PARIS AFP The outlook for beleaguered French couture house Christian Lacroix looked bleak at the weekend after potential buyers let a deadline pass to deposit cheques ahead of Tuesdays bankruptcy court hearing The fate of the houses employees was grimmer still with only 11 out of more than 100 workers likely to keep their jobs in a bestcase scenario But the judicial Regis Vaillot said It is not all over yet anything could happen predicting that new players could emerge in the next few months while that for the time being there was no plan B Neither the Emirate sheikh nor a French firm who have both expressed interest in acquiring the prestigious fashion house submitted financial guarantees to back their proposals by a deadline which expired last Thursday Vaillot told AFP That means the court will be free to decide on Tuesday whether to accept the liquidation plan submitted by thehouses owners the US dutyfree giant Falic The plan envisages shedding almost all the jobs winding up the couture and business and paying off the houses creditors with its licensing deals Only 11 employees will be kept on to administer the houses accessory and perfume licenses The court could decide to turn down the plan on the grounds that it does not safeguard enough jobs and does not maintain the houses principal activity Vaillot explained while admitting this would be unlikely although possible in law If this route were chosen all the employees would lose their jobs but the liquidator could sell the brand at auction which could result in enough money being raised to pay off the creditors Founded in 1987 with the backing of the worlds leading luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton which sold it on to Falic in 2005 the house of Christian Lacroix ran up losses of 10 149 million dollars in 2008 for sales of 30 million euros Frontrunner Sheikh Hassan Ben Ali alNaimi who is close to the ruling family of the Ajman emirate stepped in in September when the Italian retailer Borletti pulled out His formal offer of 100 million euros which the couturier favours would cover clearing the debts and covering the losses expected in relaunching and developing the brand But at the last hearing on November 17 he dropped a bombshell when he said through a in court that he was unable to come up with the financial guarantees to back his proposal Valliot said he believed that serious new bidders who did not want to get bogged down in court proceedings could emerge in the coming months He also did not rule out that the sheikh might be able to come up with liquidity at a later date If the house is able to resume its or couture activities within a year będzie zgodnie z prawem francuskim korzystają priorytet na uzyskiwanie ich stary zadania z powrotem Valliot powiedział