True Religion needs a Prayer Vol. over 500Mil in Debt.

[ninjahood]

By Jessica DiNapoli
True Religion Apparel Inc, a U.S. denim company whose signature products have slowly fallen out of style, has hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP to explore several debt restructuring options, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move represents a fall from grace for True Religion, which became a part of popular culture a decade ago as celebrities including Katie Holmes and Jessica Simpson donned its apparel. The brand was frequently cited in hip-hop songs performed by Nicki Minaj and Kanye West.

True Religion's financial struggles are due in part to consumer tastes shifting toward internet shopping and away from the brick-and-mortar shops and department stores where the company's jeans have been primarily sold.

The so-called athleisure trend, a surge in popularity of comfortable athletic-style clothing that can be worn outside the gym, has also hurt the denim maker's sales. The company is now struggling to cope with a roughly $500 million debt pile.

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True Religion has been consulting with Kirkland on a range of possibilities for slashing its debt, be it through a bankruptcy filing or in negotiations with the company's lenders, the people said this week, cautioning that no decision has been taken.

The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. True Religion, the company's private equity owner, TowerBrook Capital Partners LP, and Kirkland declined to comment.

A $400 million term loan of True Religion was trading at approximately 27 cents on the dollar on Tuesday, according to Thomson Reuters data. Such a low quote for the loan, which was used to finance the acquisition of True Religion by TowerBrook in 2013 for $824 million, is indicative of financial distress.

True Religion faces a high risk of a default or distressed exchange, credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service Inc warned in June, noting that in January TowerBrook bought back $22.8 million of the company's first lien term loan for $14.4 million.

Moody's said the True Religion brand had "lost some relevance" since its peak in the mid 2000s, when the jeans were seen as a status symbol.

True Religion has been working to reinvigorate the brand through digital marketing campaigns, Moody's said. The company has also collaborated with Russell Westbrook, a star player on the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association, for menswear.

There are also signs that the downturn the denim industry went through over the past couple of years is ending, consumer research firm NPD Group Inc said in August. In the 12 months ending June 2016, U.S. sales of men's and women's jeans grew 2 percent to nearly $13 billion, driven by a 4 percent increase in the number of pairs of women's jeans sold.

True Religion had 160 stores as of January. This spring, the company was searching for a turnaround adviser to help reverse its fortunes and had been in talks with Harry Wilson's Maeva Group LLC, Reuters reported in April

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN12C24P

 

[Deleted member 37467]

I don't pray and True Religion is trash.

 

[ninjahood]

I don't pray and True Religion is trash.

im not exactly their core audience either...

athleisure is type eating away everything...im in some joggers sweats damn near daily now..just mad comfy.

 

[getback]

 

[$tacy]

That wave died in 2011

 

[Deleted member 37467]

I don't pray and True Religion is trash.

im not exactly their core audience either...

athleisure is type eating away everything...im in some joggers sweats damn near daily now..just mad comfy.

Yea, this kind of pisses me off.

I've been bumming wearing nothing but sweats and jerseys since I've been born and now this is like the new fad.

Along w/ ripped jeans, adi boosts and band tees that you've probably never listened to.

 

[lamekilla]

Levi's > True Religion

 

[flyknit]

Meh.

True religion has one demographic while that "comfy" look has multiple.

 

[ninjahood]

That wave died in 2011

this was 2011.

Tru religion relevance in NYC was weird, some hoods it was on fire, other hoods it had been played out here yeaaars... uptown in da heights & dyckman from what i can tell you Tru religion was dirt since about 2007 (da youth was already on H&M & Zara bandwagon by then)...in Harlem & da Bronx it persisted till about 2012 hard, then started to trend downward from there.

 

[oldhotdogwater]

im not exactly their core audience either...

athleisure is type eating away everything...im in some joggers sweats damn near daily now..just mad comfy.

You sure about that bruh?

 

[Arthur Shelby]

View media item 2208141
Still crazy to me they had a second run of popularity


True's was heavy in 2 different eras ​

 

[oldhotdogwater]

Biker jeans took over(which will also fall off soon)

 

[OTG]

trues been trash... moms gave me a pair back in 07 and i never touched em

 

[ninjahood]

im not exactly their core audience either...


athleisure is type eating away everything...im in some joggers sweats damn near daily now..just mad comfy.

You sure about that bruh?

not my style, i gotten 1 pair from a lady friend of mine almost a decade ago (when it was all bootcut, which i had to taper) and ive worn them twice at most.

i was always a sportswear/jerseys/activewear kinda guy.

 

[oldhotdogwater]

not my style, i gotten 1 pair from a lady friend of mine almost a decade ago (when it was all bootcut, which i had to taper) and ive worn them twice at most.

i was always a sportswear/jerseys/activewear kinda guy.

Do you go to clubs/louges?

 

[ninjahood]

View media item 2208141
Still crazy to me they had a second run of popularity


True's was heavy in 2 different eras ​

u can argue 3...1, their original target market (which wasn't urban) 2, Northeast, 3 da South.​

 

[freakydestroyer]

Ok now when will Ecko go out of business. They have 9 lives

 

[ninjahood]

not my style, i gotten 1 pair from a lady friend of mine almost a decade ago (when it was all bootcut, which i had to taper) and ive worn them twice at most.


i was always a sportswear/jerseys/activewear kinda guy.

Do you go to clubs/louges?

i can get into any club/lounge i want with everything i wear around my hood..this ain't da late 90's anymore.. those promoters gotta convince people to separate from social media...they need all da bodies they can get.

 

[oldhotdogwater]

i can get into any club/lounge i want with everything i wear around my hood..this ain't da late 90's anymore.. those promoters gotta convince people to separate from social media...they need all da bodies they can get.

Bruh most places aint letting you in with tech fleece shorts

 

[ZOMBAVELI THE DON]

robin jeans i dont do the trues 

 

[jape]

i can get into any club/lounge i want with everything i wear around my hood..this ain't da late 90's anymore.. those promoters gotta convince people to separate from social media...they need all da bodies they can get.

you not going to the right clubs/lounges if you can get in wearing sweatpants

 

[mycoldyourdone]

Damn, i remember when there was bootleg true religions and evisu everywhere

 

[SC kid]

Athleisure.....like u said ninja

 

[$tatus $ymbol]

Been a min since I seen a Euro papi in some trueys. Used to see them boys come through the outlets & grab up all the bootcut trues you would need for a lifetime They wearing tech fleece & sweats now. Denim is played. Probably never put on a pair of blue jeans again in my life

 

[jewseejay]

Im about to find some in my closet and rockem tommorrow on everything

I wish i still had some Girbauds