An upstart clothing company has acquired a second brand out of the 2008 demise of Irvine-based Rays Apparel Inc.
Santa Ana-based Life Distribution LLC recently bought Split Apparel, a maker of surf-inspired clothes, for undisclosed terms.
It’s the second clothing brand formerly sold by Rays to fall under Life Distribution. The company got its start last year after picking up Ambiguous Clothing USA, which used to be part of Rays.
Rays closed in 2008 after turning unprofitable in the downturn.
“We opened Life Distribution last year to keep Ambiguous alive,” said President Dave Patri. “We’re ecstatic to now bring Split under that same umbrella.”
Life is one of a handful of companies here that acquires the rights to brands and then designs and markets clothes under their names. Rays did the same thing. Irvine-based La Jolla Group Inc., maker of O’Neill and other brands, is one of the biggest companies in that group.
The acquisition of Split brings the brand back to Patri, one of its original founders. He started the Split clothing line with friends back in college.
Patri, Scott VanDerripe, Scott Bailey and three design students formed the brand in 1988 in San Luis Obispo.
“It was a bunch of guys straight out of college who were like, ‘Let’s start a clothing brand,’” Patri said.
In 1990, Split, still a garage business, became one of the first clothing companies to draw inspiration from surfing as well as skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross and music. This is a mix common among what are known as action sports clothing companies today.
Rays acquired the Split brand in 1999.
Split saw some prospective buyers with the demise of Rays but ultimately languished after the closure, Patri said.
“There were a lot of offers for Split over the past few years, but all the offers fell through,” he said.
The brand went on hiatus in the U.S. and continued to be sold by licensees in Brazil and Canada.
Patri said he kept an eye on Split after acquiring Ambiguous, which got its start in 1995 and was acquired by Rays in 2006.
Split continued to have a following, he said. So Patri said he approached former partners VanDerripe and Bailey earlier this year about buying their stakes in the Split name.
Money generated in Patri’s revival of Ambiguous allowed him to buy out Split’s stakeholders, he said. Ambiguous had declined under Rays with most of its designers and marketers leaving before the closure to start Costa Mesa-based Comune LLC.
“We effectively started at zero and have been working to get a solid foothold,” Patri said.
Ambiguous’ marketing has been focused on skateboarders with advertising in major skate magazines and Web sites. The company has targeted boutiques to sell the brand, including Costa Mesa-based The Closet LLC.
Life Distribution has a different plan for Split—Patri wants to push the brand back into mass retailers.
Split became a sizable brand in the 2000s with sales at department stores and discount retailers.
Patri’s goal is to re-establish store sales with Split’s 2011 spring and fall lines.
The company plans to relaunch Split with clothes for guys next spring. A line for teen girls and young women is set to follow in late 2011.
Patri, who had a hand in creating the original Split line for females, said he is looking to reinvent the brand to appeal to fashion trends.
“The whole look of the girl’s line is going to be much more fashion-oriented and boutique,” Patri said. “It will be more current to the trends going on right now.”
The lines are expected to include hoodies, T-shirts, accessories and other products.
The company has 11 workers in Santa Ana and about 10 at an office in France. The Santa Ana office has a small skateboarding facility and art studio.
The company makes some prototypes locally and contracts with factories in Asia for the bulk of its production.
The brand competes with the KR3W brand run by Santa Ana-based One Distribution LLC and the 686 brand run by Irvine-based Westlife Distribution USA LLC.
There are no plans for additional acquisitions, according to Patri.
“We’re going to focus on Ambiguous and Split going forward,” he said.
