The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2020–2025
Bikō's ¥170M collapse — women's innerwear maker undone by raw material costs
A Tokyo women's innerwear manufacturer founded to rescue a failed predecessor was itself killed by soaring material costs, closing with ¥170M debt.
Bikō Co., Ltd. · 2025-10-15
What happened
Bikō Co., Ltd. was a Tokyo-based women's innerwear manufacturer established in January 2020 with ¥3 million in capital. The company was founded specifically to take over the business of BK Co., Ltd., which had entered special liquidation in June 2021, preserving jobs and customer relationships in the women's innerwear wholesale market.
The company manufactured and wholesaled women's innerwear to department stores and mail-order companies, and also operated a direct online shop. Sales were maintained at a reasonable level — approximately ¥750 million for the fiscal year ending January 2025.
However, a sharp and sustained rise in raw material costs rapidly deteriorated profitability. Manufacturing margins in the innerwear industry were already thin, and the company could not pass on the higher costs to department store and mail-order buyers who demanded stable pricing. Cash flow worsened until the company could no longer continue operations. Bikō ceased business on June 20, 2025 and was ordered into bankruptcy by the Tokyo District Court on October 15, 2025 with approximately ¥170 million in liabilities.
Why it happened
- A sharp rise in raw material costs destroyed profitability in an industry where margins were already thin.
- The company could not pass on higher costs to department store and mail-order buyers who demanded stable wholesale pricing.
- Founded just months before COVID, the company never operated in a normal economic environment and had no cash reserves to weather the cost shock.
- Revenue of ¥750M was respectable, but manufacturing margins meant even modest cost increases turned profit into loss.
- The company's entire reason for existing — rescuing a failed predecessor — meant it started with inherited structural weaknesses.
The lesson
A manufacturer that cannot control its input costs and cannot raise its prices has no margin of safety — the only question is when the raw material spike comes.
Aftermath
Bikō Co., Ltd. was ordered into bankruptcy proceedings by the Tokyo District Court on October 15, 2025 (Reiwa 7 (Fu) No. 7227) with approximately ¥170 million in liabilities. The company had ceased business on June 20, 2025. Founded in January 2020 with ¥3M capital in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, the company manufactured and wholesaled women's innerwear to department stores and mail-order companies. Revenue was approximately ¥750 million for the fiscal year ending January 2025.
Sources
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