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Anti Social Social Club (“ASSC”), a streetwear label in Los Angeles, founded by Neek Lurk in 2015, was sold to Marquee Brands, a licensing and brand management firm.
The terms of the deal are not disclosed, although sources said the deal was a purchase, not an investment, and that several Anti Social Social Club members now work for the company that manages the labels, including BCBG Max Azria, Ben Sherman and Martha Stewart.
“Our plan is to allow ASSC to be ASSC – with no intention of changing brand DNA, values or culture,” Marquee Brands CEO Neil Fiske said in a statement to BoF. “We offer capital and operating platforms to help them grow. They will remain as enterprising, creative, controversial and amazing as ever. ”
Marquee is a major player in the fashion industry, which in recent years has benefited from the struggle of obsolete brands that were caused by changes in consumer behavior long before the pandemic hit. Authentic Brands Group, which raised USD 3.5 billion in 2021, became the headline of its high-profile total purchases Barney New York and Sports Illustrated office Brooks Brothers and Reebokall the titles that are struggling to develop business models that work in the modern era.
Although his purchases did not receive such widespread press, Marquee went one-on-one with ABG on deals with a USD 462 million fund raised by his support, investment firm Neuberger Berman, in 2016. Fiske, former head of Gap, joined the business in September 2020, just as the market for mergers and acquisitions was heating up. However, as the valuation grew, the company was unable to conclude any new deals after acquiring the Sur La Table cookware brand in August 2020.
Now that the market is cooling with rising inflation, new opportunities are emerging. A former social media manager for Stussy, Lurk founded the Anti Social Social Club on social media by photographing images of T-shirts and creating them after receiving orders from followers. The brand gained additional notoriety after it was worn by Kanye West, although its status in the streetwear ecosystem is complex. Insiders found the brand very unscrupulous, but once a favorite of the masses, the brand was selected on social media.
Among the theories: excessive exposure, part-time founder and frequent delivery problems, when customers received the goods a few months after they ordered them. However, Anti Social Social Club still offers Marquee access to the desired Gen-Z audience – especially in China, where it is popular. Once prolific on the Internet, Lourke – named Andrew Buenaflor – has left social media in recent years after returning to Las Vegas, where he lived before Los Angeles. The current level of his involvement in the business is unknown. Marquee’s brands did not respond to a request for comment regarding Lurko’s role, and could not be reached for comment.
