Chinese clothing giant Shein is buying the Missguided brand name from Frasers Group little more than a year after the British firm rescued the business.
Frasers announced that it was selling Missguided's intellectual property and trademarks to Shein.
But it is retaining the real estate as well as Missguided's employees which “have now been integrated into Frasers' fashion division”. Frasers bought Missguided out of administration last June for £20m.
Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers Group and the son-in-law of the firm's founder Mike Ashley, said the company wanted to rationalise its business to focus on fewer brands. The company did not reveal how much it sold the brand for.
Frasers owns a huge and diverse number of retailers such as Sports Direct, Flannels, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and sofa.com.
It has also built stakes in the likes of Boohoo, where Frasers Group is the largest shareholder, as well as Asos. Frasers has other fast-fashion, online brands such as I Saw It First and Missy Empire. Mr Murray said that the company had been in discussions with Shein about potential collaboration across both companies.
Missguided was founded in 2009 by Cheshire-born Nitin Passi and grew to become one of the UK's biggest online fashion businesses, focusing on younger women. On its site, Missguided declares that “babe power is at the heart of our brand” and “we believe in championing young talent and real women”.
After suffering from supply chain issues, rising freight costs and increasing competition from rivals, Missguided fell into administration in May 2022 before being bought
Commenting on the deal, Shein executive chairman Donald Tang, said: “Shein aims to reignite the Missguided brand, capitalising on its unique brand personality, and fuelling its global growth through Shein's on-demand production model, unparalleled e-commerce expertise and global reach.”
— CutC by bbc.com
