What does Ssense’s rescue deal mean for its future?

Between the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and countless tariff shifts, including the one recently confirmed by a Supreme Court ruling, luxury retailers across the indie and legacy spectrum have been struggling to hold the focus of the luxury customer in recent years.

One retail player that has had a notably rough go of things in recent years is the Canadian luxury and streetwear retailer Ssense.

The Montreal-based retailer, founded by brothers Rami Atallah, Bassel Atallah and Firas Atallah in 2003, was once the e-commerce darling of the fashion industry, known for its top-tier curation of designers, from legacy labels like Vivienne Westwood and Balmain to indie designers such as Collina Strada, and its edgy approach to marketing.

But in a time when many consumers are switching to more affordable dupe brands, like COS, and have higher-than-ever expectations for customer service, style alone will not save a company.

Ssense, once valued at US$4 billion in 2021, filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2025, citing the then-newly imposed US tariffs of 35 per cent on Canadian imports, coupled with the removal of the “de minimis” exemption that previously allowed packages under US$800 to enter the US duty-free.

Around the time of the bankruptcy filing, Retail Strategy Group’s Liza Amlani explained to Inside Retail, “Ssense’s downfall wasn’t a single misstep.”

She stated, “It was a perfect storm that had been building for years. Operational inefficiencies, excessive discounting and missing the mark on assorting the right balance of good, better, best products ultimately led to the luxury e-commerce retailer’s collapse.”

More recently, Ssense announced a deal that may well serve as a Hail Mary for the brand.

On February 18, Ssense’s founders received approval from the Quebec Superior Court to buy out the Canadian retailer. This approval follows January’s news that the Atallah brothers had won their bid to retain ownership of the company when it emerges from bankruptcy protection.

What does Ssense’s new deal mean for the company

Moving forward, Ssense’s bankruptcy protection process will continue under the Atallah brothers’ guidance.

“After months of uncertainty, the closing of the transaction marks an important milestone and affirms our ability to continue building Ssense for the long term,” a Ssense spokesperson said in a statement.

“Our priority throughout this process has been to sustain operations, protect jobs, and provide stability for our employees, customers, suppliers and partners. With the transaction complete, we are moving forward with clarity and confidence. We remain committed to our purpose – moving culture forward and providing a platform to amplify the voices shaping it – and we’re grateful to our community for their support during this time.”

The purchase entails almost all of the debtors’ assets, including inventory and accounts receivable, excluding equipment subject to leasing agreements with the Royal Bank of Canada. Ssense plans to retain approximately 660 regular employees and 100 occasional on-call employees – out of the more than 1,160 people the company employed last year – in the process.

While this deal definitely marks a step in the right direction for the brand’s founders and some select employees, there will need to be a more strategic approach planned to prompt a full retail comeback, noted multiple retail experts.

As Neil Saunders, analyst and managing director at GlobalData, told Inside Retail, “The buyout provides the most practical route for Ssense to remain in business rather than being liquidated. That’s good for employees, but it does not necessarily mean the firm is back on solid ground. While some of the financial issues can be resolved, the brand problems remain.”

Saunders pointed out that there remains a big question mark over the purpose of Ssense and how it stands out in the market.

“In its latter years, it became something of a confused jumble of brands that seemed to trade more off discounts and sales than having a distinct point of view. This needs to be remedied, and to do it, the company needs to rebuild relationships with brands.”

Which will be much easier said than done.

In a GQ article posted in October 2025, multiple indie label founders and designers, including Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore of the NYC-based luxury streetwear brand Who Decides War, Hillary Taymour, founder and designer of apparel brand Collina Strada, and Rashelle Campbell of home goods brand Rashell, came forward to air some of their grievances with Ssense.

At the time the article was published, Taymour and Bravado disclosed that Ssense owed Who Decides War and Collina Strada over half a million dollars and more than US$200,000, respectively, in orders.

The full amount owed to both brands is much higher, as it does not even include the costs of items that were ordered for seasons ahead.

In comparison to Taymour and Bravado, Campbell was owed over CAD $22,000 by Ssense. However, as Campbell disclosed to GQ, this amount put her business at a complete “standstill”, draining her of a budget that could have been used to invest in a new collection and production costs.

The whole experience soured Campbell’s perspective of Ssense, similar to other indie and more mainstream labels that experienced a similar shortfall, and created doubts about whether it was worth working with Ssense, even if all debts were cleared.

This all being said, Saunders stated that he believes many smaller labels will still engage because Ssense is an entry point for emerging brands to widen their distribution.

In alignment with Saunders’ comments, Amlani agreed that the Canadian retailer has its work cut out for it and that mending relationships will be key to the retailer’s stability.

“Ssense has been given a second chance and a real opportunity to turn things around. But the turnaround has to start with retail fundamentals,” said Amlani.

“The merchandising strategy needs sharper focus, fewer stock-keeping units and a tighter point of view to entice customers to buy at full price. Many customers have been conditioned to wait for the assortment to be discounted before they buy. That needs to change.”

“A credible comeback will only work if Ssense curates its assortment, closes the customer feedback loop and rebuilds trust with vendors,” concluded Amlani.

Further reading: Making Ssense of it all: The $4b collapse is the end of an era in online luxury

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