Escada in the USA filed for chapter 11, only days after the parent company did so in Germany.
For a while, Escada AG was the biggest manufacturer of womenswear in Europe and its brand a huge success.
There are plenty of reasons for the failure, one of them was:
Escada tried to do everything on its own.
Early, Escada offered shoes and bags to go with its dresses, robes and sportswear. Product was designed in-house, manufactured by third parties and sold by Escada sales people.
But Escada never broke into the classic distribution channels for shoes and accessories. Thus, volume was limited, product too expensive and the business never grew beyond an add-on.
Escada tried the same with beauty products and fragrances. Until they finally gave up and signed a license a few years ago.
Accessories, shoes and beauty, for a while combined as a division called Escada Development, have cost Escada millions.
Could management have foreseen this? Yes.
Because Donna Karan made the same mistake and went down, until it became part of LVMH.
At the same time the competeing fashion brands grew their business through licenses and passed the once great brand Escada.