Following reports that the clothing brand and retailer has been acquired by Farfetch-owned luxury fashion holding company New Guards Group, Opening Ceremony announces that it will be closing all of its stores. News has been confirmed in a series of Instagram posts by Opening Ceremony, addressing fans of the brand/retailer.

According to the social media uploads, Opening Ceremony's retail locations will be closing sometime in 2020. OC in turn plans to focus its energy on growing the brand with its new partners, New Guards Group, while simultaneously expanding designs.

"This is a moment of transition for Opening Ceremony and, together with our new partners, we are taking the chance to step back and evaluate the future of our Opening Ceremony retail experience," one of the Instagram posts reads. "We are stepping back from multi-brand retail, for a moment, so we can come back with an experience that is just as inspiring, filled with love and relevant for the years ahead as Opening Ceremony has been."

OC goes on to add that it will return to creating stores, albeit with a different mindset and perspective to wow customers. In closing, they stated, "As children of immigrants who grew up in the suburbs, looking through magazines to learn about what was happening in fashion and culture, we feel incredibly lucky to have been able to even start this company."

Opening Ceremony was founded in 2002 by fashion designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. The brand/retailer has gone on to open brick-and-mortar locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.

Lim and Leon will reportedly remain as co-creative directors following New Guards Group's acquisition of Opening Ceremony. Subsequently, the OC website will relaunch on Farfetch, and the company’s in-house production line will move to Milan. NGG also plans to open a new showroom for the brand in Paris.