The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Fashion start-up Pangaia is planning to move its headquarters from London to Switzerland in a restructuring that could cost as many as 50 jobs — roughly a third of the company’s workforce.
The changes are intended to streamline operations and improve efficiency that has been lost as the company has grown, Pangaia said in an internal email seen by BoF.
The planned job cuts are the latest in a wave of layoffs to hit the industry as brands grapple with an increasingly challenging economic climate. The news was first reported by The Times.
Once fashion’s hottest start-up, Pangaia has struggled to sustain the commercial momentum generated early on by its pandemic-friendly loungewear.
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The company swung to an operating loss of $41.5 million in 2021 amid slowing sales and rising investment, according to public accounts filed in February. Ambitions to establish the company as an eco-innovation hub selling services to the rest of the industry remain nascent.
Pangaia did not respond to a request for comment. The company told BoF last month that it expects its fashion business to be profitable this year, while in the long-term its innovation services are intended to become the larger part of the business.
After swinging to an operating loss of $41 million in 2021, the buzzy fashion startup has stabilised and remains focused on its ambition to build a materials science business.
After generating $75 million in revenue in 2020 while staying profitable, the company needs to move beyond the pandemic uniform it helped to define in order to sustain its growth. In exclusive interviews with company executives, BoF examines Pangaia’s growth challenges and opportunities in B2B.
Sarah Kent is Chief Sustainability Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. She is based in London and drives BoF's coverage of critical environmental and labour issues.
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