Premium slipper brand Mahabis has entered administration, becoming the first online retailer to fall victim to a slump in Christmas sales.

The London-based company, founded by former barrister Ankur Shah in 2014, manufactures slippers with detatchable soles for outdoor and indoors wear.

The company claims to have sold nearly a million pairs of slippers to customers in over 100 countries, establishing itself as a luxury footwear brand fuelled by a strong digital and social media presence.

It entered into administration on 27 December. A statement posted to the company’s website reads: “We have, for the moment, ceased trading as the administrators take over the business.

“We are all desperately disappointed at this outcome. Please bear with us as we do our best to work through the current circumstances.”

The company also stated that it could not guarantee that customers returning goods would receive a full refund and that any returns could take many months for the administrator to process.

In an interview published in the Times newspaper in October last year, Shah said he had ambitions to make Mahabis the “Nike of downtime”, adding that he had set out to become “the slipper baron of north London”.

The company had used targeted advertising on social media to build its customer base, with 10,000 people signed up to a waiting list for Mahabis before the product had launched in 2014.

The company saw sales on £1.5 million of slippers in its first year of trading, £10 million in the second and was expecting sales of “well over £20 million” in the third, Shah said in October.

The news of Mahabis’ collapse into administration comes after a difficult Christmas trading period for High Street and online retailers as the shift to online and digital services creates a growing storm for traditional retail models.

Music retail giant HMV collapsed into administration for the second time in six years, putting 2,200 jobs at risk across 130 stores. It last fell into administration in January 2013 and was rescued when Hilco, which this year also bought DIY chain Homebase, acquired the business in a £50 million deal.

Yorkshire-based menswear chain Greenwoods has also re-entered administration proceedings just 18 months after it was first rescued from collapse.

Notices posted on windows at Greenwoods stores read: “All outlets of Versatile International Trading Ltd t/a Greenwoods Menswear have now closed for business permanently.”

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