The upmarket Australian menswear chains Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett Tuesday collapsed into voluntary administration. It is the second time in eight years that Herringbone has entered administration.

Bruno Secatore, Daniel Juratowitch and Luke Targett of advisory and turnaround firm Cor Cordis had been appointed voluntary administrators of Herringbone Pty Ltd and Rhodes & Beckett Pty Ltd, licensee of the Herringbone brand and holder of the Rhodes & Beckett brand in Australia, reports ‘The Australian’.

Explaining the business decision, Secatore said a number of stores in the Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett portfolio had been “underperforming’’, although its online store was “booming”. “Our most pressing thing is to see which stores are hurting us because we need to do that … and part of that is to clean up an asset that will be very attractive for a potential buyer,’’ he said.

Both beloved brands are owned and distributed by German luxury apparel maker van Laack. Market experts point out at a poor Christmas sales as the final trigger for the group’s decision to request voluntary administration.

Others in the market highlight the sky-rocketing leases in popular Australian shopping centres and commercial streets and the continuous competition over sales and heavy promotions as key reasons for Australian retailers’ struggles.

A week ago, it was the turn of fashion outlets David Lawrence and Marcs to request being placed into the hands of voluntary administrators. Other popular fashion names that have fallen into administration recently in the country are Pumpkin Patch and Payless Shoes.

Owned by German fashion entrepreneur Christian von Daniels, German shirt company van Laack is the biggest creditor to both businesses. In 2009, van Laack bought Herringbone from administrators, acquiring Rhodes & Beckett three years later.

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