MK One and Ghost: an uphill battle

MK One, which has continuously failed to inject life into flagging sales under various ownerships, is now in the hands of the little-known Bali Singh, who will relaunch it next year.

In March next year, Ghost’s vociferous new owner Touker Suleyman will “take it back to its luxury roots” with its relaunch as a pared back, high-end retailer.

It is unclear what deal MK One founder Mark Brafman struck with Singh to lead to his acrimonious departure only six months after he and Singh bought MK One out of administration for£7.1 million. But despite leaving the brand for a second time, Brafman may come to realise he had a lucky escape.

It will be a tall order for Singh and his new management team to carve a niche for MK One on the crowded high street – let alone in the beleaguered value fashion sector – soon enough to reverse its fortunes.

Meanwhile, the wheels have been put in motion to turn around Ghost, albeit it in a very different direction.

Ghost briefly fell in to administration last week, to be snapped up by Suleyman – a Turkish manufacturer and owner of upmarket shirt retailer Hawes & Curtis.

Again there is little love lost between Suleyman and the brand’s last backers, which included Icelandic investment fund Kcaj, the vehicle through which one of its then-shareholders Arev invests.

Kcaj “refused” to invest in the brand further, according to Suleyman. He also slammed the previous owners’ decision to drive Ghost too mainstream and lose sight of its luxury heritage.

But Suleyman may be wise to wind his neck in. Like the uphill challenge facing Singh, relaunching a retailer next year will be no mean feat. Most established brands will not have the luxury of resting easy during a recession.

Trying to attract a new or lapsed customer during the height of the downturn will be difficult as customers look to their trusted brands for value and quality.

Clothing shoppers who trade down in a recession are more likely to stick with Primark or Peacocks than experiment with a new MK One – which will be rebranded Mark One. Those who are luxury shoppers or choose to trade up are unlikely to catch on to the new ‘old’ Ghost with any speed unless it is marketed perfectly.

But in these two cases MK One and Ghost have very little option but to relaunch. Re-energising product and stores and brand perception at any great speed while keeping an eye on capital expenditure and costs may prove too hard to pull off.

However, I am willing to be proved wrong by these two optimistic entrepreneurs.