Levi Strauss to promote Dockers to emblem control company Authentic Brands Group

Levi Strauss has agreed to promote Dockers to emblem control company Authentic Brands Group for $311 million, the firms introduced Tuesday. 

Under the phrases of the deal, Authentic will personal Dockers’ highbrow belongings whilst Centric Brands will tackle operations, dealing with production, sourcing and distribution. Under the logo control industry style, Levi’s stands to make as much as $391 million in years to come in response to how neatly Dockers plays below the Authentic umbrella, which additionally comprises Forever 21’s highbrow belongings and types like Reebok and Nautica.

“The Dockers transaction further aligns our portfolio with our strategic priorities, focusing on our direct-to-consumer first approach, growing our international presence and investing in opportunities across women’s and denim lifestyle,” Levi’s CEO Michelle Gass mentioned in a remark. “After a robust process, we are confident that we maximized the value of the business and that Authentic is the right organization to usher in the next chapter of growth for the Dockers brand.” 

In October, Levi’s introduced it was once considering promoting Dockers because it regarded to concentrate on rising its namesake line and its athleisure emblem, Beyond Yoga. Levi’s created Dockers in 1986 as a hedge in opposition to denim and to provide customers another: khakis. The emblem was once massively widespread all over the 1990s and 2000s, however khakis have since fallen out of favor within the U.S., particularly not too long ago as denim makes some other comeback. 

To develop Dockers, Levi’s wanted to provide extra tops and bottoms, however the corporate is doing the similar factor at its namesake banner and there was once an excessive amount of overlap between the 2 manufacturers. Dockers’ efficiency was once additionally dragging down Levi’s effects and Gass, who took the helm of the corporate somewhat over a 12 months in the past, has been operating to bring to a halt extraneous companies to gas expansion and concentrate on direct promoting. 

In the 3 months ended March 2, Levi’s reported $67 million in income associated with Dockers. The determine is not similar to the year-ago length as a result of Levi’s best not too long ago began breaking out the efficiency of every particular person emblem. 

While khakis have fallen out of fashion within the U.S., Dockers remains to be widespread in another country, which is what makes a emblem control corporate a strategic have compatibility, in accordance to those who have observed Dockers’ financials and spoke at the situation of anonymity as a result of the main points had been personal. Firms like Authentic are professional at all of a sudden licensing and deploying manufacturers the world over.

In a press liberate, Authentic mentioned it plans to “unlock new opportunities” for Dockers via its world community of 1,700 licensing companions. It mentioned it’s in energetic discussions with regional operators in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia to extend Dockers’ present companies throughout the ones markets. 

“Few brands own a category the way Dockers does, yet still have so much room to grow,” mentioned Matt Maddox, president at Authentic. “Its legacy in casualwear gives it a strong foundation, but the real opportunity lies in reimagining the brand for a new generation. Through our global platform and deep licensing network, we’re committed to stewarding the brand into its next era of growth and relevance.”