Manchester fashion brand to live on after intellectual rights sold

Manchester brand Bench is to live on after the intellectual rights were sold to an American based firm.

Global advisory firm Gordon Brothers has acquired the Bench brand and all its related intellectual property assets.

Launched in Manchester in 1989 Bench was one of the first streetwear fashion retailers and until very recently its products could be found in over 20 countries in Europe and North America.

The sale has gone through two months after the firm filed for administration.

Bench tapped into the skate and BMX culture of the late 1980’s and early 1990s.

Over the years, Bench has expanded its product offering to include high quality men’s, women’s and kid’s streetwear products offered at lower prices.

By 2017 the brand had over 80 Bench branded stores in Europe and North America and an additional 2,000 wholesale points of sale.

Ramez Toubassy, president of Gordon Brothers’ brands division, said: “Streetwear has never been hotter than it is today.

“We are excited to be able to acquire an authentic pioneer in the category and bring our thoroughly modern branding, marketing and business model to bear in re-establishing Bench as a streetwear powerhouse.”

In the short-term Gordon Brothers will focus on reestablishing the brand’s European e-commerce presence while it re-builds the business’ wholesale footprint in that territory.

In North America, Gordon Brothers will continue the brand’s long-standing partnership with Freemark Apparel Brands Group.

The acquisition follows Gordon Brothers’ highly successful relaunch of the Wet Seal fast fashion retailer as a digitally native e-commerce business.

Gordon Brothers’ brands division acquires, restructures and revives some of the world’s most recognizable brands.

Past investments include Polaroid, Wet Seal, and Bombay & Co.

Gordon Brothers is headquartered in Boston, with 25 offices across five continents.