Samantha Cameron is winding up her loss-making fashion business after falling victim to “turbulence” in the sector and soaring costs.
The 54-year-old wife of the former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said the upcoming winter collection from her label Cefinn later this month will be her last.
Stores on the King's Road in Chelsea, which only opened in June, and Elizabeth Street in Belgravia as well as the Cefinn website, will stay open for trading "over the coming months" to sell the remaining autumn and final winter ranges.
New arrivals on the website include a Sophia Techni Voile Pleated Maxi Skirt priced at £270, and a Cecily Cotton Blend Cape with a £220 price tag.
Lady Cameron said the decision to close the firm "has been a very hard decision" but admitted it had become "increasingly difficult" to put the firm on the path to profitability as costs mount.
Retailers have struggled in recent months amid soaring wage bills after the Rachel Reeves hiked national insurance contributions and the minimum wage from April, as well as rising business rates and other costs.
The company has also been hit by upheavals in the wholesale market, particularly the collapse of fashion retailer Matches, which had stocked the line.
The huge fall in demand for fashion ranges aimed at office based workers during the pandemic was also a major blow.
Cameron has spoken of the challenges smaller business have faced getting products through ports since Brexit.
In a post on Instagram, she said: "Dearest followers, I would like to let you know that after eight amazing years of entrepreneurial highs and lows I will not be presenting a spring/summer 2026 collection in the new year.
"As a result of this, I have begun the process of winding down the future operations at my fashion brand Cefinn."
Lady Cameron founded Cefinn in February 2017, with a mission to offer "chic, grown-up designer fashion for the multitasking woman".
Its clothes were aimed at the "practical, modern women who enjoy clothes and whose love of fashion doesn't detract from their dignity and intelligence", according to its website at the time.
The brand was launched on the pages of Vogue, where her sister and future Standard editor Emily Sheffield was deputy, and the first stockists were Selfridges and Net-aPorter
Celebrities seen in Cefinn designs have included Gillian Anderson, Gabby Logan and Holly Willoughby, two First Ladies, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump, as well as the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla .
The label’s website highlights so called “Cefinn Sirens”, high achieving women who wear its clothes, including Wahaca restaurateur Thomasina Miers and socialite writer Plum Sykes.
The label was loss making from the start with a deficit of £516,000 in its maiden year. Although that is not unusual for a fashion start up, the breakthrough to profit never came.
In 2018 it launched and secured a £2.5 million fundraising with investors including original backers, private equity firm Venrex, as well as new shareholders, such as former vice chairman of the Conservative Party Lord Brownlow, who took a 10% stake.
Other backers who came in at the stage included Wendy Yu, of Hong-Kong based Yu Holdings, who also has stakes in sustainable accessories brand Bottletop and British-based designer Mary Katrantzou's label, and Philip Bassett, founder of investment firm Brightwell Partners.
The name of the label is derived from the first and last letters of the Cameron name, with the initials of the couple's four children - Ivan, who died in 2009, Elwen, Florence and Nancy - in between.
Lady Cameron said the move to shut the label "was not a decision I have taken lightly, especially as we have recently seen strong trading figures".
"But, as a small company navigating the turbulence in the fashion wholesale sector, ongoing cost pressures and international trading restrictions, I have found it increasingly difficult to be certain that Cefinn can achieve the level of growth needed to reach a stable and profitable position," she said.
"I hope the Cefinn brand continues to live in the wardrobes of Cefinn fans for many seasons to come," she added.
