Dive Brief:
- Authentic Brands Group has found new operators for its Forever 21 brand, whose U.S. operating company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and closed all stores.
- Unique Brands will run Forever 21’s U.S. e-commerce and men’s wholesale; Mark Edwards Apparel now runs women’s wholesale; and Kidz Concepts will be the brand’s U.S. partner for kidswear, Authentic said by email Wednesday.
- Forever 21’s U.S. operating company filed for Chapter 11 in March — its second since 2019 — and has been winding down after failing to find a buyer.
Dive Insight:
These deals ensure that Forever 21 continues on, at least online. Given Authentic’s stake in Catalyst Brands, which includes J.C. Penney and other retailers, the brand may also end up in third-party stores.
But the fast-fashion brand’s brick-and-mortar era is over in the U.S. (The retailer still operates stores and runs pop-up activations in certain international markets.)
Jarrod Weber, Authentic Brands Group’s global president for sports and lifestyle, called it “a sensational new chapter for Forever 21.”
“By aligning with expert operators in digital commerce, wholesale and youth apparel, we are setting Forever 21 up for long-term relevance and success, delivering fast, accessible fashion to Millennial, Gen Z and future generations through the channels they trust and prefer,” he said in a statement.
Even online, though, it faces many of the same challenges outlined in papers filed with the bankruptcy court earlier this year, including inflation, consumer weakness and competition from the likes of Temu and Shein.
Forever 21 actually forged a partnership with Shein in 2023, allowing them to sell each other’s goods. But Forever 21 couldn’t keep up with Shein’s low-price lead, Stephen Coulombe, co-chief restructuring officer of Forever 21’s bankrupt operating company, told the court earlier this year. (One advantage cited by Coulombe, the “de minimis exemption” that spared goods valued under $800 from import duties, is no longer valid under the Trump administration’s trade policy, at least for now.)
Authentic and mall landlords Simon Property Group and Brookfield bought Forever 21 out of bankruptcy in 2020 for $81 million, a move that Authentic CEO Jamie Salter came to regret.
The acquisition was “probably the biggest mistake I made,” he said a couple of years ago.
