Split Acquired by Life Distribution
Life Distribution in Santa Ana, Calif., has acquired the Split surf-lifestyle clothing brand and will relaunch its young men’s and girls’ collections. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Dave Patri, Life Distribution’s president, is one of the surf brand’s original founders. A young men’s collection will debut for Spring 2011. The girls’ line will launch for Fall 2011.
“I’m ecstatic to have the brand under the Life Distribution LLC umbrella,” Patri said in a statement. “The brand is as relevant as ever. It always had a ’push the limits’ quality about it that attracted the forward customer.”
Life Distribution’s other brand is Ambiguous, a men’s core skate brand.
Split, which started in 1988 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., shuttered its apparel operations in October 2008 after Rays Apparel, the brand’s Irvine, Calif.–based apparel licensee, ceased operations.
Cypress, Calif.–based Manhattan Beachwear continued to produce Split-branded juniors swimwear, and the brand is currently licensed in Brazil, Canada and Europe.
Rays Apparel originally incubated the Ambiguous brand and sold it to Life Distribution in September 2008.—Erin Barajas
