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Peter Dundas and Evangelo Bousis are placing their label Dundas World Ltd into creditors voluntary liquidation and ceasing operations in the UK, the company said on Friday.
Founded by the Norwegian-American designer and his life and business partner Bousis in 2017, Dundas has gained celebrity fans including Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Emily Ratajkowski and Shakira, for whom he created Super Bowl halftime costumes in 2020. But, the impacts of Covid and Brexit appear to have affected the business, which operates both wholesale and direct-to-consumer, just as they have other emerging and independent UK brands. Christopher Kane announced he was seeking a buyer in June of this year, and Michael Halpern announced he was winding down his label just this week.
Dundas and Bousis relocated to Los Angeles for the births of their two children, while continuing to operate the business in the UK. The brand is laying off six UK employees, and plans to shift the company to the US.
Dundas is a fashion industry veteran. He was the creative director at the LVMH-owned Emilio Pucci label from 2008 to 2015, reviving its jet set bona fides, and briefly held the same role at Roberto Cavalli from 2015 to 2017. It was a homecoming; he worked alongside Cavalli in the 2000s and helped architect its glamazon look.
Dundas made its runway debut in July 2017, but Beyoncé gave the brand its coming out when she wore a dress of Dundas’s design to the Grammys that year. The line’s modus operandi can be summed up in one simple idea: “I like to make women feel seductive.” In September of 2021 — the first season live runway shows returned after the pandemic lockdowns — he collaborated with the e-commerce powerhouse Revolve on a collection that combined his sexy signatures with more approachable prices. And, last October, the brand announced a beauty partnership with Anastasia Beverly Hills, to launch in early 2023, though it never ended up being released.
In a statement, Dundas told Vogue Business, “We have been winding down our UK business for some time, as we shift our operations to the US, in the same way that we moved our family here over 18 months ago. As a result of this reduced footprint and our shift in focus — compounded by a difficult trading environment for all consumer businesses — we are now placing the company into creditors voluntary liquidation and have ceased operations in the UK. We look forward to revealing our future plans in the US very soon.”
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