Following months of tension with majority shareholder and distributor Tomorrow Ltd, Coperni SAS has secured protection from the Paris Court (Tribunal de Paris), France’s equivalent of Chapter 11. The court has opened judicial reorganization proceedings, so Coperni can continue operations, according to a statement from brand president and co-founder Arnaud Vaillant.
“This decision follows several months during which the Tomorrow group, Coperni’s exclusive distributor and majority shareholder, ceased paying the sums owed to the brand,” Vaillant said in a statement. “Deprived of these resources, Coperni was put under significant financial strain, along with its employees, even as the brand continues its international development.”
The news comes following the sale of Tomorrow Ltd to Progetto 11 in March. Progetto 11 is the holding company for Italian e-commerce platform The Level Group, which has worked with brands including Palm Angels, Herno, and Off-White. Former CEO and founder of Tomorrow, Stefano Martinetto, stepped down after the completion of the sale.
Following the purchase, it is understood that Coperni founders and minority shareholders, Vaillant and creative director Sébastien Meyer, have been trying to buy the label back from Progetto 11. But amid complex negotiations with the parent company, which receives and directs Coperni’s wholesale revenue as its distributor, the Paris court approval — secured on June 11 — allows Coperni “to keep creating, to protect its teams, and to build its future”, says Vaillant.
“Our view is based on what we found when we arrived [at the] end of March: a business already in the middle of a broader dispute about ownership and governance, lacking funding also resulting in the cancellation of the last fashion show, and founders seeking to reacquire control,” Progetto 11 said in a statement. “We will cooperate with the French court-appointed officers throughout the observation period, and we remain willing to support the development of the brand and business, including through new funding.”
Progetto 11 also clarifies that Coperni is controlled by two entities, Coperni UK Limited, which holds the license with Tomorrow, and Coperni SAS, a French operating company that oversees day-to-day operations. Progetto 11 says that the Paris Court protection applies to Coperni SAS only. Judicial reorganization doesn’t guarantee a company’s future; rather, it means that the company is covered by the French wage guarantee scheme and can temporarily cease paying taxes and duties, relieving the ongoing financial strain.
Across Tomorrow’s portfolio, the company provided funds or reimbursed costs for producing fashion shows, developing collections, and paying suppliers. But as Tomorrow’s wholesale business faltered against a challenging industry backdrop, Coperni claims this cashflow dried up.
In fiscal 2024, Tomorrow’s turnover fell 34% to £8.4 million, while gross profit margin decreased from 76% in 2023 to 41% year-on-year. And the company’s operating losses were mounting, up 28% year-on-year to £7.5 million. (Tomorrow had not submitted its fiscal 2025 earnings to Companies House by the time of the sale.)
Signs of trouble emerged earlier this year when Coperni abruptly cancelled its Fall/Winter 2026 Paris Fashion Week show. Then, in March, Martine Rose released a statement that she could not produce her upcoming collection for reasons outside her control.
“Time — and a new financial injection — will only tell if the brand still has the appeal of the past years,” says Mimma Viglezio, a former non-executive board member of Tomorrow. “The boys need to come up with a new hit product, like their famous [Swipe] bag. I think they can.”
The outcome of the Paris court order will be gradual, but ultimately, if Coperni and the Progetto 11 founders can can complete negotiations without ceasing operations at the former, under the watchful eye of a French court administrator, it may help Vaillant and Meyer buy back the brand they started together in 2019.
More from this author:
SPF Is Finally Getting Its Time in the Sun. What’s Next?
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。