{"id":305550,"date":"2026-02-23T06:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305550\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T06:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:22:11","slug":"can-ssense-2-0-work-vogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305550\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Ssense 2.0 Work? | Vogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ssense is entering its next phase. On February 18, Ssense\u2019s founders received approval by the Quebec Superior Court to buy out the Canadian retailer. This approval follows last month\u2019s news<\/a> that Ssense\u2019s founding family \u2014 CEO Rami Atallah and his co-founder brothers, Firas and Bassel \u2014 had won their bid to retain ownership of the company when it emerges from bankruptcy protection.<\/p>\n

Now, the bankruptcy protection process will continue under the Atallahs. \u201cAfter months of uncertainty, the closing of the transaction marks an important milestone and affirms our ability to continue building Ssense for the long term,\u201d a spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cOur priority throughout this process has been to sustain operations, protect jobs, and provide stability for our employees, customers, suppliers, and partners. With the transaction complete, we are moving forward with clarity and confidence. We remain committed to our purpose \u2014 moving culture forward and providing a platform to amplify the voices shaping it \u2014 and we\u2019re grateful to our community for their support during this time.\u201d (Ssense declined to comment further at this stage.)<\/p>\n

Community support, though, has wavered over the past year. In August 2025, Ssense filed for bankruptcy protection<\/a> with Canada\u2019s Companies\u2019 Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). This came after the retailer laid off over 100 employees, amid struggles after the US enacted high tariffs on Canada. Customers complained online about being hit with additional fees on Ssense orders upon delivery, as well as delayed shipments and customer service difficulties as the year progressed. In September, Ssense won court approval<\/a> to restructure the business under the founding family. All the while, brands were left in the lurch<\/a>, with many waiting on hundreds of thousands of unpaid dollars, per August court documents<\/a>. A group of lenders, which was owed about CA $113 million (USD $82.6 million), tried to block the buyout deal, pushing instead for a liquidation of the company in order to recoup more money.<\/p>\n

Now that the retailer has a path forward, questions rise about what the future of the company will look like. Ssense has long been a destination to shop independent brands, operating as a discovery point for consumers keen to invest in smaller, growing fashion businesses not found in the major retailers. To maintain its allure, Ssense will need to keep prioritizing independent brands. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t continue to do so, then it will not be Ssense,\u201d says Gary Wassner, CEO of factor Hilldun Corporation. \u201cIt might as well change its name and start from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping these designers on board, though, won\u2019t be easy. Whereas brands are cautiously optimistic<\/a> about Saks Global\u2019s future largely by virtue of their relationships with and trust in<\/a> Saks\u2019s new leadership team, Ssense doesn\u2019t have this advantage as it moves forward under its founders. This isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing, Wassner says. \u201cThe founding vision of a company is usually its strongest,\u201d he says. Without them, Wassner adds, companies can lose their identities and quickly become generic.<\/p>\n

Experts are optimistic that this could provide the opportunity for a much-needed reset. \u201cThey got so big and need to recalibrate,\u201d says luxury consultant Robert Burke. Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at Globaldata, agrees. \u201cThere is still a big question mark over the purpose of Ssense and how it stands out in the market,\u201d he says. \u201cIn its latter years, it became something of a confused jumble of brands that seemed to trade more off discounts and sales than having a distinct point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

To rectify, Burke doesn\u2019t anticipate a complete overhaul, but a refining of strategy. \u201cI don\u2019t see them making a dramatic merchandising change,\u201d he says. \u201cI think they\u2019re going to pull it in and speak to who they know their customer is \u2014 and probably be more organic in their growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ssense is entering its next phase. On February 18, Ssense\u2019s founders received approval by the Quebec Superior Court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,85,141740,46,5345,36714],"class_list":["post-305550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-il","tag-independent-designers","tag-israel","tag-latest","tag-wholesale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}