The Kooples losses widen as French retailer warns of challenging market conditions in the UK

French fashion brand The Kooples – famous for its Kooples couples ad campaign - has found business tough in the UK and reported a 24 per cent widening of losses for 2013.

The brand, founded by three brothers in Paris, filed a £1.46m loss for the year to September 2013, up from £1.17m for the previous period. But turnover ticked up 21 per cent to £18.5m.

The company said its UK business, which launched in 2010, has “shown a strong start in our different locations” but “nevertheless the costs have been higher than anticipated mainly due to strong marketing and advertising expenses".

But it said that its gross margins are anticipated to increase by 10 per cent in future years “due to improved terms” from suppliers.

The rock-star inspired label is backed by the private-equity firm LBO.