Editor’s note: Liberated Brands is an operating company and that is the entity filing for bankruptcy. The brands themselves – RVCA, Volcom and Billabong – are still owned by Authentic Brands Groups and are moving to new wholesale licensees in North America.
Editor’s note II: Liberated Brands released a statement about the bankruptcy filing Monday afternoon, the day after the petition was filed with the courts. See the company’s statement below.
Liberated Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday night in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware after struggling to absorb and manage the addition of the Billabong and RVCA licenses and retail and e-commerce operations of the former Boardriders brands.
In the filing, the company estimated its assets and liabilities ranged from $100 million to $500 million.
The list of largest unsecured creditors included a range of overseas clothing manufacturers. Liberated owes its single biggest unsecured creditor, Ningbo Jehson Textiles in China, $3.2 million, according to court documents.
Additional large unsecured creditors include other companies that license former Boardriders brands, including the 05 Group, which Liberated owes about $1 million, and Centric Brands, which has the license to make kids apparel for several former Boardriders brands. Liberated owes Centric approximately $750,000, according to court documents.
Authentic Brands Group, which bought the former Boardriders brands including Billabong, Quiksilver, RVCA, DC Shoes, Roxy, Element and others in September 2023, originally licensed a large chunk of the portfolio to Liberated Brands, including:
- The U.S. and Canada wholesale license for Billabong, RVCA, and Honolua brands in the adult sportswear, activewear, swim, outerwear, headwear, and base layer categories.
- Retail and e-commerce in the U.S. and Canada for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua, and Boardriders.
- Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper, Honolua, and more across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Indonesia, including wholesale and more than 200 retail locations and e-commerce.
- Wetsuits for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, and RVCA in North America.
Before taking on those brands, Liberated had already licensed the Volcom and Spyder brands, which are also owned by Authentic.
In December of 2024, Authentic decided to pull all the licenses from Liberated Brands globally because it didn’t believe the company had the resources to invest in them.
David Brooks, Authentic executive vice president of action and outdoor sports, lifestyle, sent SEO the following comment Sunday night about Liberated’s bankruptcy filing.
“Our industry is more competitive than ever, and throughout this process, we’ve remained focused on the wellbeing of our partners, providing support to our licensee, Liberated Brands as they evaluate their opportunity to reorganize their business and regain profitability,” he said.
“At Authentic, our primary responsibility is to our beloved brands and to their loyal fans and customers. On the rare occasion that a partner is not able to fulfill its commitments, Authentic will transition the license. This approach is a proven strategy where we consistently see them thrive. To that end, we’ve been working closely with Liberated Brands to thoughtfully transition key licenses to trusted operators within our network.”
The new wholesale licensees include O5 Apparel, which previously had the Quiksilver license and has added Billabong; The Levy Group, which previously had the Roxy swim and outerwear licenses and has added Volcom; and Quetico Lifestyle Brands, which has created an offshoot called Ethos Brands, is the new RVCA licensee.
Liberated Brands also has a large retail operation, including about 100 stores in the U.S. with Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom, Honolua and other banners. Those U.S. brick-and-mortar stores began liquidation sales late last week, and the brand websites in the U.S. are now 60% off.
Brooks said the brands had too many stores, and the wholesale licensees will likely be able to capture more business in the future.
“Liberated’s U.S. store fleet was overinflated, burdened with outdated and underperforming locations in that region,” he said. “As a result, physical U.S. based stores will likely be rationalized, allowing the brands to create more value and strengthen their presence across specialty retailers, department stores, and e-commerce—ensuring a more agile and resilient future.”
We will update this story with more information as it becomes available, including Liberated’s explanation of what happened that the led the company to bankruptcy court.
Librated Brands Statement on Bankruptcy Filing
The company released the following statement on Monday afternoon: