Iconic high street fashion brand returns after collapsing into administration

Ted Baker, the troubled fashion chain once the go-to brand for young print-loving professionals, is back.

Well, kind of.

The Scottish design house fell into administration in March and closed all 46 of its remaining stores over the following five months.

The Ted Baker website went down with them, with a message reading: ‘Goodbye for now. We’re not taking orders right now.’

But the website relaunched this week with a new look. For now, the brand only ships to the UK but other European versions of the site will be ‘coming soon’.

‘We’re back and excited to share that our new online store is taking shape every day,’ a message on the website reads.

Ted Baker owners Authentic, an American company that also runs Rebook, hired United Legwear and Apparel (ULAC) to run the online side of the business in September.

Authentic told the trade magazine Drapers: ‘The new site is designed to bring Ted Baker’s signature blend of British charm, style and sophistication into the digital space, offering customers an elevated and fresh shopping experience.

‘From sleek visuals to an intuitive navigation, the new Tedbaker.com makes the brand’s most-loved categories – menswear, womenswear and accessories – more accessible.’

Founded in 1987, Ted Baker at its peak employed thousands of staff and ran roughly 500 stores worldwide.

But after years of scandals, spotty bookkeeping, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis, then-operator No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL) called in the administrators earlier this year.

Administrator Teneo tried to hash out a buyout with House of Fraser only for the department store chain to pull out.

This was the second lifeline thrown at Ted Baker only to be reeled back after Authentic’s deal with a Dutch operating partner fell through.

Ted Baker has struggled since its founder Ray Kelvin quit his role as CEO following allegations of his ‘forced hugging’ policy by hundreds of staff.

Kelvin, who opened Ted Baker as a shirt shop in Glasgow in 1988, resigned in 2018.

The brand’s reputation took another blow when an accounting error was discovered the following year, leaving a £58million hole in its balance sheet.

In early 2020, three out of four employees were furloughed – about 2,000 people – from those behind the tills to its head office amid the pandemic.

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