A Popular Online Apparel Brand Just Filed For Bankruptcy

For many years, iconic brands Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom were sought after and cherished, however the day of these brands' dominance appears to have passed. The license holder for these brands' brick and mortar stores, Liberated Brands LLC, filed for bankruptcy in February 2025. As they join other companies like major craft retailer Joann Fabric and Craft Stores and once-loved department store Sears in bankruptcy, U.S. consumers can expect even more store closures across the country.

Liberated Brands announcement that it had filed for bankruptcy called into question the future of not only the beloved brands of Billabong, Quicksilver, and Volcom but also the future of the RVCA, The Spyder, Roxy, and Honolua brands. As part of the bankruptcy filing, 124 retail stores are set to close, affecting approximately 1,040 retail employees. Liberated Brands also laid off more than 360 additional employees based out of the California company's corporate headquarters. Questions are mounting as to what the future of these brands will be.

Significant problems within the Liberated operations appear to be severe and past repair. CEO Todd Hymel of Liberated Brands outlined the issues that the company grappled with in the company's bankruptcy filing. In a declaration in support of the bankruptcy filing, Hymel revealed that, "Macroeconomic issues, including a rapid and dramatic rise in interest rates, persistent inflation, supply chain delays, a decline in customer demand well below the historical trendline, shifting customer preferences, and substantial fixed costs placed significant pressure on Liberated's revenue and cost structure."

These problems were further magnified by Liberated Brand's debt load. According to Hymel's declaration, the company has $83 million of secured debt and another $143 million of unsecured debt. In a statement from Liberated Brands, the company stated, "The Liberated team has worked tirelessly over the last year to propel these iconic brands forward, but a volatile global economy, consumer spending changes amid a rising cost of living, and inflationary pressure have all taken a heavy toll."

The Billabong, Volcom, and Quiksilver websites stated they would no longer accepting gift cards after February 16t, 2025. However, the company was not clear on when, exactly, its physical outlets would shut down. The remaining $3.3 million worth of cash that Liberated Brands had on hand at the time of filing was only enough to continue all store operations for about a week. Despite the grim news, fans of these brands did receive some potential good news.

The owner of the Billabong, RVCA, and Volcom brands, Authentic Brands Group, pulled the licenses for these specific brands away from Liberated Brands in order to find them new homes. Specifically, Billabong already has a new home under the umbrella of O5 Apparel, which also has the license for Quiksilver. Plus, O5 Apparel also hired some of Liberated Brand's laid off staff in addition to Billabong specific representatives. While it remains to be seen what the future of these brands might hold, the outlook looks good that these brands will survive.