Threadless, best known for their graphic apparel and accessories, has acquired direct to consumer shoe brand, Bucketfeet.
Threadless acquired Bucketfeet to expand their product line from a vast collection of apparel, home, and accessory items into high quality, on-demand manufactured shoes. Artist Shops allows anyone to set up their own store for free with Threadless handling all of the logistics like manufacturing, order fulfillment, and customer service.
“We have similar goals,” said Threadless founder and CEO, Jake Nickell. “Threadless was founded in 2000 to support independent artists through apparel, Bucketfeet was founded in 2011 to support independent artists through footwear. By combining our communities and resources, we’re giving artists a whole new way to feature their art and to do what Threadless has always set out to do: make great together.”
Threadless & Bucketfeet recently launched a collaboration, offering a limited collection of footwear featuring Threadless designs exclusively available on Bucketfeet’s website. Bucketfeet’s extremely high quality shoes made to order from scratch are a natural fit with Threadless’ artists and designs. The process of construction allows for designs to be printed before the shoe is created, thus maintaining print quality throughout the manufacturing process.
“Threadless is the godfather of artist-designed eCommerce. We wanted to partner with a company that allowed us to scale our own Bucketfeet brand globally and much more rapidly,” said Bucketfeet co-founder, Raaja Nemani. “Together, we will immediately be the global leader in on-demand footwear manufacturing.”
Bucketfeet’s online shop will continue to remain open through the holidays. Threadless will slowly integrate Bucketfeet’s shop and collections onto http://www.threadless.com in the new year. Until then, Bucketfeet’s online store will function independently and remain fully shoppable through the transition.
“When we heard Threadless was interested in acquiring Bucketfeet, our first thought was: ‘they are literally the perfect company to take over,’” said Bucketfeet’s co-founder and chief artist, Aaron Firestein. “Threadless is a company that has dedicated itself to empowering and working with artists all over the world. As an artist first and foremost, I really could not be more thrilled to have them continue our legacy.”
Customers and fans are encouraged to visit bucketfeet.com to see the full collection of designs and shoes. Artists are encouraged to visit threadless.com and sign up to be notified when shoes become available in Artist Shops.
