The End of the World as we Know it.

The news of Entireworld’s closing was surprising, but also not surprising. If i’ve learned anything over the past 20 years it’s that the clothing business is brutal. Apparel companies aren’t that attractive to investors because they can’t grow (typically) at the scale in which venture businesses need them to grow to be a big enough winner. There might be some exceptions to this generalization, but I’ve seen successful, popular and media-loved companies fail constantly. There is no brand implosion that surprises me at this point. There are also brands out there that are completely bootstrapped and hugely successful, Aimé Leon Dore being a perfect example. I suppose it’s a 7 year old overnight success.

Launched in 2018, Entireworld was a pretty sleepy start-up before the pandemic. Scott Sternberg enlisted some of his celebrity friends to add buzz and the traditional fashion media and gatekeepers got in line to give the brand buzz right from the start. It was during lockdown that it became obvious how perfectly positioned Entireworld was and grew incredibly fast during the pandemic. The NYT wrote a glowing brand story which, if I had to guess, was probably the best piece of PR I saw for a brand in 2020. At that point Entireworld was a rocket ship to the moon. Fast forward to slightly more than a year after that NYT story comes the news that the company is closing. Fashion is nuts.