More than 1,000 jobs are at risk at Karen Millen and Coast stores across the UK after administrators sold the brands' online businesses.
Fast fashion giant Boohoo announced earlier today that it had bought the online business of womenswear brand Karen Millen and sister brand Coast.
The brands had been put into administration and immediately sold to Boohoo in a pre-pack deal .
But Karen Millen and Coast's high street stores were not part of the Boohoo deal.
Administrators at Deloitte said the Karen Millen group had "suffered from high product and other cost inflation, decreasing footfall, weaker consumer confidence and a complex global operation in an increasingly competitive market".
Karen Millen and Coast have 32 stores and 177 concessions across the country, as well as a head office in London. In total they employ around 1,100 people.
Deloitte has announced 62 immediate job losses. And the accountancy giant said the Karen Millen and Coast stores will continue to trade "for a short time" while administrators realise the company's assets over coming weeks.
Rob Harding, joint administrator, said: “As we continue to see, the retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging.
"Karen Millen has been seeking to address the financial challenges that it faced by pursuing a sale of the business and, whilst a sale of the whole business has not been deliverable, the boohoo transaction facilitates the survival of these iconic British brands through an online platform.
"We thank all employees and other key stakeholders for their support at this difficult time."
Earlier, Boohoo said Coast and Karen Millen would be "highly complementary additions" to its existing brands.
Retail analysts at Jefferies said the Boohoo deal would be welcomed by investors.
They said: "Karen Millen and Coast are both strong UK brands, in our view, with distinctive premium ranges, including work wear and occasion wear, that would complement the existing group brands.
"If acquired, we would expect boohoo to keep the creative teams and brand marketing completely separate but seek to leverage its efficient sourcing, distribution and IT infrastructure to grow the business globally and make it more profitable."
