The real reason why In The Style crumbled from a booming £105m empire – and the key change that made celebs walk away
IN The Style, the fast fashion brand that was known for its countless celebrity collaborations, is said to be on the brink of administration.
First floated on the London Stock Exchange back in 2021, it was valued at a staggering £105 million.
But despite its original success, the business seems to have struggled since the departure of its founder and former CEO Adam Frisby, who had positioned the brand as a celeb and influencer favourite.
In 2023, after declining financial performance, In The Style was sold to investment company Baaj Capital for £1.2million.
But now, according to Sky News, the fashion brand is on the brink of collapse, with its glossy heyday a distant memory.
So what happened to the startup, which began in then-27-year-old Adam’s bedroom back in 2013?
A source exclusively tells Fabulous: “Adam had massive success with In The Style when it first launched.
“He teamed up with celebrities who had huge followings and became good mates with many of them.
“Those relationships he nurtured were authentic and were the backbone of why In The Style did so well.”
The first collaboration with The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Pope quickly sold out and created much-needed buzz on social media.
From then on, it went from strength to strength, partnering with celebrities with massive social followings such as reality star Charlotte Crosby, Loose Women’s Stacey Solomon and EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa.
Our insider continues: “The business model also differed from other fast fashion brands who were paying huge endorsement fees for stars to be the face of their ranges.
“In The Style worked differently – celebs would help design the collections and they’d take a smaller upfront fee and then they would get commission based on how much of their own range they sold.
“This meant In The Style blew up on social media from all of the celeb and influencer posts, and for a long time things were flying high.”
By 2019, the brand had bagged its own six-part TV documentary series, Breaking Fashion.
Popular stars like The Mummy Diaries’ Billie Faiers, This Morning’s Alison Hammond and Towie diva Gemma Collins all launched ranges.
One collection with former Strictly Come Dancing star Saffron Barker, which dropped in 2020, broke records by selling £1million worth of stock in just two minutes.
In May 2022, the brand even partnered with Sun columnist Dame Deborah James before her untimely death, raising £1.8 million for Cancer Research.
But after close to a decade of great success, our insider says Adam felt burned out and decided to step down as CEO in 2021.
He returned later that year, and in February 2023 a bitter legal dispute was dismissed after businessman Paul Clements falsely claimed the idea for In The Style had been stolen from him by Adam.
Adam left ITS again by December 2023, relinquishing all shares in the business, with investors Baaj Capital taking over.
Our source claims: “Investors were brought in to run the business, but without Adam on hand things started to go downhill behind the scenes.
“Some suppliers were not being paid on time.
“Some of the celebrities and influencers who Adam had built great relationships with were also not paid on time, which was really frustrating.
“It is believed some of them have still not been paid to this day and many ended their relationships with the brand – not ideal for a business so focused on celebrities selling directly to consumers.”
Plus size influencer Carys Whittaker, who launched her first collection with the brand in 2021, took to Instagram Stories on Friday to claim that she has not been paid.
She wrote: “In my 8 years online I have never spoken out about a brand but I can’t stay quiet about this.
“I have worked with InTheStyle for the past 4 years and was due to have a collection launch soon which some of you knew about.
“I feel I have to say now that I’m no longer working with InTheStyle as… they owe me from last years collections.
“I have spoken to others who have worked with InTheStyle and they are in the same position as me.
“I have adored doing my collections for the past 4 years and can’t believe it has ended like this.
“I needed to share as I’m always honest with you guys about everything. I have no idea what’s happening within the business at this stage but my heart goes out to any staff or customers affected by whatever is going on.”
The Manchester-based firm, which describes itself as “a digital womenswear fashion brand that champions female empowerment, inclusivity and body confidence”, now works with fewer well-known stars.
More recently, despite working with popular Strictly pro Dianne Buswell, In The Style’s collaborations have become few and far between.
In December last year it was reported that the brand was cutting jobs and it also reported a pre-tax loss of £2.6m for the year to 31 March 2024.
Now, it is believed that FTS Recovery is set to act as administrator to the brand, while another insider told Sky News that a pre-pack insolvency, potentially involving private equity owner Baaj Capital, was one possible outcome from the process.
A “pre-pack administration” is an insolvency process for a business to sell its assets before appointing administrators.
It is a way in which a business can be sold to a third-party buyer.
In the meantime, consumers can still make purchases from inthestyle.com.
On Friday, Adam posted a statement about the insolvency on Instagram.
He wrote: “I am deeply saddened, though not surprised by the news. After years of proudly building and leading the business, I made the incredibly difficult decision to step away last year.
“I could no longer stay and witness the conduct that in my view went completely against the morals and values I had always built the brand on.
“I strongly encourage anyone with the ability to do so to further investigate this process and share their own experiences.
“My thoughts are with the employees, suppliers, collaborators and customers impacted by any of this. It’s disheartening to see so many people affected, and I truly hope for everyone’s sake, there will be more transparency through this process.”
In The Style has been approached for comment.
What does going into administration mean?
WHEN a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator.
The administrator has to leverage the company’s assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts.
Once a company enters administration, a “moratorium” is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it.
Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed.
They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can’t it pays as much of a company’s debts from its remaining assets.
The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward.
This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.
A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration.
It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated.
Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business.