Pangaia, once one of fashion’s hottest start-ups, saw its net loss mount to $50.4 million in 2022, according to public filings.

Sales at the company, whose brightly coloured tracksuits surged in popularity during the pandemic, fell 42 percent year-on-year to $37.1 million, extending a slide from a 2020 peak of $76 million.

Pangaia spun out of influencer-turned-venture capitalist Miroslava Duma’s material innovation incubator Future Tech Labs in 2019, with its explosive early success attracting backing from a slew of high-profile names, including venture funds backed by Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio.

But the company has struggled to sustain momentum or prove out its broader vision of using its brand as a marketing platform to sell climate-friendly material innovations to the rest of the industry.

To be sure, Pangaia’s latest public numbers don’t fully reflect the impact of restructuring efforts over the last 18 months, which the company has previously said put it on track to return to profitability in 2023.

Amongst other measures, it laid off a third of its workforce last May and shuttered its warehouse in the Netherlands in October. Efforts to streamline its focus were already paying off in the second half of 2022 with a marked reduction in losses, according to Pangaia’s public filings.

But the company’s outlook remains uncertain amid a tricky economic environment. Former consultant and Ssense CMO Krishna Nikhil stepped down as the company’s chief executive in October after 18 months in the role. Pangaia has said he remains an advisor to the company and has been replaced by co-founder and chief executive Nathalie Longuet.

“With our ongoing commitment to building our brand while controlling our cost base, we remain confident that Pangaia is poised for success,” the company said in an emailed statement.

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Can Pangaia Be More Than a Loungewear Brand?

The company remains focused on its ambition to leverage its brand to build a material science business.