Fashion designer Trelise Cooper (centre), during Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, 2004. Photo: AFP/ William West
Leading fashion business Trelise Cooper has denied a media report that it is up for sale.
The Australian reported Dame Trelise Cooper had put her brand and shops on both sides of the Tasman on the market as she looked to step back from the business she started more than 25 years ago.
The media outlet said that business advisory firm PwC had circulated an information sheet among potential investors in Australia.
However, Cooper's company said in a statement it had been looking at options to fund expansion.
"Trelise Cooper Group can confirm that as a result of our continuing growth we were previously looking at a series of investment options to assist us to meet the increased demand for our product collections both here and internationally.
"At this time we are no longer pursuing international expansion and therefore withdrew plans a few months ago."
Cooper has six shops in New Zealand and one in Melbourne, as well as an online sales platform and a network of more than 200 stockists in both countries, through which she sells a range of clothing brands, interior fabrics, and accessories.
The business was forecast to have revenue of $24 million in the current financial year, with a forecast operating earnings margin of 20 percent.
Cooper started the business in 1985 with a boutique in Auckland, and in 2014 was knighted for services to fashion and the community.
Her work has been seen in magazines such as Vogue and Marie Claire, and in the television series Sex and the City.
The business's website said clients had included entertainment celebrities Liv Tyler, Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Jane Seymour, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Cooper was involved in intellectual property disputes, including challenging Arrowtown designer Tamsin Cooper over the use of the name Cooper, which was settled in 2007.
In 2018, the brand scored among the lowest in the charity Tearfund's ethical fashion report, but objected that it should not be judged because it had chosen not to participate.
