When Sh*t Goes Terribly WRONG Pt. 2
Posted by Media Outrage on October 29, 2009
Clothing designer Marc Ecko created a brand that made hundreds of millions of dollars but had to sell a major portion of it yesterday to satisfy creditors.
Via NyPost:
After years of lavish spending that took him to the brink of bankruptcy, Marc Ecko has been forced to give up control of his own trademark.
Confirming a Sept. 22 report in The Post, the hip-hop clothing kingpin yesterday signed over a 51 percent interest in the Marc Ecko brand to Iconix, a New York company that owns a slew of fashion brands including Joe Boxer, Candie’s, Rocawear and London Fog.
Scrambling to avoid yesterday’s defeat and keep creditors at bay, Ecko this year had laid off workers and auctioned off his watch trademarks and Avirex brand.
Sources said Ecko is still struggling to lease out pieces of his luxurious 280,000- square-foot headquarters in Midtown, which houses everything from a recording studio to a basketball court.
Still, in an exclusive interview with The Post, the debt-ridden designer took it all in stride.
“I’ve had a crazy, wild ride. I’ve done a lot of things that have been naive,” Ecko told The Post. “I’ll take my lumps for a lot of things that, in retrospect, were a little indulgent. Life happens. I don’t regret any of it.”
Ecko likewise noted that, with creditors breathing down his neck for the past year, losing the title to his brand name yesterday wasn’t such a big change.
“I’ve lived through a leveraged position,” Ecko said. “I don’t know whether, once you grow up your business like that, you have full control anymore anyway.”
Under the terms of his deal with Iconix, Ecko is surrendering majority control of his trademark in exchange for $63.5 million in cash plus $90 million in financing for a newly formed joint venture.
Iconix, which will keep Ecko as chief creative officer for the joint venture, projects between $42 million and $44 million in yearly royalties.
While critics say the urban styles that fueled Ecko’s growth have fallen out of fashion, Ecko said his designs are still evolving.
“Reports of my demise have been reported often and early,” he said.
“Kids are not wearing big, baggy things with logos on them — it just looks different now,” added Iconix CEO Neil Cole, noting that Rocawear’s sales are up recently. “I promise you these kids are not naked out there and they’re not wearing my father’s clothes.”
Still, Marc Ecko’s sales at Macy’s, the brand’s most important wholesale account, dropped by $18 million last year — more than 10 percent. No improvement at Macy’s is expected this year, Marc Ecko’s longtime business partner, Seth Gerszberg, admitted.
On the bright side, comparable sales at Marc Ecko’s overgrown retail chain are now up 7 percent from last year’s steep declines that had fueled big losses. Helped by even deeper cost cuts this year, the brand expects to swing back to profitability.
Elsewhere, Gerszberg and Ecko bristled at reports that they’ve been squabbling through their recent business woes.
Asked if they planned to keep the basketball court at their offices despite the cost cuts, Gerzberg said he was trying.
“What do you care?” Ecko chimed in. “You gonna come down and shoot? You got game?”
Lio said
Some people don’t know how to handle success…a damn shame..oh well, hope he learned a lesson
Atlanta said
Damn, I feel kinda sorry for the fellow.
mizzsimplicity said
y feel sorry for him? said himself he has no regrets. his ass still gon be rich
Truly23 said
Another Stupid!!! I just can’t feel sorry for them I’m sorry.
lowridaz said
I dont feel sorry for anyone that had it like that… AND was not smarter with it.
Yeah I Said It said
did he pay his tithes?
Yvonne said
And yet another one…SMH.
Ms_Behave said
A fool and his money shall surely part ~ Ms. Behave
Media Outrage said
Lol @ YISI & Ms Behave Look at you quoting Proverbs.
Ms_Behave said
Lol@ MO… U know imma good ole ‘christian’ girl, *irish accent* i luvs mi bible, lol, talking about church, u know i have a few ‘blessings’ i’d like to share with u, lots of ‘holy’ water, lol… wanna splash?
P.S. I HOPE(yes dear lord!) that ur a MALE writer, if not i request that from NOW ON that ONLY MALE writers respond to me (no offense ladies, but u know 2 p*ssies will only ignite,lol), it’s good for my libido
til i go home to my dildo, lolhahahaha.MissTX85 said
Um, I don’t see where anything went wrong. It appears he’s still gonna be making money.
Atlanta said
@mizz…I feel sorry for him because he’s loosing most of his trademark. It’s easy for everybody to sit back and call someone stupid and this that and the other. But, I wonder what a lot of us would do if we got our hands on that kind of money.
ucanb2 said
DAMN….Why is it that only lower/middle class people can manage their money???!!! SMDH
Kanyade said
^^^Good point.
On another note,
*didn’t read*
He’s cute.