Following the news that In The Style is to be sold to private equity firm Baaj Capital for £1.2m: Chloe Collins, head of apparel at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “In The Style’s sale comes as no surprise, as its share price has tanked since its IPO in March 2021 and in H1 FY2022/23 its adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of £1.8m. The retailer experienced a serious slowdown in revenue in 2022, as consumers returned to instore shopping and shifted away from fast fashion in favour of better quality, more versatile clothing to reduce cost per wear and benefit both the environment and their wallets amid the rising cost of living. Rivals like the boohoo group and ASOS also saw sales step back, though remained more resilient than In The Style, as the latter’s failure mainly lies in its waning relevance.
“In The Style initially rose to success as one of the first retailers to fully embrace the power of influencers, and its collaborations were its USP, but now that its competitors have latched onto this marketing tool, In The Style fails to stand out. The influencers that it partners with also cannot compete with the big names that the likes of boohoo and SHEIN work with. Its price points are much higher too, which will be a disadvantage in 2023 as consumer spend remains tight. Therefore, a new owner may not be enough to revive its fortunes.”
