InStitchu hires advisers for strategic options
Sydney menswear label InStitchu has appointed an adviser after unsolicited approaches from global competitors and private equity funds.
Transaction snapshot
Deal value: N/A
Deal multiples: N/A
Deal type: Strategic review for minority or majority sale
Investors: N/A
InStitchu generated about $40 million in revenue last year and recently signed an exclusive online partnership with Myer. Its 11 showrooms across six Australian capitals feed an asset-light, made-to-order model that carries no finished-goods inventory. Wedding parties remain the core customer, but the range now covers custom shirts, casual tailoring and a women’s line introduced five years ago.
Founders Robin McGowan and James Wakefield launched the business online in 2012 and added physical stores to simplify fittings and fabric selection. Production is outsourced to China, giving the company negative working capital and headroom to scale. The pair bought domestic rival George & King in 2019 to consolidate the local market.
The sale will be benchmarked against recent Australian fashion exits. Advent International paid between $1.5 billion and $1.75 billion for Zimmermann in 2023, the country’s biggest fashion deal to date. L’Oréal followed in the same year, acquiring Melbourne-born Aesop for US$2.53 billion. Japanese group Kao bought self-tanning label Bondi Sands for US$450 million.
Potential buyers will weigh the brand’s sales momentum, its capital-light economics and growing offshore demand—especially from Europe—against the broader slowdown in apparel spending.
