In The Style founder has ‘no regrets’ about leaving

The founder of online womenswear brand In The Style has said he has “no regrets” about leaving the company two years ago.

In a wide-ranging interview on the We Need to Talk podcast, Adam Frisby went into detail about the rise and fall of the company he founded in his bedroom in 2013 with just £1,000.

In The Style went on to be listed on the London Stock Exchange with a value of more than £100m in 2021.

However, it was delisted two years later and sold to an investor for £1.2m. Earlier this year, it was sold again to avoid going into administration.

Mr Frisby went into detail about the physical and mental toll that the company’s problems took on him, saying he received death threats and homophobic abuse.

Despite being valued at £105m, In The Style ran into problems soon after it floated on the stock market. There was “less interest around fashion businesses post-Covid”, Mr Frisby said, and the company’s costs went up due to the war in Ukraine.

The company recorded a losses of £8.4m before being delisted from the stock market in 2023.

“There was so much cost involved in being on the stock market,” Mr Frisby said. “We tried everything to keep it on the stock market but there was no interest from shareholders.”

Mr Frisby also spoke in detail for the first time about a lengthy legal battle over accusations that he stole the idea for In The Style from another businessman.

He received a legal letter shortly after In The Style’s initial public offering. An onerous back-and-forth ensued, and a High Court hearing eventually took place, around the same time the company was delisted. Mr Frisby won the case.

He said it was “the darkest period of my life”.

“I had to manage this rescue deal whilst appearing in the High Court… I was a shell of myself,” he said.

He said he was also receiving death threats from In The Style shareholders who lost money when the company was sold, as well as homophobic abuse and online hate from people who believed he had stolen the idea for the company.

Additionally, In The Style was pulled into a social media storm when several influencers who partnered with the brand to promote its products claimed they had not been paid.

Less than two years after it was sold, In The Style was on the brink of insolvency. It was bought by Alps Sourcing Limited in a pre-packed deal.

Mr Frisby announced in October 2024 that he would be leaving the company entirely, having stepped down as chief executive in late 2023.

He said the stress of that period was so severe that he told his partner at one point: “You don’t have to be here, you can find someone else.”

“I just thought, it’s not fair what I’m putting him through.”

However, his partner stuck by him and the couple are now expecting a child through surrogacy.

“It’s taken me a long, long time to recover,” he said.

“I think [after] therapy, and lots of conversations later, I have no regrets for what I did.”