Designer's debts hit £1.8m

FASHION designer Ronit Zilkha, whose clients have included Julia Roberts, Cherie Blair and Geri Halliwell, has had to raise £500,000 from shareholders as losses continue to mount.

Her autumn and winter 2005 collection will be revealed today on the catwalk at the Royal Academy of Arts in central London. But accounts filed last week show she made a pre-tax loss of £313,000 on turnover of £6m in the year to last April.

That was an improvement on the previous year and the company says it is confident of continuing growth.

But cumulative losses now stand at £1.8m and the accounts reveal that a £640,000 loan from a shareholder was converted to preference shares and further shares were issued, raising £300,000 for the current year and £200,000 in the next financial year. Zilkha's main investor is the 3i venture capital group.

She has seven shops in the UK and 11 concessions in department stores and showrooms in London and Paris.