Quantuma appointed administrators over online fashion marketplace SilkFred
Administrators have been appointed over Silkfred Limited (trading as SilkFred), an online marketplace that connected independent fashion brands for women with customers seeking unique clothing. Its aim since inception was to provide a platform for these smaller brands to sell their products and gain exposure, and for shoppers to discover items not typically found in high-street stores.
Launched in 2011, the company’s mission was to support and promote independent labels and at the time of the Administration, it had nearly two million customers worldwide, accessing approximately 600 brands.
Managing directors at Quantuma, Andrew Watling and Duncan Beat were appointed joint administrators over the company by its chargeholder on 29 October 2025 and are now seeking a purchaser for the company’s assets, which include its Intellectual Property, International Trademarks and inventory.
SilkFred operates a proprietary, in-house developed technology platform that is data-driven and heavily leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a personalised customer experience, including an AI-powered personal shopping tool named ‘Fred’. This recommendation engine analyses user behaviour, including browsing and purchase history, to provide tailored product suggestions and personalised shopping journeys.
Shortly following the administrator’s appointment, the company’s website was disabled, whilst options were being considered on the company’s ability to continue to trade, and, although the website is now live again, the administrators had to make the decision to pause trade. The majority of SilkFred’s 14 staff have now been made redundant.
Commenting on this appointment, joint administrator Andrew Watling said: “SilkFred is a well-known platform both for customers and within the fashion industry and should attract significant interest, despite having to cease to trade, due to the company’s circumstances.
Our enquiries into the reasons for its failure continue, but SilkFred appears to be another victim of tough trading conditions for retailers.
It is a shame that such a visionary brand and a pioneering champion for smaller brands has had to cease trading, but we hope to enable SilkFred to reappear at some point, in some shape.
Our priorities are to now identify potential purchasers, support the staff at this difficult time, and also to communicate to those who are owed money by the company. At present, we are still gathering information about those debts, but we have prepared a set of Frequently Asked Questions for customers who may be unsure of the status of orders, returns and refunds.
Customers should now be able to access their accounts again through SilkFred’s website, to assist them with confirming any amounts due to them, which unfortunately, the company is not in a position to make. Brands will also be able to access their platform to assist with inventory and order data.”
Andrew Watling has recently dealt with other fashion insolvencies, including the UK arm of Pinko, an Italian fashion brand, Les Boys Les Girls, a gender-inclusive apparel brand and he has recently concluded a sale of the La Perla brand.