As if it hasn't been a tough enough week for #girlbosses, fashion-favourite brand Nasty Gal (its founder, Sophia Amoruso, coined the popular hashtag) is filing for bankruptcy, WWD reports.
The retailer, which just celebrated a decade in the business, petitioned a court in California with the motion on Wednesday. According to WWD, the decision reportedly came out of an October 24 meeting, where the company's board voted to seek Chapter 11 protection. Amoruso, the de facto face of the brand, will be resigning from her position as executive chairman, according to Recode — a role she assumed after stepping down as CEO in early 2015.
"Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring will enable us to address our immediate liquidity issues, restructure our balance sheet, and correct structural issues including reducing our high occupancy costs and restoring compliance with our debt covenants," Sheree Waterson, Nasty Gal's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We expect to maintain our high level of customer service and emerge stronger and even better able to deliver the product and experience that our customers expect, and that we take pride in bringing to market."
Despite the problems plaguing the company she started in 2006, Amoruso has had a pretty big year. She released her second book; her life story is being turned into a Netflix series, and she was named on Forbes' richest self-made women list this summer.
Nasty Gal did, however, experience an unexpected boost a few weeks ago from an otherwise unfortunate situation: When President-elect Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a "nasty woman" during the third and final debate, the attempted jab was quickly reclaimed by the Democrat's supporters online — and Nasty Gal seized the opportunity.
Still, as a business, it hasn't fared as well. In February, Nasty Gal laid off 10% of its staff, per Bloomberg, following months of reports of a work culture gone sour and a series of lawsuits from former employees accusing the retailer of discrimination. A handful of other public blunders and call-outs made many question the fast-growing (and industry-revered) brand.
In its official statement, Nasty Gal assured that its customers' shopping experience wouldn't be affected in light of this petition. There's still no word how this will impact the brand's two brick-and-mortar locations in California.
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