If you searched “Is Nakd going out of business?” you probably got a confusing mix of results. Some pages talk about a fashion brand. Others mention stock crashes, meme stocks, and electric vehicles. It feels like a mess — and that’s because you’re actually looking at two completely different companies with nearly identical names.
This article will clear that up. You’ll learn exactly what happened to each one, which “Nakd” is still open, and how to check for yourself whether a fashion brand is still operating.
Two Different Companies Share a Nearly Identical Name
This is the root of all the confusion, so let’s sort it out first.
NA-KD (often written as nakdfashion) is a Swedish online women’s fashion retailer. It sells clothing, shoes, and accessories. It has nothing to do with the stock market drama you may have read about.
Naked Brand Group was a separate company — a U.S.-listed lingerie and swimwear business that traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NAKD. It is no longer operating as a clothing company. More on that shortly.
The similar spelling — “Nakd” for the fashion brand and “NAKD” for the stock — is why search results mix them together. News headlines about the stock collapse and merger show up right next to shopping pages for the fashion brand. These two businesses have no legal or corporate connection to each other whatsoever.
NA-KD the Fashion Brand Is Still Open
If you’re a shopper wondering whether you can still order from NA-KD, the answer is yes. The store is active.
NA-KD’s website is currently running with new arrivals, seasonal collections, and regular product updates. Their Instagram account, @nakdfashion, describes the brand as “the leading social-first fashion house” and posts regularly — including influencer campaigns, collection launches, and events like an influencer trip to New York City.
There are no credible reports of NA-KD filing for insolvency, entering liquidation, or shutting down its store. No official closure announcements have been made.
Why People Think NA-KD Might Be Closing
NA-KD is a digital-native brand. It doesn’t have a big chain of physical stores. It lives on social media, influencer partnerships, and its website. For some shoppers, that makes it feel less “real” or less stable than a brand with a high street presence.
When you add in the flood of negative headlines about the NAKD stock, it’s easy to see why people get nervous. But those headlines are about a completely different company.
How to Check If a Fashion Brand Is Still Trading
You don’t need to dig through financial filings to figure this out. Here’s a simple process:
- Visit the official website. Are there new arrivals? Is the product catalog current season? Can you add items to a cart?
- Check their main social media account. Are they posting this week? This month? Are they running active campaigns?
- Look for closure signals. A brand that is shutting down usually announces a final sale, posts a closure notice, or files publicly for bankruptcy. If none of that is visible, the brand is likely still operating.
- Try customer service. Send a quick message or check if their chat is live. A working support team means someone is still running the business.
NA-KD passes all of these checks right now. Active website, regular social posts, ongoing campaigns. There is no sign of closure.
What Actually Happened to Naked Brand Group and NAKD Stock
This is where the “going out of business” headlines actually come from. Here’s the full story, broken into clear steps.
Step 1: Naked Brand Group Was a Lingerie and Swimwear Company
Naked Brand Group listed on NASDAQ under the ticker NAKD. It owned brands including Bendon, a lingerie and swimwear label. The company was focused on intimate apparel and had been trying to shift its business toward e-commerce.
Step 2: It Became a Meme Stock in 2021
In early 2021, the same wave that pushed GameStop and AMC into the spotlight also hit NAKD. Retail investors on forums like Reddit drove the share price up sharply. Then, like most meme stocks, it crashed back down.
The stock was already in financial difficulty before this happened. The meme-stock moment gave it short-term attention but didn’t fix the underlying problems.
Step 3: The Company Took Desperate Steps to Stay Listed
Naked Brand Group divested its Bendon subsidiary. It conducted a $50 million stock sale to raise cash. There were reports of a potential 1-for-100 reverse stock split — a move companies sometimes use when their share price drops too low to meet exchange requirements.
NASDAQ issued delisting warnings because the stock’s share price had fallen below the minimum required level. This kind of news is what makes people say a company is “going out of business,” even if it hasn’t formally closed.
Step 4: Naked Brand Group Merged with an Electric Vehicle Company
In late 2021, Naked Brand Group announced a merger with Cenntro Automotive Group, an electric vehicle manufacturer. The deal closed in early 2022. The ticker changed from NAKD to CENN, representing the new entity: Cenntro Electric Group.
The apparel business is gone. As Financhill put it, “Naked Brand Group’s apparel line no longer has any relation to the current Cenntro Electric Group entity” — and it is reasonable to say that Naked Brands went out of business as a clothing company.
Cenntro Electric Group still exists on NASDAQ under CENN, but it makes electric vehicles, not lingerie. The original clothing business effectively ended when the merger closed.
Why “Going Out of Business” Does Not Always Mean Bankruptcy
Naked Brand Group did not file for bankruptcy. That’s an important distinction — and it’s one that trips up a lot of readers and investors.
There are several ways a business can effectively end without formally going bankrupt:
- Merger: The company merges with another entity and the original business no longer exists in its prior form.
- Pivot: The company completely changes what it does. Naked Brand went from selling lingerie to being part of an EV company. Same legal shell, completely different business.
- Divestment: Key assets or brands are sold off, leaving little of the original company behind.
- Bankruptcy: This is a formal legal process where a company cannot pay its debts and either restructures or liquidates. Naked Brand did not take this route.
For everyday consumers, the result looks the same — the brand they knew is gone. But for investors and business readers, the difference matters. A bankruptcy has legal implications for creditors and shareholders that a merger does not.
The key lesson here: a company can “go out of business” in the practical sense — meaning its products disappear and its brand ceases to exist — without ever filing a bankruptcy petition.
What This Means for Shoppers and Investors
If You’re a Shopper
NA-KD the fashion brand is not the same as Naked Brand Group. They are unrelated. What happened to the NAKD stock does not affect your ability to shop at NA-KD, place orders, or receive deliveries.
If you want to stay updated on any fashion brand’s status, bookmark the official site and follow their social accounts. That’s faster and more reliable than reading old stock news.
If You’re an Investor
The NAKD story is a useful case study in several things: the short life of meme-stock momentum, how distressed small-cap companies use reverse splits and stock sales to survive, and how a business can pivot into an entirely different industry through a merger.
If you’re researching a stock, always verify the ticker, check recent SEC filings, and confirm what the company actually does now — not just what it used to do. Brand names and tickers can be misleading, especially after mergers and rebranding.
For more practical breakdowns of how businesses work, grow, and sometimes fail, The Business Reads covers these topics in a straightforward way.
The Bottom Line
“Nakd going out of business” means two completely different things depending on which company you’re asking about.
NA-KD, the Swedish fashion brand: Still open. Active website, current collections, regular social media presence. No signs of closure.
Naked Brand Group, the NAKD stock: Gone as a clothing company. It merged with Cenntro Automotive in early 2022, changed its ticker to CENN, and now operates as an electric vehicle business. The lingerie and swimwear side is done.
The confusion comes from one simple fact: two unrelated companies had nearly identical names, and news about one kept showing up when people searched for the other. Now you know exactly which is which — and what actually happened to each one.
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