Creative Direction
Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff founded her eponymous brand in New York City in 2005, starting with handbags and expanding into clothing and shoes. Global supply chain issues flattened sales in 2021, as overseas manufacturers prioritized larger retailers. Minkoff, who sold minority stakes in the company in 2012 and 2014, knew the brand needed to protect itself from those same issues in the future. So, in 2022, she sold the company to Sunrise Brands, whose apparel portfolio includes American Rag and NYDJ, reportedly for $13 million to $19 million. We spoke with Minkoff about how selling created new opportunities.
We’d been talking with Sunrise about a denim license for a year or so when we started to feel our supply chain collapsing. Sunrise had sourcing offices in Hong Kong and imported goods by plane, which would significantly reduce the cost of materials and open up new pricing structures. It also had expertise in clothing and shoes,
which we needed to expand those lines, plus relationships with vendors we hadn’t dealt with. We asked if it would make sense for us to become strategic partners.
The process took about three months. We agreed early on that the deal wouldn’t happen unless I stayed at the company. I’ve spent almost 20 years building this brand and I’m intimately connected to it in the eyes of our customers. The day we announced the sale to our 27 employees, we all cried both happy and sad tears, because though it’s a great experience, it’s still an unknown. For so long, this had been our thing with no mom and dad, and now it would be in new hands.
Since the sale, everyone on our team has been able to focus on what they do best. At a small, independent company, even if you’re the design director, you’re still involved in other things, like staffing issues in a factory overseas. That goes for me, too. Before, I’d have to tend to any hole in the boat. Now, I have stresses and concerns, but they’re only in my areas. I’m able to put all my focus and energy into being the best public-facing founder and creative director. We can see the difference as a company. The feedback we’re hearing about our products has never been better.”