Couture Club founders go it alone after split from JD Sports

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 14, 2023

A basket of 15 fashion brands were sold by JD Sports and bought by Frasers Group in December and January. But the deal didn’t include The Couture Club, the fashion brand co-founded by two reality TV stars Ross Worswick and Scott Shashua.

The reason? The brand is now going it alone, Business Live reported.

Companies House documents show that Worswick and Shashua are now the only two major shareholders of The Couture Clu. Whether it was unwanted by Frasers Group or the founders preferred to take the brand forward themselves isn’t clear.

The Couture Club had originally been backed by its largest shareholder 2squared Agency, which was acquired by JD Sports in 2017 after it hit financial difficulty.

However, according to documents filed with Companies House, the 2squared Agency and by association JD Sports Fashion no longer has a shareholding in the firm.

In the surprise deal between the two retail powerhouses announced in December, Frasers acquired “JD's interests in” a raft of brands, including Base Childrenswear, Choice, Clothingsites (including Brown Bag Clothing), Cricket, Giulio, Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, Rascal Clothing, Tessuti (including Xile), Scotts, Watch Shop and Topgrade Sportswear (including Get The Label).

The sale and transfer of Base Childrenswear, Clothingsites (including Brown Bag Clothing), Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio and Watch Shop were completed previously.

Pre-sale, JD Sports said the decision to offload the brands followed a strategic review led by the group's CEO that sees it “significantly simplifying its branded fashion offer through the divestment”. 

It added that the businesses were all “non-core” and that the divestures allow JD “to focus more fully on the opportunities across the rest of the group, in particular the international and digital expansion of core premium sports fashion”.