The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2013–2025
In The Style went from £105M to administration — influencer fashion's house of cards
UK influencer fashion brand signed £1M deals and collapsed into administration in March 2025, its model broken by Shein and unpaid collaborators.
In The Style · Alps Sourcing Limited · Baaj Capital · FTS Recovery · 2025-03-10
What happened
In The Style was founded in 2013 by Adam Frisby with a model that looked unbeatable: partner with reality TV stars and influencers to create co-branded fashion collections, sell them fast online, and split the profits. At its peak the company was valued at more than £100 million. EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa signed a £1 million deal in 2020. The brand listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market and seemed to have cracked the formula for social-media-driven fast fashion.
The cracks appeared quickly. Frisby handed the CEO role to Sam Perkin in January 2022 and reclaimed it in December 2022 to re-engineer the economic model. The company was sold to Baaj Capital for just over £1 million in 2023 — a 99% wipeout from its peak valuation. Pre-tax losses were £2.6 million for the year to March 2024, improved from £7.7 million the year before but still deeply in the red. Frisby stepped away entirely in September 2024.
The end came on March 10, 2025, when In The Style collapsed into administration. A pre-pack sale to Alps Sourcing Limited saved over 300 jobs but the brand's model had already disintegrated: Jacqueline Jossa demanded to be paid a five-figure sum she was owed, told Instagram followers that new collaborators' contracts would not be honoured, and brought in lawyers. The brand could not compete with Shein and Temu on price, consumer demand was shifting toward slower fashion, and the influencer model that built the business was the first thing to break.
Why it happened
- In The Style's model depended on paying influencers for co-branded collections — when cash tightened, unpaid collaborators publicly turned on the brand, destroying customer trust.
- The brand was crushed between ultra-fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu on one side and shifting consumer preferences toward sustainable fashion on the other, leaving no room in the middle.
- Three ownership changes in three years created instability that made long-term strategy impossible, while the founder had already left.
The lesson
An influencer-collaboration brand is only as stable as its next payment to talent. When the cash stops, the same influencers who built the brand become the ones who bury it.
Aftermath
The pre-pack administration sale to Alps Sourcing Limited preserved over 300 jobs across In The Style Fashion Limited and Rectella Limited. However, the brand's reputation was badly damaged by the very public dispute with Jacqueline Jossa, who warned other influencers that their contracts would not be honoured. The case became a cautionary tale about the fragility of influencer-driven business models in fast fashion.
Sources
- In The Style 'saved' by sale despite downturn in demand for fast-fashion — TheIndustry.fashion (March 2025)
- Jacqueline Jossa claims she hasn't been paid by fast fashion brand In The Style 'for months' — London Evening Standard (Feb 2025)
- In The Style rescued from administration by Alps Sourcing — Prolific North
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