Upscale swimwear line L *Space is joining forces with the owners of C&C Partners, the company that formerly held the Rusty license and currently manages Sanuk footwear and Liquid Force wakeboard apparel.
L *Space owner Monica Wise told me this morning why she decided to partner with the owners of C & C to create a new operation, L *Space America. This new arrangement is not a licensing agreement. Instead, Dac Clark and Paul Carr invested in L*Space.
“Once I asked a very successful person how be grew his company and his response was ‘Surround yourself
with talented people and you’ll see the same results.’
I have for years tried it on my own and I felt that Dac Clark and Paul Carr were ‘good guys’ and great industry leaders with proven talent and the ability to take L *Space to a much larger brand than I could have ever done.”
Monica (shown here with L*Space model Corinn Nomad at ASR) will serve as president in the new arrangement and will continue to design products and manage L *Space’s strategic branding.
Monica has told me previously she wanted to be acquired someday or create a strategic partnership so she would have the capital to go big with L *Space. She wanted to become the Juicy Couture of the surf industry.
In a press release, C&C co-owner Paul Carr said C & C intends to make a “substantial” investment in the brand.
Here’s the entire press release:
L*Space and founder, Monica Wise have joined forces with industry veterans, Dac Clark and Paul Carr, the owners of C&C Partners. They have finalized an agreement that has established a new operation called ‘L*Space America’ that will build on the current success of the L*Space brand. L*Space was last year’s winner for “Swim Brand of The Year” at the SIMA Image Awards. The L*Space brand is one today’s leading product innovators in the women’s swim market. The L*Space brand was founded by Monica Wise who was the brand’s sole owner and designer. Monica will continue to develop the brand as the President and will continue to design the products and manage L*Space’s strategic branding.
With C&C’s help the new operating company will now have a deep source of capital for expansion. “We plan to make a substantial investment into the development of the brand”, says Carr. He adds, “With Monica at the helm we are confident that the L*Space brand will reach new heights. Clark says, “We don’t plan to make very many changes to the current L*Space program other than allowing Monica to focus more on design and marketing while we provide much needed growth capital”.
Monica stated, “I am thrilled to work with Dac and Paul. They are great guys with an excellent track record and they will make great partners – they are totally committed to the success of L*Space and they bring a level of experience that we will need in the future.” “Monica Wise is extremely talented and she has built an exceptional brand. Paul and I are looking forward to working closely with her in building the L*Space brand in the USA and globally”, said Clark.
C&C Partners will continue to manage their other brands, the rapidly growing SANUK footwear brand and the innovative LIQUID FORCE wakeboard apparel line. Dac & Paul have been involved in the development and expansion of a number of the Surf Industry’s brand’s over the last 30 years including SANUK, LIQUID FORCE Apparel, RUSTY (USA and Globally), REDSAND and once industry leader, GOTCHA.
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