Society Brands, an e-commerce aggregator, has acquired Barnesmith, the collegiate apparel manufacturer for nearly 150 schools under licensed designs. Barnesmith’s headquarters is in Newport Beach, CA.
With the acquisition, Barnesmith can expand its business to serve over 300 colleges and manufacture additional clothing lines, including branded hats, pants and ties.
“We’re so proud to have Barnesmith become part of the Society Brands portfolio,” said Eric Barnes, founder and brand president, Barnesmith. “When considering partnering with Society Brands, I wanted to align with a team that would provide stewardship and support for our company into the future. Society Brands has a unique model that allows our team to keep executing and growing the brand but provides a platform of support services and a portfolio of e-commerce peer collaboration that no other buyer or aggregator could have offered. In addition, Barnesmith will now be able to expand to more universities and colleges across the country and into other clothing sectors.”
Barnes assumes the role of brand president, reflecting Society Brands’ “founder-friendly” business model, where founders have the option to remain working with their company.
“We are excited to have Eric and Barnesmith join the ‘society’ as we continue acquiring brands with great foundations and great founders,” said Michael Sirpilla, CEO, Society Brands. “Eric is a veteran of the Amazon and e-commerce space and has strong marketing, product development and sourcing skills that will be an important asset to the community of like-minded entrepreneurs we are building.”
Since its first institutional capital raise of $205 million led by i80 Group in March 2022, Society Brands has six brands in its portfolio within various consumer product categories.
