Debenhams Sells Nasty Gal Brand to US Firm WSG Brands for Nearly £12 Million
The sale of the 'non-core' fashion label is part of Boohoo owner Debenhams' turnaround efforts.
Debenhams, owned by Boohoo, has sold its Nasty Gal fashion label to American company WSG Brands for just under £12 million. The online retailer, which officially changed its name from Boohoo last year, has identified the women's fashion brand as "non-core" to its business strategy.
Dan Finley, CEO of Debenhams, stated that the sale will help strengthen the company's balance sheet as it undergoes a turnaround initiative. Debenhams had originally purchased Nasty Gal out of bankruptcy for just under £15 million in February 2017. The brand was founded by Sophia Amoruso in the early 2000s as an eBay shop selling vintage clothing while she was a student in California. Amoruso was once recognized by Forbes as one of the world's richest self-made women, but Nasty Gal experienced declining sales and faced costly lawsuits.
The brand's early history was the subject of the Netflix series 'Girl Boss,' based on Amoruso's autobiography, and it previously featured fashion collaborations with celebrities such as Emily Ratajkowski and Cara Delevingne.
In recent years, Debenhams' youth-focused brands, including Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, have faced increased competition from ultra-cheap retailers like Shein and resale platforms such as Vinted.
For its most recent financial year, Nasty Gal reported £12 million in sales and profits of £400,000. Finley commented that the disposal of this asset aligns with their strategy and further strengthens the balance sheet, following a previous £90 million sale of their Sheffield Distribution Centre to Primark.
The group has been shifting its business model away from holding large inventories and towards a marketplace approach, where third-party brands can sell through Debenhams' platforms for a fee.
Boohoo acquired the department store chain Debenhams out of administration in 2021, closing its physical stores and focusing solely on online operations. Finley has indicated plans to leverage the Debenhams brand, currently fronted by Kim Cattrall in a fashion campaign, as a model for transforming the wider group's financial performance. While Debenhams had considered selling PrettyLittleThing last year, it reported in January a significant improvement in profitability and the pace of its revival.
WSG Brands, the buyer of Nasty Gal, also owns fashion retailers such as Von Dutch, a brand popular in Hollywood during the 2000s.