Crumpler will be reborn with co-founder Dave Roper and his daughter buying the company

Crumpler will rise from the ashes of its $50m-plus collapse, with co-founder Dave Roper and his daughter buying the Melbourne bag manufacturer.

Dave Roper, who co-founded Crumpler, has bought the business back from private equity.

Much-loved Australian bag manufacturer Crumpler has been bought out of administration by one of its original founders, who will turn it into a family affair.

Crumpler, which was majority owned by Crescent Capital, collapsed in September with debts of more than $53m, almost $50m of which was owed to Crescent itself.

Mr Roper and his daughter Virginia Martin will pay $5m for the business, with unsecured creditors to receive between 6c and 9c in the dollar under a deed of company arrangement, documents sourced from the corporate regulator show.

When it was placed in voluntary administration the business had 11 active stores in Australia, most of which had been shuttered due to the pandemic, but company records sourced by The Australian showed it was in trouble before Covid-19 hit, making a loss of $8.45m in the 2019 financial year following a loss of $8.51m the previous year.

Mr Roper, who co-founded the business with Will Miller and Stuart Crumpler in Melbourne in 1995, said Crumpler would go back to its roots, focusing on the hard-wearing, well-designed products which garnered it a strong following before it was bought out by private equity.

Mr Roper, who has not had an executive role at the business since Crescent bought in, back in 2014, said he would run the business with his daughter, who runs fashion label búl and would act as creative director.

Mr Roper said the business attracted 60 expressions of interest and 20 parties from around the world placed bids, but it seemed many of these were only interested in the company’s intellectual property.

In contrast, Mr Roper will now restart the manufacturing process at the company’s Fitzroy workshop store and would reinstate the company’s original logo which the previous owners had seen fit to change.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks trying to organise everything but we’ve managed to pull it off,’’ Mr Roper said.

“I’ve actually been working in the Melbourne store for the past couple of days to get reconnected with things and so many people were coming in and saying ‘we heard Crumpler’s going down, we can’t believe it, we’re rushing in to get some stuff just in case’.

“It's been quite overwhelming.’’

Mr Roper said the Australian business would be about one fifth the size of what existed previously, and would focus on operating on a sustainable financial basis.

“We’ve renegotiated the store in Little Bourke St, so that’s reopened a few days ago, and we’ve done the same with the Fitzroy store which we’re turning into a little factory, making bags again.

“We’re quite happy about that. Fitzroy was Crumpler’s first-ever shop and I lived just around the corner from there, over 25 years ago I'd say.

“And we’re hoping to do the same with the Adelaide store. I’m originally from Adelaide so I have a strong connection to that city. One in Sydney as well.

“We’re just starting again really, it’s quite exciting for me, it takes me back to when we started things.’’

Mr Roper said with lockdowns in the eastern states ending recently and travel firmly on the agenda for many people as borders opened up, it was a “perfect’’ time to relaunch the business.

“I just thought it was too good an opportunity at the moment,’’ he said.

“Everyone is embracing their new-found freedoms and everyone is out and about, people are buying luggage and planning trips and cycling, which is very much a part of our heritage.

“I think it’s just perfect, really good timing.’’

Ms Martin, who will be Crumpler's creative director, said she started work as a retail assistant in 1998 at the Fitzroy store, before going on to found her own label.

“Watching Crumpler grow inspired me and gave me the insight to go out and create any own label,’’ Ms Martin said.

“After what seems like a lifetime since the humble beginnings of the first store I am so excited to be back to help Dave return Crumpler to its former glory.’’

The Fitzroy store will reopen on Friday, while stores in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have also reopened.