For fashion and retail brands looking for an investor or buyer, there's good news and bad news.

Those firms remaining on the acquisitions hunt include:

• Kellwood Co., which is eager to acquire a denim brand;
• Bagir Ltd., the makers of technologically innovative men's and women's suits, which is eyeing Hartmarx Corp. and eager to buy a knit-shirt-blouse brand;
• Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., owner of Calvin Klein and other brands;
• Fashionology, which last year bought Ellen Tracy;
• Rafaella Group, owned by Cerberus Capital;
• Better knitwear firm Ava.

And there are plenty of companies looking for buyers or investors, including Italy's IT Holding for its Ittierre operation and perhaps some of its other brands, which include Malo, Exte and Gianfranco Ferré; Lambertson Truex, which Samsonite is selling; Fortunoff, which is in Chapter 11 and might be headed toward liquidation; Peter Som; Brioni; de Grisogono; Mariella Burani Fashion Group; and Mosaic Fashions, a subsidiary of the bankrupt Baugur Group that owns such U.K. chains as Karen Millen, Oasis, Coast, and Warehouse.

Frederick Schmitt, managing director of Sage Group, said that while both private equity and strategic buyers are worried about retail conditions and limited in their liquidity, two types of companies continue to be attractive investment candidates this year.

The first, he said, are companies that are still doing well even in the economic downturn. The second is a company in trouble that "needs to do a transaction to raise capital or fix their capital structure."

The problem with the first type is that anyone who can is holding off on selling. Tory Burch, which sources said continues to discuss the sale of a stake in the company with several interested parties, is a notable exception. But sources doubt whether a price will be agreed upon, because Burch doesn't require immediate outside investment.

"Who wants to sell at what they perceive to be historical lows?" said Marc Cooper, managing director and partner at Peter J. Solomon Co. "This is a terrible time to be thinking about the sales process."