The Canadian apparel maker, Gildan Activewear (also known as the company behind Kanye West’s merchandise) has won a bankruptcy auction for American Apparel. The latter has had a tumultuous few years with a prior bankruptcy, sex scandals and poor treatment of workers. Gildan’s initial bid of $66 million was raised to $88 million thereby winning the auction. The full acquisition is expected to be be completed by February 2017.
The recent American Apparel bankruptcy auction attracted interest, from popular brands such as Forever 21 and Amazon. Gildan’s acquisition deal of the brand includes the acquisition of its intellectual property rights and selected manufacturing equipment. Gildan will integrate the LA-based brand within its printwear business by separately purchasing inventory from American Apparel as the acquisition happens. However, Gildan will not be purchasing any American Apparel retail store assets.
Glenn Chamandy, president and CEO of Gildan issued a statement, “We are excited to be moving forward with this acquisition. The American Apparel brand will be a strong complementary addition to our growing brand portfolio. We see strong potential to grow American Apparel sales by leveraging our extensive printwear distribution networks in North America and internationally to drive further market share penetration in the fashion basics segment of these markets”.
Gildan VP of Communications Garry Bell has confirmed that Gildan will not be taking on American Apparel’s manufacturing facility leases noting that a comprehensive plan for how the fashion brand will be manufactured is being worked out now and could be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
Gildan has manufacturing facilities within and out of U.S..Bell added that Gildan is seizing on the chance to capitalize on American Apparel’s premium fashion brand image and reputation for soft and innovative fabrics. “We have a good track record of keeping the core DNA of a brand intact while using our operational expertise to expand its success,” he said.
PromosXchange has a longstanding partnership with Gildan. We look forward to Gildan’s acquisition of American Apparel and the potential of passing on the benefits of this acquisition to end buyers of promotional clothing.
For enquiries on Gildan apparel for your next branding campaign, call us on 1800 776 667.
