As part of this contract, PDS – through a UK subsidiary – will serve as the global hub for this newly established TDG and take on Ted Baker’s design and merchandising functions.

Pallak Seth, vice chairman at PDS, tells Just Style exclusively that this new hub is the perfect opportunity for the company to work with an “iconic British brand”. PDS will become a core licensee and operating partner for Ted Baker.

“We will serve as the global hub for the newly established Ted Baker Design Group (TDG) and take on Ted Baker’s design and merchandising functions.”

Seth elaborated that PDS is seeing the opportunity to run the offices for global retailers in other parts of the world such as Asia. He said: “We now have the opportunity to offer complete brand management. In the future, there are many retail global companies that want to have design as a service for their brands but find it difficult to hire the right people and put the structure in place so PDS will be offering partnerships in other places in the world.”

TDG, which will be located at Ted Baker’s current London headquarters at 101 Cleveland Street, will be responsible for all design, development, and product innovation servicing partners around the world, ensuring that the brand’s vision and ethos are preserved. 

Sanjay Jain, CEO of PDS, added: “We are expanding our service offerings to iconic global brands such as Ted Baker. This is our second partnership with Authentic Brands as last year we signed a license agreement for the brand Forever 21 for the UK and Europe region. With Ted Baker, our services extend to delivering expertise in brand development, design, and merchandising.”

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“We are pleased to announce Authentic’s partnerships with PDS for Ted Baker in the UK and Europe,” said John McNamara, chief transition officer at Authentic. “We are also proud to introduce Ted Baker Design Group, which is derived from the model through which we have seen great success with Reebok. The formation of TDG, supported by the expertise of PDS and Authentic, positions the brand for continued growth and expansion around the world.”

PDS explained that global Ted Baker distribution partners will purchase the brand’s core categories from TDG, including men’s and women’s sportswear and outerwear, men’s dress shirts, women’s dresses, and fashion handbags.

Additionally, TDG will service wholesale accounts in the UK and Europe.

Chloe Collins, analyst at Just Style’s parent company GlobalData, pointed out that Ted Baker is in “desperate” need of refreshing its designs as its brand image is outdated. She said: “As of July 2022, sales were still significantly below pre-pandemic levels, as the brand has lost relevance from not adapting to the wider shift to more casual apparel.”

Authentic Brands Group completed the acquisition of Ted Baker in October 2022 for GBP211m (US$253.5m) in a move analysts said could give the UK fashion brand the stability it needs to turn its fortunes around.

Recently, Rachel Osbourne who was promoted to CEO of Ted Baker in March 2020 is among the executives set to step down from the position in the wake of the takeover by Authentic.