Meaning before: 1,500 jobs in the fashion industry in danger!

Meaning before: 1,500 jobs in the fashion industry in danger!

The fashion chain Sinn filed for bankruptcy on May 6, 2025. With a Tradition of over 175, the company, which operates dozens of branches in Germany, has a fourth time against the background of a possible rescue. Meaning was previously insolvent in 2008, 2016 and 2020 and fights again for his future.

Currently, the approximately 1,500 employees can hope for receiving their jobs. At a recent assembly of creditors, the takeover offer of the previous owner Isabella Goebel was accepted with a large majority. Your plan provides for all 34 locations and the entire staff. This was considered advantageous by the creditors after there was a competition between their bankruptcy plan and an offer from JC Switzerland Holding, which is related to Peek and Cloppenburg.

The geography of the branches

The company headquarters of Sinn is located in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, where 22 of the 34 branches are located. Other branches can be found in various federal states: Hamburg (1), Hesse (2), Lower Saxony (2), Rhineland-Palatinate (4), Saxony (1), Saxony-Anhalt (1) and Thuringia (1). Last summer there were 41 branches that operated the company.

The bankruptcy of Sinn is only an example of the challenges that the German fashion market is currently going through. The reasons for the bankruptcy lie in changing economic framework conditions, special effects and sales declines, which were caused, among other things, by closures due to water damage and increasing costs for rents, energy and logistics. Last year, Sinn GmbH generated sales of 240 million euros, but these figures are not sufficient to overcome the financial difficulties.

a positive turn?

The Hagen District Court has the opportunity to stop the insolvency proceedings in the coming weeks, which would mean renovation of the company. Insolvency administrator Michael Mönig was optimistic about the developments. Isabella Goebel, who remains at the top, assumes that your measures will be successful in the long term.

The current situation of meaning is part of a larger trend, because in the second half of 2024 the corporate bankruptcies in Germany rose by almost 25 % compared to the previous year. Large brands like Esprit and Zalando are changing, while other large players such as Scotch & Soda had to register insolvency proceedings.

The fashion chain Sinn is an exemplary example of how challenging the market for fashion companies has become. Whether and how the company can ultimately be renovated is still in the stars.