- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday August 9 2000 00.00 BST
Stockholm online fashion retailer Dressmart.com has gone into administration.
A local city court yesterday approved an administrator's plan to sell much of Dressmart's operations to a new owner. Swedish fashion firm New Wave wants to buy its trading system but is not interested in its internet focus.
The case has eerie similarities to Boo.com - the London-headquartered internet fashion firm founded by two Swedes - which found its assets sold off for a fraction of the £80m-plus that investors had pumped into the company.
Analysts say that Dressmart was a much more prudent operation than Boo.com, which was criticised for its extravagant spending and lack of financial controls. However, the former has found the latter's legacy a hindrance when it came to raising new funds, and with debts of £2m it is close to bankruptcy.
It is thought that New Wave, a well established bricks and mortar retailer, could buy the assets it wants from Dressmart for around £1m.
Dressmart expanded rapidly, opening operations in Scandinavia, Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Its 60 remaining staff now face dismissal.
Investors who stand to lose money are thought to include the King of Sweden and a former Swedish prime minister.
The company was founded just 16 months ago by two 20-something entrepreneurs to sell smart clothing online. Comedian John Cleese was the celebrity face of the launch and fundraising passed the £13m mark.
Yesterday founder Mathias Plank admitted that the company had expanded too fast.
