Nasty Gal Filing for Bankruptcy

Nasty Gal — the online fashion empire founded by Sophia Amoruso — is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company announced Wednesday evening.

“Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring will enable us to address our immediate liquidity issues, restructure our balance sheet and correct structural issues including reducing our high occupancy costs and restoring compliance with our debt covenants,” said Sheree Waterson, Nasty Gal chief executive officer, in a statement. “We expect to maintain our high level of customer service and emerge stronger and even better able to deliver the product and experience that our customers expect and that we take pride in bringing to market.”

The company has been exploring strategic partnerships with other brands during the restructuring process and expects to attract a new equity partner or sponsor to help move the company forward, according to a release. The filing won’t have an impact on Nasty Gal’s day-to-day operations.

Recode first reported the news. According to the tech news site’s source, Amoruso is also resigning as executive chairwoman.

Amoruso first started Nasty Gal as an eBay store in 2006 and grew it into a booming business (the company’s sales were up to $128 million in 2012, according to Forbes) with more than 200 employees. Nasty Gal opened its first retail location on Melrose Avenue in 2014 and and then a second store in Santa Monica the following year.

Since then Nasty Gal has had a rocky few years. The e-comm laid off 10 percent of its staff as part of a company-wide restructuring plan in February; faced several lawsuits from former employees; and experienced a change in CEO (Amoruso stepped down from the role in January 2015, promoting Sheree Waterson into the position).

In the meantime Amoruso has been promoting her second book, Nasty Galaxy, a visual tome filled with illustrations, photos and short essays. Her first book, #Girlboss, which is part memoir and part how-to guide on running a business, went on to become a New York Times best-seller in 2014. Amoruso recently teamed up with Courtney Love again on a holiday party collection that’s now available online.

Amoruso’s next project will involve working with Netflix on the comedy series #Girlboss, inspired by Amoruso herself, starring Britt Robertson as the Nasty Gal founder.

5:55 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9: Updated with a statement from Nasty Gal.

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