Criminal axes wholesale after House of Fraser buyout
- Published: 28 November 2007 16:04
- Author: Laura Weir
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- Last Updated: 28 November 2007 16:33
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The wholesale arm of Criminal has been axed after House of Fraser bought the exclusive license to the streetwear brand.
Criminal shut its London head office today resulting in the redundancy of around 20 employees.
House of Fraser today confirmed it had signed an exclusive licence agreement with Criminal Clothing to design, manufacture in house and distribute the brand in its stores as predicted by Drapers magazine last week.
The four Criminal stores will also close in the new year.
House of Fraser chief executive John King said "Criminal offers us the ability to broaden our brand range targeted at the youth market with a more urban and street offering than traditionally has been seen in our stores. This is part of our strategy for House of Fraser to offer a wide range of clothing and accessories for every age group."
Icelandic investor Baugur owned the Criminal brand. Baugur also led the consortium of investors that bought House of Fraser last year.
In recent months Criminal founder Reza Deghani-Wright has been seriously ill and has become less involved with the business as a result. However House of Fraser said it would keep Deghani-Wright on as a consultant.
