High street fashion group Sissy Boy has applied for court protection from creditors after failing to find a buyer, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.

Sissy Boy has some 45 stores in the Benelux and the shops and webshop will remain open for the time being, the company said. Talks with a ‘Dutch family firm’ were at an advanced stage but the company has now pulled out.

Sissy Boy was taken over by Brand Retail Group in 2017 and was put up for sale at the end of last year after experiencing poor sales.

There have been a string of high profile bankruptcies among Dutch retail companies in recent months. Last month, fashion chain Coolcat, like Sissy Boy also founded in the early 1980s, went bankrupt.