Two familiar faces are now the owners of Liberated Brands Europe after the company lost its brand licenses and filed for bankruptcy in the U.S.
Joost Grootswagers and Antoine Lanusse are the CEO and COO, respectively, of the region under Liberated. They formed a company called OneTurn to buy the operations from Liberated and license Volcom and Spyder in the region from brand owner Authentic Brands Group.
SESO spoke with them about why they invested their own money to take over the business, how they will work with other Volcom and Spyder licensees around the world, and about the state of the action sports and streetwear market in Europe.
The 240 employees that previously worked for Liberated Europe have joined OneTurn, and the new company will also take on the 20 company operated brand stores in the region.
Why did you guys want to personally take on Liberated Europe?
Joost Grootswagers: We have built something with both Volcom and Spyder. We’ve been really successful over the last decade. Anton and I have been managing Liberated Brands Europe together for the last seven years, continuing what (former leader) Bruno Gujer started.
The brands are really well positioned, and we have a long standing, proven track record. When Antoine and I looked at the situation, we realized all the pieces were in place. We have a great operational platform, we have really good teams, and good relationship with all our customers.
Our company is also healthy and profitable, and has been for a long time. So when things started to change at Liberated (in the U.S.) our main objective was just to continue the journey, to continue what we’ve built, and to make it even more sustainable for the future.
Any concern with having to pay royalites now to Authentic?
Joost Grootswagers: We were paying royalties to Liberated global. So for us, in essence, it doesn’t really change.
We have worked really closely with Authentic, and we have a really fair deal for the long term. We’re really in it for the long term, and we both need a successful journey.
Tell me what it’s been like to have the license for Spyder for the past few years, and why you are also licensing that brand.
Joost Grootswagers: We integrated it quite fast, and we positioned it as a premium brand just like we positioned Volcom in Europe. It made us realize that our company was ready for a bit more because we had all of our operation processes in place.
I won’t say it was easy to add Spyder, but it went quite smoothly and it came with a substantial amount of (revenue). We managed to clean up the distribution while keeping the (revenue) intact. We feel very confident that there’s a long term journey for Spyder in Europe as well.
Is there anything changing with this new arrangement now that you two own the former Liberated Europe business?
Joost Grootswagers: So the journey is in essence not going to change much. We’re going to continue to execute our operational strategy. We have a super good team that has been with us for a long time. They are motivated and staying with us.
Antoine Lanusse: What will change is because we are carving out from the former U.S. team, we will lose some services from them, some design, some marketing initiatives. And also some processes that were global. So we will need to invest in some areas that we will now take on.
Does it give you guys a lot more freedom because it’s yours now?
Joost Grootswagers: Yes and no. We’ve been quite free already for a while, especially on the Volcom side. We are much more a streetwear brand than a surf or action sports brand in Europe. So we’ve been designing a lot of our lines, we’ve been doing our own programs.
But on the flip side, like Antoine said, we will lose the global support, because the brand was managed globally.
Would you add other brands, perhaps more licensed brands?
Joost Grootswagers: During COVID, we realized we can handle a bit more. We still have this operational platform, our teams are in place.
So over time, we might start offering logistic services to other brands, or help them with web development, and maybe even add more brands in our portfolio.
But first and foremost, we want to stabilize the business as we have it.
Can you talk more about design, and how it will work? The Levy Group is taking over Volcom in North America. Will you design your own outerwear, for example, or will you use those designs?
Joost Grootswagers: We’re going to continue to work with all our partners, and even try to build on those relationships. Snow is a good example.
We will work 100% on snow with the Levy Group. They are designing it, and it’s actually the same team that we used to work with when Volcom was with Liberated. It’s the same designers, the same merchandisers.
The same for Spyder. We used to work with Spyder directly, now the licensee that is making the outerwear is called the Outdoor Collective.
On the Volcom streetwear side, already in the past when we were working on global lines, the European team was already designing all the jackets, all the fleece, and many of the T-shirts, and some items as well.
Going forward, we will do the majority of the streetwear ourselves, and the outerwear will be handled by our partners.
We’re also eager to start working with the new Volcom (licensee) in Australia, for instance, on swimwear, on boardshorts, which are not our specialty.
I believe you guys paid $500,000 to buy Liberated’s European operations according to the bankruptcy court documents. Did you bring in outside investors or are you the sole owners? Â
Joost Grootswagers: At the moment, it’s just Anton and myself as owners.
Do you want to keep it that way?
Joost Grootswagers: It’s too early to say. It depends on the development of the company, where we go, if we bring on other brands, if we end up needing capital to grow.
For now, we want to keep it as simple as possible because the process has been complicated.
It has been complicated, and Authentic was really supportive through it all.  We had to transfer all the websites, and some other systems. We went from being like a little sister to being a fully owned and operated company. It’s been hard, but luckily we came out of it and we are ready.
Our collections for 2026 are fully designed and developed for both spring and fall.
We delivered our Spring 2025 line 100% on time. This gave a lot of confidence also to our retail customers, who were wondering if there would be a negative impact in the transition.
We continue to activate Volcom a lot in Europe. I think we did around 15 events in in the first quarter of the year.
Can you describe the state of the European action sports, streetwear market?
Joost Grootswagers:  When I go to the ocean, there are more and more people surfing. There are skate parks opening up everywhere in Europe. When it comes to snow, in Europe, traditionally it’s been much more of a ski market, and a small part snowboard. The last two seasons, I see more and more young people getting on snowboards again. So from a participation point of view, the market is alive, it’s actually quite good.
When I step into the retail market, it is complicated. We have uncertainties in the market. We went through high inflation.
We had many changes also in our market with brands. We lost some retailers, including a big key account in the UK.
It has not been easy on retail, but I feel the sports really have a place in Europe, and they are going to be there for the long term.
How will marketing work now that Liberated headquarters, which managed the brands on a global level, essentially no longer exists?
Joost Grootswagers: There are new licensing partners in the U.S., in Australia, and in Europe. The marketing directors in the regions are working together to coordinate the Instagram accounts, and other issues. And ABG is taking responsibility for some high level athletes and riders, then we will all have regional ones as well. So it’s a work in progress.
With the global organization falling away, it’s now up to the regional heads of marketing to coordinate with each other, in addition to the support of Authentic.
Anything you’d like to add?
Joost Grootswagers We are super passionate about the brands, we are super passionate about our team. What happened with Liberated was very stressful, but it turned out to be a good opportunity to continue the journey we started quite a few years ago, and that we’ll now continue for the long term.
One more thing – why we named the company OneTurn.
When snowboarding or surfing, my belief is that there is always one turn a day that feels super good. Hence the name OneTurn.
Tiffany Montgomery can be reached at tiffany@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
