comment on the ruling but said that he is committed to cooperate with the court.
His primary goal moving forward is to safeguard the Modes brand and he didn’t rule out setting up a new company and continue his career in retail.
“I’m committed to keep doing what we are capable of doing in retail, with my team, and better than others,” he offered.
A separate entity, Modes Switzerland, the retailer’s operational arm in the country, is still in business and the existing boutique in Saint Moritz will remain open.
At the peak of its business success, Modes logged yearly sales of 150 million euros and operated 19 stores globally including units in Paris, Forte dei Marmi and Cagliari, Italy, and Gstaad, Switzerland.
The Italian company had tapped industry veteran Simon Whitehouse as its chief executive officer in March 2024. Whitehouse left the company last March.
Modes was established in 1971 by Carpinteri as a multibrand boutique in Trapani, on Italy’s Sicily Island.
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