Bankruptcy looms for fashion brand Colours & Sons
The German fashion industry is grappling with multiple market challenges, as evidenced by the recent insolvency filing of Colours & Sons and similar brands. These challenges stem from a complex economic environment, characterised by supply chain disruptions, rising costs, shifting consumer preferences, and geopolitical factors.
One of the key challenges facing the industry is the rise in costs and supply chain volatility. Tariff barriers, such as US tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts, like the Russia-Ukraine war, have driven up raw material and production costs while destabilising traditional supply chains. This has forced brands to rethink their sourcing strategies, with some opting for near-shoring or diversifying production locations to mitigate tariffs and delays.
Consumers in Germany are also demanding more affordability, durability, sustainability, and comfort in clothing. There is a growing preference for value-driven fashion that emphasises timeless design and eco-friendly production. Comfort and wellness play a central role, with a strong demand especially from older demographics for natural, functional fibres and casual styles that offer comfort and stress relief.
The broader economic context includes a regional recession scenario for the EU, with sluggish GDP growth, restrained consumer spending, and inflation. Consumers remain cautious, impacting overall demand and causing volatility in retail spending patterns, including the decline of brick-and-mortar stores and growth of e-commerce.
Fluctuating raw material prices, particularly for key textile inputs like cotton, polyester, and other fibres, also make it difficult for brands to maintain profitability, especially those positioned in the mid to lower price segments.
The loss of key markets such as Russia and challenges in the US have forced German and European brands to seek growth in alternative regions like the Middle East and Latin America, adding complexity to market strategies.
Digital transformation pressures also loom large. The increasing demand for seamless online and offline shopping, frictionless payments, and personalised recommendations requires additional investments and innovation, further straining smaller or less agile brands.
These pressures have contributed to financial difficulties for brands like Colours & Sons, signalling a highly challenging environment where smaller and mid-tier players struggle to adapt rapidly to external shocks, changing consumer behaviour, and escalating costs in the German fashion sector.
Despite being fundamentally solidly financed and established in the market, Colours & Sons is not expecting sustainable sales increases due to current industry conditions. The spring/summer collection 2026 for Colours & Sons has been cancelled as part of the reorganization.
Business operations for Colours & Sons are continuing under the interim insolvency administrator, Martin Georg Kirchner. The Mönchengladbach-based lifestyle label must reposition itself to survive in an increasingly challenging market environment.
The insolvency of Colours & Sons is part of a difficult phase for the German fashion industry. Industry observers point to changed consumer habits, rising costs, and pressure from online trading as possible causes for the economic situation of many textile companies. Well-known retailers such as Otto, Breuninger, and Peek & Cloppenburg are among the German traders that sell Colours & Sons products.
Colours & Sons sells its products internationally in around 900 sales outlets, including around 450 in Germany. The spring/summer and autumn/winter 2025 collections for Colours & Sons will be delivered as planned. The success of the planned restructuring for Colours & Sons will be determined in the coming months.
This news was reported by Textilwirtschaft and t-online. The insolvency filing was reportedly made due to difficult market conditions. Notably, the Hamburg-based model label About You by Tarek Müller was bought by the online retailer Zalando at the beginning of 2025. The Hamburg-based premium label Closed and the stock-listed fashion group Esprit have also filed for insolvency recently. A strategic realignment is necessary for Colours & Sons due to the current industry situation.
[1] https://www.textilwirtschaft.de/news/textilindustrie/colours-sons-insolvenzantrag-gestellt-15796238 [2] https://www.t-online.de/wirtschaft/ausland/artikel/Colours-Sons-Insolvenzantrag-gestellt-Insolvenzverwalter-bestimmt-10091306.html [3] https://www.fashionunited.de/news/deutschland/colours-sons-insolvenzantrag-gestellt-und-neuen-insolvenzverwalter-bestimmt-10091289 [4] https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/retailing/colours-sons-insolvenzantrag-gestellt-ein-schlag-fuer-den-deutschen-textil-markt-10671738 [5] https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article207288858/Colours-Sons-Insolvenzantrag-gestellt-Insolvenzverwalter-bestimmt.html
- In the German fashion industry, rising costs and supply chain disruptions have made it challenging for brands to maintain profitability, especially in the mid to lower price segments, as illustrated by the insolvency of Colours & Sons and similar brands.
- The financial difficulties faced by brands such as Colours & Sons can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the complex economic environment, changed consumer habits, pressure from online trading, and fluctuating raw material prices.
