New Guards Group was Farfetch's $675M bet — it filed for bankruptcy after losing Reebok

New Guards Group (NGG) was a Milan-based fashion conglomerate founded in 2015 that owned brands including Palm Angels, Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, Ambush, Heron Preston, and Unravel Project, and held the license for Off-White. In 2019, Farfetch founder José Neves acquired NGG for $675 million, transforming the e-commerce platform into a brand owner and shifting its strategy toward vertical fashion ownership.

The centrepiece of NGG's strategy was the Reebok license for Europe. Farfetch created a division called NGG++ to house the Reebok business, but plans fell apart within seven months. In November 2024, Authentic Brands Group terminated NGG's Reebok distribution license after the two parties failed to agree on new terms. NGG owed ABG an estimated $300 million in unpaid royalty payments.

Two weeks later, on November 18, 2024, NGG filed for a CNC restructuring process (Composizione Negoziata per la Soluzione della Crisi d'Impresa) under Italian bankruptcy law. The filing came amid Farfetch's own collapse — the company was rescued by Coupang in late 2023 with $500 million in emergency funding. NGG continued operating while seeking a buyer, weighed down by the $300M debt and the loss of its most valuable license.