Skins, the Australian apparel manufacturer known for its compression products, filed for bankruptcy in a Swiss Court.
“A Trustee will be appointed to assume responsibility for the company with almost immediate effect,” chairman Jaimie Fuller wrote on the company’s website.
“My management team and I have left no stone unturned in an effort to avoid this. I apologise unreservedly to all those affected by it.
“I am enormously regretful and sad that it has got to this point. Even as late as yesterday, it looked like there was an option for avoiding this action but events conspired against us and left us with no option at all.”
Fuller explained the brand would change ownership but would not “disappear”, and that Skins customers would still be able to buy products.
He said, while there had been “many contributing factors as well as mistakes I’ve made along the way”, one of the biggest catalysts had been the global financial crisis.
“What has brought us to this point really started 11 years ago. When the global financial crisis (GFC) hit in 2008, I sold a portion of Skins to a private equity firm. I also made a lousy deal,” he said.
“When the GFC was over, I had to get out of the private equity arrangement. To do so, we borrowed heavily, and with the help of a Japanese partner we managed to buy out the private equity shareholders.
“To my enormous regret, those borrowings have become unsustainable and while we have been working for some time now to try to avoid what is happening today, in the end there was no choice.”
The chairman said during his tenure Skins had many noteworthy achievements, including changing world cycling governance and bringing attention to the issue of drugs in sport.
He said the company also played a role in calling out ‘dodgy decisions of FIFA’ and helped bringing greater awareness of homophobia in sport.
‘Everyone at SKINS has been enormously proud of our work in these and other areas,’ Mr Fuller said.
The chairman concluded by acknowledging the hard work and dedication of all the Skins staff and partners around the world, which he credited as a ‘fantastic team’.
‘I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and wish you all the best for your futures. I am so, so sorry that this has happened and am simply devastated.
“Please be assured that I have tried everything possible to avoid having to take this action today. Absolutely everything,’ he said.
The company was founded in 1996 by ski fan Brad Duffy and acquired by Fuller in 2002 and its headquarters are now in Switzerland. Skins offer a range of sports compression garments designed to enhance performance and recovery.
Image courtesy Skins
