The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The brand had been stocked in Nordstrom and Amazon, as well as available direct to consumers. It had also attracted awards and plaudits from GQ and Forbes.
According to social media posts by Smith, the shuttering has left shareholders with “nothing,” as well as disbanding its team. “Thousands” of consumers were left without products, and “countless” vendors were not paid, Smith said.
Disco was founded in 2019, and raised over $8 million in funding throughout 2020 and 2021. But by 2022, access to capital dried up, as interest rates began to rise and investors began to shift focus onto profitable brands. The company considered restructuring and pursued three failed acquisitions to try and save the business, according to Smith.
In his post, Smith said the brand “never resonated with men at scale” and that persuading men to adopt new behaviours is expensive. Rising customer acquisition costs were also cited, as well as overreliance on its hero product, the Repairing Eye Stick.
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The inclusive label had struggled to capitalise on its early success, and recently faced customer complaints about failing to ship orders. New owner MacArthur Beauty is hiring a new team to run the brand and says “no one will be left high and dry,” but founder Sharon Chuter said she intends to challenge the sale.
Join us for a BoF Professional Masterclass that explores the topic in our latest Case Study, “How to Launch and Grow a Hero Product”.
Under eye patches make their case for out of the house attire, and Sofia Richie Grainge plots a beauty line.
A new Re-Nutriv launch from its namesake brand suggests a greater interest in the upper echelons of beauty.