The Australian fashion label Dion Lee has called in the administrators in a major blow to the eponymous brand that has dressed celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, the Duchess of Sussex and Troye Sivan.

The move came after the Australian retail chain Cue announced it had withdrawn its investment in the designer apparel.

The Australian arm of Dion Lee has been placed under the administration of Antony Resnick of the insolvency firm dVT Group as it evaluates the future of the business and looks to attract new investors.

The label has six retail stores in Australia and one in the US (its first North American shop opened in Miami late last year), which is Lee’s biggest market.

Resnick said he was urgently assessing “all options” relating to the US business.

“We are in the very early stages of our administration process and our focus right now is on speaking with the Australian and US-based team and getting across all the relevant operational and financial data,” Resnick said in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The retail stores in Australia and online store will continue to operate.

The Sydney-born Lee, who is now based in New York, is a 2008 graduate of Tafe New South Wales’s Fashion Design Studio, whose notable alumni include Akira Isogawa, Bianca Spender and Nicky Zimmermann. He founded his namesake brand the following year, debuting his first womenswear collection at Australian fashion week at the age of 23.

Soon he was being hailed “the boy wonder of Australian fashion”, with luxury clothes that have been described as “body-conscious,” “sculptural,” “technical, yet sensual” and marrying “traditional tailoring with experimental construction.”

The label has been a fixture of New York fashion week since 2013, the same year Lee went into partnership with the Australian retailer Cue.

On Thursday Cue announced it had stepped back from the label. “After a recent strategic review, a decision has been made by the Cue Group to focus on our local Cue and Veronika Maine operations,” a spokesperson said.

In April this year, Dion Lee debuted a runway show at Shanghai fashion week, seen as a bid to reach the Chinese market.

Resnick said: “The Dion Lee brand is one of a handful of Australian fashion brands that has been able to break into international markets in recent years and there is no doubt as to the high creative regard in which it is held.

“It is regularly worn by cultural icons and influencers. It is noted in the industry for its unique designs, all of which should attract both local and international investor interest.”

By Janine Israel

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Polyester recycling company Syre has raised $100 million to help finance construction of a pilot plant in the US this year, pave the way to start building two commercial facilities by 2025 and complete the acquisition of the patented technology underpinning the venture.

Syre was launched by H&M Group and green industry investor Vargas in March to mass produce recycled materials, starting with polyester, a huge contributor to the fashion industry’s emissions.The series A round nearly doubles the $60 million put in by the venture’s initial backers, including private equity firm TPG. Both TPG and H&M provided additional capital, alongside new investors Giant Ventures and Norrsken VS, Volvo Cars and Ikea-owner Ingka Group’s Imas Foundation.

The mix of high-profile players gives Syre clout at a challenging moment for the textile recycling space. Though incoming regulations are amping up pressure on brands to increase their sourcing of recycled materials, technologies that could turn old clothes back into new fibres have so far struggled to scale.

Syre launched shortly after Renewcell, another recycling venture backed by H&M, went bankrupt. The collapse sent shockwaves through the nascent sector, highlighting the technical and commercial hurdles to successfully bringing new recycling technologies to commercial scale.

In its favour, Syre has secured a $600 million take or pay contract from H&M that guarantees a market for its material as it becomes available. Its new investors include major players from other key target customer segments: automotives and home furnishing. The company says its recycling solution offers a plug-and-play alternative to virgin polyester that will be able to drop into existing manufacturing processes and compete with existing recycled polyester options on price.

The company will require billions more dollars to go from an initial pilot plant that’s still under construction to 12 industrial facilities around the world within the next decade. It aims to start building two commercial plants in Vietnam and either Spain or Portugal by next year.

”It is a massive undertaking,” said Syre CEO Dennis Nobelius. But the opportunity is also significant as brands look for new textile recycling options. “There will be a big supply demand gap.”

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Reliance Industries Ltd.’s new venture, Tira, is leaning on artificial intelligence tools that can suggest perfumes or cosmetics to woo customers in the burgeoning but competitive Indian beauty sector.

Tira, which was launched by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate in April last year, also uses electronic vending machines in its stores to dispense free samples of skincare products, according to Tejas Kapadia, head of marketing of the year-old start-up that has 12 stores across India and a website.

The idea is to give a plethora of experiences using “some form of AI,” Kapadia said in Tira’s first interview since its launch. “Customers love that and they keep coming back,” he added.

One such interactive in-store experience is a “fragrance finder,” which gives perfume options after letting consumers smell a set of “cubes” with different notes of fragrances.

Its “skin analyser” infers the features of a customer by clicking a photo and recommends products that would suit them best. Its stores offer a free engraving service for buyers to personalize their purchases by etching names on perfumes bottles or make-up boxes. The website also provides makeup and skincare lessons.

Race to Enter

Tira is Reliance’s lead horse in the race for the world’s fastest growing major beauty market. The conglomerate’s retail business, helmed by Ambani’s daughter Isha, has also taken over the local operations of skincare brand Kiko Milano and LVMH Group’s luxury beauty retailer Sephora in the past one year.

Tira is competing with brands like Tata Group’s Palette, which also started last year, and Nykaa — the current market leader with 187 stores across India. The store count for Palette is not available publicly.

The local beauty segment is expected to grow at 10% between 2022 and 2027, according to a September report by RedSeer Strategy Consultants and PeakXV, beating China’s 7 percent and the US’ 5 percent forecast growth rates.

That’s why international brands are also rushing into India. In 2023, Japan’s Shiseido-owned NARS Cosmetic signed a distribution partnership with Shoppers Stop Ltd. and Selena Gomez launched her brand Rare Beauty on Sephora India. This year, Rihanna brought her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty to India for the first time on Nykaa.

“It is a great time to be in the beauty and personal care sector,” said Abhishek Malhotra, a Mumbai-based partner at McKinsey & Company. “People have more disposable income, increased awareness and higher aspirations.”

Reliance, led by Asia’s richest person, has been diversifying beyond its oil refining roots for years and entering consumer-facing and technology-led businesses. The almost $32 billion Indian beauty and personal care segment is the latest addition to its expanding portfolio that includes mega refineries, a wireless services provider, a streaming platform and Hamleys toy stores.

Reliance’s Playbook

Tira, which offers brands from American Smashbox and Estee Lauder to Korea’s Sulwhasoo and homegrown newbie Re’equil, is marketed as “slightly premium,” according to Kapadia, who didn’t clarify if Tira will offer heavy discounts to gain market share. Cut-throat pricing that drives out rivals has been Reliance’s playbook across multiple sectors in the past.

Reliance, in its December-quarter earnings release, said that Tira delivered a “strong performance across various operating metrics including sales productivity, average bill value,” without sharing revenue or growth numbers.

Its largest competitor Nykaa, whose latest quarterly profit missed estimates, is also experimenting with technology-led customer services. At its new flagship luxury format store in Mumbai, Nykaa has brought ‘experiential zones’ where it provides services including the ‘skin analyser tool’ and hairstyling stations.

Kapadia says Tira will need to keep innovating to build a significant market share.

“What we’ve done so far is bring in these great tech aspects. Obviously some other players are also now picking up on them,” Kapadia said. “So we need to continue pushing the boundary.”

By Satviki Sanjay

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The global industry is turning its attention towards India with a slew of international brands bringing their best-selling products to the subcontinent. But local lines are leveraging their close proximity to the customer to produce products that have a perfect market fit for regional shoppers and the diaspora alike.

Dazed Media has appointed Sophie McElligott as chief marketing officer, the company said on Thursday. She will be Dazed’s first-ever CMO.

McElligott joined Dazed Media in 2015 and most recently held the position of marketing and communications director.

Previously, she led Dazed’s launch in China and founded Dazed Academy, now known as Dazed Club, a networking platform for creatives around the world.

As marketing chief, she will be responsible for overseeing the business’ global expansion and marketing strategy, including client and audience engagement as well as driving partnerships in new geographies including the USA, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

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The app will allow users to upload their portfolios, engage with mentors and join subject-matter groups to discuss upcoming projects. Users who pay £5 a month will also receive access to Dazed events and complimentary copies of the magazine.