Her signature bag served as a fashion badge, as a sign of our belonging to an elite of stylish women. However, despite its iconic dimension, this French label is today in difficulty.
Regardless of their past success, no French fashion label seems spared by the ready-to-wear crisis. Whether they are accessible or more upscale, all of them can cease to exist. Proof of this is that it was on the feet of all the trendy women in France; one beautiful day in 2023, San Marina closed shop across the country. Before getting there, brands are doing everything in their power to save furniture: Andrew is, for example, in its 3rd receivership and is (again) looking for a buyer. Lately, another brand popular with fashionistas is also fighting for its survival. On October 6, she was placed in safeguard procedure.
Born in 1996, she is best known for her iconic tote bag: designed large enough, but still elegant, for women to combine all facets of their lives – wife, mother, working girl – without compromising on style. A universality which also appeals to women from different backgrounds such as Charlotte Gainsbourg, Valérie Trierweiler, Vanessa Paradis. Made of a solid but not strictly rigid fabric, it bends almost as you wish and lives without deforming. On the outside, no visible logo: useless, since everyone knows which piece it is just by looking at its sparkling handles. The brand is therefore powerful, well anchored in the collective imagination. A soft power who no longer pays enough… This label is none other than Vanessa Bruno.
The brand is experiencing numerous financial difficulties, but does not yet meet the criteria for judicial recovery. In practical terms, this means that it has not reached the point where its debts are too high to be serviced, relative to its liquidity. If the opening of a safeguard procedure reveals the poor financial health of the ready-to-wear label, it does not signal its end.
This procedure takes place upstream to anticipate and avoid this situation. Alerted by lower than expected summer sales, it was the label itself which made the request to court. In the judgment consulted exclusively by The Informedit is explained that “the latest turnover figures in August and September 2025 are almost 10% lower than forecasts and raise fears of short-term cash flow tension.”
Vanessa Bruno thus benefits from a respite: its debts are frozen until it gets back on its feet and/or a solution is found. To be continued over the next six months… Hoping that it does not move on to the next, even less enjoyable, stage: recovery.
