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Dive Brief:
- Deckers sold footwear brand Sanuk to athleticwear company Lolë Brands, according to a press release sent to sister publication Fashion Dive. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
- Katie Pruitt, previously brand director for Sanuk at Deckers, will continue to lead the brand at Lolë as Sanuk’s vice president and general manager. In the role, she will focus on brand strategy and prioritizing DTC and wholesale customers to drive innovation and growth, per the release.
- In Deckers’ most recent earnings report last month, its outgoing CEO Dave Powers said the company had reached a deal to divest the Sanuk brand, but he didn’t provide further information.
Dive Insight:
Sanuk was removed from Deckers’ forward-looking guidance in its most recent earnings. In the company’s first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, the brand saw net sales decrease 28.4% year over year to $6.9 million.
Under the deal with Lolë, Sanuk is relocating its operations to a new office in Los Angeles.
In Lolë’s press release, the company said Sanuk would “benefit from a renewed investment to build on its core strengths, such as unique, consumer-centric products and marketing.”
The purchase of Sanuk builds on Lolë’s acquisition of athleisure brand Époque Évolution last year. In an email to Fashion Dive, Pruitt and Lolë CEO Todd Steele said Sanuk was a “natural fit” for Lolë, which is focused on growing its business “with a portfolio of synergistic, environmentally conscious brands.”
“Sanuk shares our dedication to responsible, ethical production, sustainable choices, innovation in the marketplace and fostering an authentic connection with customers,” Pruitt and Steele said.
They added that the company is excited to expand its footprint and customer base in the U.S. through these partnerships.
“We see incredible opportunities for growth in Sanuk, and with Lolë’s financial and strategic support, we look forward to exploring new product categories and broadening its audience to introduce even more consumers to the brand,” Pruitt and Steele said in the statement.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Laurel Deppen, Khareem Sudlow
