Across the year 2021, 10 consumer brand shutdown and distress events are logged here, each one dated, and 10 of them link to their source. Apparel is the largest category at 40.0% of the total. Distress entries make up 80.0% and shutdown entries make up 20.0%. Totals reflect how much was found.
- Every entry is listed below by month, with its source linked.
- The yearly total measures how much was found for 2021.
How to read
these counts.
Read each yearly figure on this page as events logged: the consumer brand shutdown and distress events that have been found and dated for that year. Sourcing got much better over 2020 to 2026, so a larger total in a later year mostly reflects how much more was found. The page never sets one year's total against another's for that reason.
There is no outside census of consumer brand shutdown and distress events to measure coverage against, so the size of that effect is unmeasured here. On the acquisition side, where outside counts do exist, the share of R.L. Hulett's pet count held in these ledgers runs from 1% in 2025 to 6% in 2023.
Several kinds of entry are listed here, and the type column names each one. A shutdown is a brand that stopped trading. Distress covers bankruptcy filings and assignments for the benefit of creditors. A distressed sale is a brand bought out of distress, often still trading under its new owner, so it also appears on the exits tracker. A curated listing is a brand placed here by editorial judgment, such as a rescue financing read as a distress signal.
What holds up across years is the mix inside each year: which categories, what sizes, and who was involved. A month with no table means nothing was found for that month. Each of the 10 is logged once.
Nothing is logged for February, March, September, October, November 2021. That is a gap in what was found.
Everything logged in
2021, by month.
The monthly tables below list all 10 events logged for 2021.
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sean JohnDec 2, 2021 · Sean Combs' apparel brand filed for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of New York. | Apparel | Distress | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sequential Brands GroupAug 31, 2021 · The brand holding company behind Jessica Simpson, Joe's Jeans, And1, Avia, Ellen Tracy and Caribbean Joe filed Chapter 11 with $150M of DIP financing and a court-supervised auction; 2020 revenue fell almost 12% on a $45.1M operating loss. | Apparel | Distress | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
GBG USA (Global Brands Group US arm)Jul 30, 2021 · The apparel licensor's US arm filed Chapter 11 after sales fell 44% in the year to March 2021, planning a 50-day auction of Aquatalia, Ely & Walker, Airband and other owned brands. | Apparel | Distress | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alex and AniJun 9, 2021 · The wire charm bracelet brand filed for Chapter 11 hoping for a sale, years after its bangle boom faded. | Other | Distress | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Paper SourceMay 11, 2021 · The stationery and gift brand was bought out of Chapter 11 by the Barnes & Noble owner. | Home | Distress | Elliott Investment Management (Barnes & Noble owner) | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Collected Group (Joie, Equipment, Current/Elliott)Apr 5, 2021 · The owner of three contemporary fashion brands filed for Chapter 11 after operational problems and a change of private equity ownership. | Apparel | Distress | retaildive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
L'Occitane (U.S. arm)Jan 26, 2021 · The U.S. subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 with declining store sales and expensive leases; the parent was not included. | Beauty | Distress | retaildive.com | |
Becca CosmeticsQ1 2021 · Estee Lauder said it would wind the brand down in September 2021 under its Post-COVID Business Acceleration Program; it had bought Becca in 2016 for a reported $230M. | Beauty | Shutdown | intrepidib.com | |
L'Occitane U.S.Q1 2021 · The U.S. arm filed for Chapter 11 in January 2021, immediately closing 23 of its 166 U.S. boutiques; the parent and non-U.S. operations were not included. | Beauty | Distress | intrepidib.com | |
Rodin Olio LussoQ1 2021 · Estee Lauder also closed the prestige plant-oil skin care brand it acquired in 2014. | Beauty | Shutdown | intrepidib.com |
Most of these brands did not fail at the top line. They ran out of margin, then out of cash. If any of that is starting to rhyme with your own numbers, the earlier we look, the more options you still have.
What 2021 was made of,
by category.
10 events logged in 2021, split by category. The counts below add up to that total.
| Category | Total items logged | Share of ledger | With a disclosed amount | Largest disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apparel | 4 | 40.0% | 2 | $450M |
Beauty | 4 | 40.0% | 0 | Not disclosed |
Home | 1 | 10.0% | 0 | Not disclosed |
Other | 1 | 10.0% | 0 | Not disclosed |
Closures, and brands
that kept trading.
| Type | Events logged | Share |
|---|---|---|
Distress | 8 | 80.0% |
Shutdown | 2 | 20.0% |
The other years,
and the full ledger.
Is your brand healthy, or just still moving?
I've run buy-side diligence on distressed consumer brands and the operator turnaround on brands worth saving. If you want an honest read on your margin, your payback, and the single points of failure a lender would find, I can give you the buy-side version before the market runs it on you. The form takes two minutes.
Start a conversation More about Taylor →