TROUBLE AT MONIKA CHIANG?: Despite speculation in the market that Monika Chiang was shuttering its two doors and laying off employees, a spokeswoman from Burch Creative Capital, which backs the brand, denied those claims Tuesday.
“The brand is staying open…we’re shipping fall,” she said.
When asked about the layoffs, the spokeswoman said, “We don’t comment on personnel changes for personal reasons. Per our corporate policy and privacy concerns for our employees, we cannot release any information in regards to staff.”
She also declined to provide a head count of current employees, but according to a former employee who left the brand this year, there are about 17 employees, which includes some overlap from Burch’s other ventures.
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The company currently has two stores, one in New York’s SoHo and another in Los Angeles, in addition to an e-commerce site. Chiang’s wares are also carried at Shopbop.com.
News of instability at Monika Chiang doesn’t come as much of a surprise to industry insiders.
Sources said that Monika Chiang, which was launched in 2011, had been floundering, despite Chris Burch’s assurance to the contrary. In May, Burch told WWD that the Monika Chiang brand is “starting to take off.”