Petra dissolves ‘stark raving mad’ bag firm
PETRA Ecclestone named her fashion label Stark after her billionaire father, Bernie, called the idea ‘stark raving mad’, so he probably won’t be too surprised to learn that she’s finally called time on the business.
I can disclose that the Formula 1 heiress has applied for Stark & Co, which had net liabilities of nearly £4.3million, to be struck off the Companies House register and dissolved. ‘It’s the end of a dream,’ one of her friends sighs.
When Petra, 33, launched the accessories business in 2011, she declared: ‘It’s not about me. It’s not a Petra Ecclestone handbag. It’s a Stark handbag. There’s a huge difference.’
The deluxe handbags and purses, made from python and alligator skin, were priced between £400 and £3,000.
She didn’t have any more luck with her previous venture, Form, a men’s clothing firm she launched in 2008, which went bust after only 14 months.
At least her sister, Tamara, 37, won’t be able to make any snotty comments — earlier this month, I disclosed that her ‘artistic creation’ firm, SBD International, had racked up an astonishing £26 million deficit. In 2019, Tamara shut down two of her companies: her natural baby and toddler care collection Fifi & Friends, and her Show Beauty salons and spin-off products.
Petra and her fiance, the former used-car salesman Sam Palmer, announced earlier this year that they were launching a venture selling ‘pre-owned designer clothes’ belonging to her and Tamara, called Luxe a Vendre.
Tamara once recorded a video tour of her walk-in wardrobe, which featured 22 pairs of Gucci mules, 81 sets of Victoria’s Secret pyjamas and an entire wall of Chanel bags.
A spokesman for Petra tells me: ‘The Stark inventory was all sold off in the Luxe a Vendre pop-up shop for a [charitable] foundation and there was no purpose to continue the company after this.’