Olive des Olive – Japanese Brand Bankruptcy, More

The parent company of popular Japanese teen girls fashion brand Olive des Olive has filed for bankruptcy protection in Kyoto District Court. Moku des Moku, which owns Olive des Olive has over 16 billion yen (around US$150 million) in debt and is seeking protection from creditors, according to the Japan Economic Newswire via TMC News.

Olive des Olive plans to continue doing business at its shops around Tokyo and the rest of Japan while they sort out the bankruptcy issues. That should come as some bit of good news for the approximately 350 Japanese staff of the company, who may be able to hold on to their jobs if the issues can be resolved.

However, the bankruptcy may not be the worst of the brand’s problems. Only a few weeks after announcing their financial issues, the ex-CEO of the Moku Moku, Yoshitsugu Takemika, was arrested for allegedly ordering some Olive des Olive clothing made in China to be re-labeled as Made in Japan. The clothing which was allegedly re-labled was then exported to Taiwan where Japanese-made fashion, especially from hip youth brands like Olive des Olive, are extremely popular.

According to Brietbart, three other employees of Moku Moku were also arrested, accused of taking part in the label-changing scheme. The staff members said that they were ordered to make the changes to the clothing labels by the CEO. Takemika had resigned from his position as CEO in January of 2009.

After the arrests, Olive des Olive admitted that it had falsely labeled some products being exported from Japan to Taiwan between 1999 and May of 2008.

External Links:

• Official Brand Site (Japanese)