Liberated Brands abruptly turned the lights out this week at its Costa Mesa headquarters, while laying off 363 workers after losing out on its licensing deals.
The company – the licensee of Authentic Brands Group’s RVCA, Billabong, Roxy, Quiksilver, Volcom and other labels – informed the state of two Costa Mesa office closures on Wednesday.
Liberated informed the state the licensing deals it once held were being moved to new companies, the Orange County Register reported.
Owners of brands, such as New York brand management firm Authentic Brands, tap companies like Liberated to handle anything from design and manufacturing to distribution of their lines. The licensees are the workhorses that ensure product is actually created in the right way and sold through the right retailers.
Broken Arrangement
Liberated was started in 2019 by former Volcom CEO Todd Hymel. Creation of the business was triggered after luxury conglomerate Kering sold Volcom to Authentic Brands.
Liberated was created to handle Volcom’s operations.
Authentic took a minority stake in Liberated, while Hymel and other members of Volcom management owned a majority. Volcom being placed back in the hands of action sports veterans was viewed as key to maintaining trust, and the business, with core industry surf and skate shops.
The arrangement worked for a few years.
Liberated grew, nabbing the license for Spyder in 2021. It bought Captain Fin Co. in 2022 and had high hopes for spinning the fin maker into a lifestyle brand with its apparel launch.
However, Liberated’s largest business win came in 2023 after Authentic closed on its $1.3 billion purchase of the Boardriders group. The deal gave Authentic the world’s largest portfolio of heritage surf and skate brands.
Layoffs hit the Boardriders group in waves following the deal’s closing as stores, executives and sponsored athletes across Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA and other brands were shed.
Industry retailers, with some hesitation, warmed to the idea of Boardriders’ new ownership when Authentic struck a long-term agreement to have Liberated handle the U.S. and Canada retail and e-commerce for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua and Boardriders. Liberated also took on the wholesale distribution in the U.S. and Canada for Billabong, RVCA and Honolua.
Overseas, Liberated was selected to handle the Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Indonesia business for many of those same brands.
Those announcements in 2023 temporarily quelled industry concerns over Authentic’s ownership. Yet, change now appears afoot once again for the Boardriders group as a wave of talent seeks firmer footing with new companies and the future of the brands is once again questioned.
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