Cefinn has collapsed

[Umbilicat]

What do we think? Is this a loss? I have quite a number of Ceffin pieces – nearly all bought at sample sales, certainly nothing I paid full price for. One gorgeous passenger dress that I wear for things like Christmas, dress I bought in their Next collab which is great for work, couple of very flattering cardigans. Then quite a few for less flattering items – particularly sleeveless dresses that I bought thinking I was as soon as I was pre-pandemic. Quite a few have been sold on via Vinted and Vestiaire. Anyway, I’ll vaguely miss them but not that much.

I don’t think any of these small brands last long.

Hard to make money.

I could never quite get on with it. Too much polyester for it to be high end but a higher price bracket than Whistles / Hobbs etc. Came into the Damsel in a Dress category for me, which may also have gone the same way.

I still go into the office in central London a few days a week and most people are so much more casual these days. I'm a gimmer so I wear a skirt or dress, largely because I like to and always have done, but most of my younger colleagues wear casual trouser outfits.

I think the market for Cefinn style of clothing has greatly diminished. I buy most of my clothes second hand these days and go for old school high end brands, as they are such great quality.

I've never bought it - not my thing and I don't need to dress like that, but I'm always sorry to see an independent business go down. And if Samantha Cameron, with all her wealth and connections, can't make it work, then I think it's a worry

It was catering for a workplace that doesn’t really exist anymore. The clothes, though elegant, looked staid and dated, and perhaps reflected the ‘Tory wife’ stereotype, where many Tory wives these days look much trendier, more youthful, and smart casual.

Always seemed a lot of money for something which while beautiful was also a bit bland and polyester.

And now no one cares what SamCam is wearing.

Hadn’t hear of them, but have just googled and the dresses are nice but more than I would pay for a work dress (doctor, so risk of “contamination”). I would imagine Hobbs would hoover up most of that market, and JL would hoover up the rest.

What is a gimmer?

Interesting …

Anyway, I don’t suppose the founder will go hungry, so 🤷‍♀️ …

<Shudders at the memory of past times>

Slightly tongue in cheek term for an old person (I'm mid 50s) 😀

Well I feel sorry for the people losing their jobs. I liked their concept but it was way out of my budget. Seems like she genuinely tried ( if reports are accurate) ie learning pattern cutting etc rather than just putting her name to a company

I’d never heard of it and went to look at the website…I’m mid-40s and can’t see anything I’d wear to be honest. Cotton maxi dresses with white trainers, and the like? Quite a dated look, all that.

The name makes me giggle (it looks like it's Welsh in which case it would be pronounced "Kevin" which isn't an obvious choice for such a brand

Yes, I think the emphasis on dresses was a mistake - they had a moment and then post-Covid all that went. And the name was bad, no one knew how to pronounce it - but apparently Kevin it was! The initials of her kids, so sweet thought but that's not enough. I think SC genuinely did try, this wasn't a vanity project it was what she'd always wnated to do but was prevented by her husband being PM and she gave it her best shot. I don't like judging women on their husband's jobs, so always wanted to give her a chance. It makes me sad because it's just bloody impossible for any small label now.

The name makes me giggle (it looks like it's Welsh in which case it would be pronounced "Kevin" which isn't an obvious choice for such a brand

I have some of the knitwear but everything is made in china, which is incredibly depressing

The King's Road shop only re-opened a few months ago!

Papers say it never made a profit, sounds like it lost a six-figure sum most years.

The clothes look nicely cut, but all the models on the website are the long, tall, willowy body type, so difficult to see online how the clothes would sit on other body types.

I don’t usually judge women on their husband’s actions, @Umbilicat - but I made an exception on this occasion. I

My DH is the only person I’ve heard use the word ‘gimmer’. He’s from the Us, is it an American term? Whether it is or not I think it sounds very unpleasant!

Agree, as a fat person i just assumed it wasn't for me.

I now buy almost all my clothes at another small brand (Lora Gene) but they show their clothes on models who are big, small and middling.

@ChelseaDetective I first came across it on MN and I only use it when posting on here. In the real world, I think it is Scottish in origin and has something to do with ewes past their best breeding years!

@MargoLivebetter if you watch the Sheep Game on YouTube he often refers to his gimmers - who actually aren't that old and he often comments on how they don't know what they are doing with their first lambs

Agree with pps, its just timing and that "Reasonably Smart But Comfortable But Not Too Sexy Dress In Bright Colours" style is completely out-of-date and not very flattering.

Reasonably affluent working women of that age will be in something more casual, especially with wfh.

I did admire some of the dresses online at the time, shame though never got to see one physically.

Also, it really wasn't "stereotypically English" enough to be marketed globally and make ££££ in global markets.

I think if SCam had played on the "posh rich English" vibe rather than try to be a slick modern brand it might have been marketable....but as pps say maybe she wanted to detach herself from that image.

I'm sure she won't be worrying about the cost of living ;-).

Didn't Rishi Sunaks wife also do something similar?

Tbf even the posh rich English look is struggling - think of The Vampire’s Wife. The Times article mentions the thing they had in common; Matches. So many brands must have been frantic when it collapsed.

Samantha Cameron is latest fashion victim as her company winds down

https://www.thetimes.com/article/b42d11f3-abe8-4a77-ace6-2109e884ce5c?shareToken=4fde773d7a77f0e4082321958ea154f3