Dutch footwear brand Etq relaunches online

Amsterdam-based sneaker label Etq is making a restart after it was declared bankrupt in November.

According to its public bankruptcy report, the brand was bought by Groningen-based company Micanza at the end of November. It is so far unclear who is behind Micanza, but the business appears to have been registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce since November 29.

Administrator J.L. Van den Heuvel told Dutch news publication Retailtrends that Etq will go forward as an online-only business, giving up its physical store estate. The Etq website does not appear to have been taken offline since the bankruptcy.

Co-founder of Etq Patrick van der Woude explained last month to another publication, Textilia, that the company got into trouble due to quality and delivery problems at a supplier “in the most important season for Etq”, creating a situation where “the company was no longer viable”.

Etq was founded in Amsterdam in 2010, by Van der Woude and Hugo Castermans. In 2015, the brand opened its first store in Amsterdam.

It is also currently sold at several stores in the Netherlands and two stores in Belgium, according to Etq's website. In the Netherlands, the brand is sold at De Bijenkorf, Coef, Rinsma, Jansen-Noy, and The Society Shop, among other locations.

A year before its bankruptcy, in November of 2021, Etq received another multi-million dollar investment, the exact amount of which was never disclosed. Etq indicated at the time that it would use this to expand to countries such as the UK, Germany, and France.

This article was originally written on FashionUnited.nl before being translated and edited to English