ThirdLove Buys Kit Undergarments for Undisclosed Amount
ThirdLove has made its first acquisition in an attempt to tap into a new, younger demographic.
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The San Francisco-based brand — which began as a digital bra business in 2013 and has grown to include activewear, loungewear and physical stores — has acquired Kit Undergarments. The acquisition of Kit, which was founded by celebrity stylists Jamie Mizrahi and Simone Harouche in 2019, will help ThirdLove, a Millennial fan favorite, grow its Gen Z customer base.
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“We wanted to create a subbrand that would really resonate with that slightly younger demographic,” Heidi Zak, cofounder and chief executive officer of ThirdLove, told WWD.
After being introduced to Mizrahi and Harouche through mutual friends, “we realized it would be really amazing for us to partner with them on this amazing brand that they had created and already established, versus making something from nothing,” Zak explained. “Even though we have two distinct brands with different products, branding, personality, etc., [both brands] stand for the same thing, which is helping women feel really confident and comfortable.”
ThirdLove and Kit partnered for the first time in October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But starting Tuesday, shoppers will be able to go to thirdlove.com and see Kit Undergarments for sale on the website.
The acquisition is also a chance for Los Angeles-based Kit to scale by tapping into ThirdLove’s resources, such as relationships along the supply chain and the $55 million worth of funding ThirdLove raised in 2019.
“We were growing the business and we kind of took a little turn that felt like a really good, exciting twist that we didn’t expect — which was joining forces with ThirdLove,” Mizrahi said. “We were on the path to build a really big business either way. But I think we’re going to get there a lot faster right now by joining forces with the infrastructure [of ThirdLove].”
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Harouche added: “ThirdLove obviously owns the market and we knew as a small brand starting out that their resources would just be able to help us scale and grow our business. It just seemed like an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.”
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Zak, who in the past has told WWD that she would consider selling ThirdLove if the right buyers came along — or even taking the company to the public market to help it grow — said for now the focus is on “growing and scaling both of these brands over the next few years.”
“I’ve always said, we’re always open to discussions [about selling],” she said. “As any good company who is growing, you should always — I believe — you should always be open to conversations and discussions. Even with Kit, it wasn’t necessarily something that we were openly seeking. It was more about a conversation and an introduction that took place that allowed all of us to meet each other, get comfortable, get to know each other, and then move ahead. Some really amazing opportunities come about just by being open to conversations as they come up. So, yeah, no specific other acquisitions are on the table at this time.”
The firms declined to reveal the financial details of the transaction, but did say ThirdLove fully owns Kit Undergarments, with Harouche and Mizrahi continuing to operate Kit as its own separate subbrand. Harouche and Mizrahi — who have been responsible for dressing the likes of Katy Perry, Nicole Richie, Jessica Alba, Miley Cyrus and the Kardashians — are also brand directors for ThirdLove.
“From a stylist perspective, we are really kind of going after the younger market, offering solution-based pieces, but also fashion-based pieces,” Harouche said. “Like, innerwear-as-outerwear is a big thing for us. So, we’ll just continue, as fashion insiders, to design from that perspective and offer products that feel fresh and young.”
Meanwhile, ThirdLove continues to grow its retail fleet.
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After being forced to close its New York City pop-up shop at the start of the pandemic, the company made the leap offline once again in February when it opened a store in Newport Beach, Calif. Since then three more stores have opened up in California (two in the Bay Area and one more in Southern California).
Zak said the company is still in discussions regarding which markets to enter next, but anticipates between two and six more stores coming this year. There’s also the potential for Kit pop-ups within ThirdLove stores.
“Retail has been really exciting for us,” she said. “It’s been another avenue of building a brand, reaching customers and just really having that ability to interact with the brand and try on in person if that’s a preference that a woman has.”
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