The legendary New York-based fashion brand Diane von Furstenberg joins the pileup of fashion houses struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The brand is closing 18 out of 19 stores, while more than 75 percent of the staff has been let go.
The only store left is the flagship location in New York City’s Meatpacking District in a building the designer owns, after reducing from 32 to 19 stores in the past couple of years. The brand is shifting to almost only e-commerce in the US and Europe, while wholesaling in China.
After multiple rounds of restructuring and years of declining sales, the company has reduced a staff of 400 by 75 per cent, over Zoom in May, followed by layoffs of most of executive team this month, Business of Fashion reports.
Squeezed by fast fashion and the decline of department stores, the brand has been struggling for years now, with coronavirus pandemic was the final blow.
Designer’s granddaughter, Talita von Furstenberg, 21, launched her own line for the label, called TVF for DVF, In April of 2019. Aimed toward millennial and gen Z shoppers, Talita’s designs have a lower price point, with the first collection all priced under $300. She has teased on Instagram that her next collection will debut next month.
