Designer fashion retailer Ssense has laid off eight per cent of its workforce as the company grapples with the impacts of tariffs, The Logic has learned. It’s at least the third round of cuts at the Montreal-based company in the past year, affecting staff across departments, according to current and former employees. 

Managers told several employees who were laid off earlier this month that the company was trying to conserve cash amid global economic uncertainty.

In an email sent to remaining employees Ssense CEO Rami Attallah said “liquidity challenges in luxury retail” were to blame for the cuts, as well as U.S. trade policy causing “ambiguity in assessing the impact on our customer experience and demand in our biggest market,” according to two employees still at the company. The Logic agreed not to name current and former employees because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the company. 

Along with the recent layoffs, the company also clawed back its parental leave benefits, according to current and former employees, and froze bonuses and promotions, two current employees said. 

In a February email to staff seen by The Logic, Attallah said the company had stopped selling products from China and Hong Kong—which represented 17 per cent of its merchandise—to U.S. customers to avoid tariffs. 

Attallah said the company had anticipated disruptions under the new Trump administration, and had been planning for them since December. “If tariffs extend to other regions, especially Europe, the entire luxury fashion industry, including our suppliers and competitors, will face the same disruption and will have to adapt its pricing and supply strategies,” he said in the email. 

One former and one current employee told The Logic the layoffs belie the message the company portrays to employees that its financials are strong. The mixed communication has contributed to a drop in morale at the company, said one current employee who’s worked there for over three years. 

Several sources also said the siloed nature of departments within the company made it difficult for staff to know how cuts have impacted other teams. Ssense did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Ssense senior communications director Janet Park confirmed the layoffs. “We regularly adjust our organizational structure to better align with our strategic priorities and position the company for long-term success,” she said by email. “We remain focused on providing an exceptional global customer experience and being a source of discovery for new and emerging designers.”

Ssense had nearly 1,900 employees as of Dec. 9, 2024, according to business analytics and research firm PitchBook.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy has upended global trade since the start of this year, with sweeping tariffs—or the threat of them—roiling businesses selling into the U.S. The protectionist policy has created difficulties for Ssense’s business. The online platform buys clothes and accessories from nearly 800 global brands and sells them to customers around the world, with the U.S one of its biggest markets.

Challenges at Ssense offer a glimpse into the impacts tariffs are having on the broader luxury fashion industry, with the company distributing a range of brands, from upstart designers to famous fashion houses like Gucci and Prada. 

On April 2, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner and has threatened to further increase levies on several markets, including the EU. Yet, even before the tariffs, Ssense had been trying to cut its spending, said one current employee and two former staff who were laid off this month. 

The company sold a minority stake in the business to Silicon Valley investment giant Sequoia Capital in 2021. How much Sequoia invested wasn’t publicly disclosed, but at the time, it valued Ssense at about $5 billion. It was the first time the firm—founded by Atallah and his two brothers in 2003—took outside funding. Two years later, the company made its first round of layoffs in its 20-year history, cutting 138 staff in January 2023, representing seven per cent of its workforce at the time. 

Ssense is a private company and doesn’t disclose information about its financial performance. In 2021 it was on track to bring in more than US$750 million in revenue that year. Since then, there’s been a global decline in online shopping after a pandemic-era boom. The company cited “a shift in consumer online shopping back to pre-pandemic levels” as one reason for its 2023 cuts.

Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from Ssense and clarify who sent an email.