Stance is an American

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

underwear Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

and T-Shirt brand founded in December 2009. Stance is headquartered in

San Clemente, California San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

. As of March 2015, the company had sold over 36 million pairs of socks and raised over $115 million from investors. In early January 2015, Stance began raising $50 million to fund their expansion into the underwear market. In April 2016, Stance raised an additional $30 million in a

funding round A securities offering (or funding round or investment round) is a discrete round of investment, by which a business or other enterprise raises money to fund operations, expansion, a capital project, an acquisition, or some other business purpose. ...

that valued Stance at $400 million and was led by Mercato Partners and included

August Capital August Capital, legally August Capital Master Management Company, LLC, is a venture capital firm founded by David Marquardt and John Johnston in 1995. It is focused on information technology and is based in Menlo Park, California. Company Aug ...

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...

Menlo Ventures Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with an additional office in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded as one of the earliest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley in 1976 and provides technology ...

Shasta Ventures Shasta Ventures is an early-stage venture capital investment firm located in Silicon Valley that invests in enterprise and technology consumer startups. It is located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Funds Shasta's second fund of US$250 milli ...

, and

Sherpa Capital Sherpa Capital is an American venture capital firm established in March 2013 by Shervin Pishevar and Scott Stanford. Based in San Francisco, CA, Sherpa Capital specializes in early stage and growth startups ranging from e-commerce to technology. ...

as returning investors. Stance was named the official sock of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

in April 2015 and May 2016, respectively. The company has 18 US retail stores in Irvine, Las Vegas, Cabazon, Livermore, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Clemente, San Diego, Tulalip, New Jersey, Chicago, and Minnesota. In October 2018, Stance opened their first International store in Covent Garden, London, England.

History

Stance was founded in 2009 by Jeff Kearl, John Wilson, Aaron Hennings, Ryan Kingman and Taylor Shupe. The original founders saw an opportunity to address a category of fashion they felt had been overlooked by many brands and the majority of the industry. The company first began shipping product in August 2010, and now ships over 15 million pairs of socks each year. Stance has raised a significant amount of venture capital and is sold in over 40 countries worldwide. In March 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported the company had raised $50 million from Silicon Valley venture capital firms and that the brand would be expanding into men’s underwear. In April 2015, the NBA announced that Stance had been named the official on-court sock of the NBA starting in the 2015-2016 season. As part of the deal, Stance would be allowed to display its logo on all socks worn on-court by players, a first in NBA history for apparel companies. Stance opened its first store in the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

neighborhood of New York City in November 2015. In 2015, Stance posted a 356% employee increase from the previous year, reaching 114 employees, at its San Clemente headquarters. Stance was listed No. 24 on the Orange County Business Journal’s list of the 51 Biggest Based in Orange County Apparel Businesses. Between 2017 and 2020, the company has undergone several rounds of layoffs. The brand won Best Socks of the Year in 2017 with their tribute to rapper,

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

. Unfortunately early in the same year, the company experienced the first of many layoffs due to external disruptions and mismanagement of funds.

Sponsorship

Stance’s brand ambassadors are called "Punks and Poets". They include musicians, athletes, designers, artists, stylists, writers and photographers. ; Athletes *

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Klay Thompson Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, he is a five-time NBA All-Star ...

Lauren Fleshman Lauren Fleshman (born September 26, 1981) is an American runner, coach, author, and retired professional track and field athlete. She was the U.S. 5000 meters champion in 2006 and 2010, and competed at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in ...

* Todd Richards * Bryan Gonnella *Kassia Meador * John John Florence *

Silje Norendal Silje Norendal (born 1 September 1993) is a Norwegian former snowboarder. She competes in the slopestyle and big air events. Her local club is Kongsberg IF. She won gold in women's slopestyle in Winter X Games Europe in Tignes in 2013. In Januar ...

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* Chris Cole * Theotis Beasley *

Jamie Thomas Jamie Thomas (born October 11, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder and skateboard industry entrepreneur. Thomas is the owner and founder of Zero Skateboards and Fallen Footwear, until he announced its closure in January 2017. Thomas ...

* Andrew Reynolds * Kenny Roczen * Chad Reed * Troy Lee *

Bubba Watson Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. (born November 5, 1978) is an American professional golfer. He has played predominantly on the PGA Tour, and is a multiple major champion, with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014. In February 201 ...

* Mikey Wright * Neen Williams *

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; Musicians/Bands *

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

Soko Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force. SOKO was created in 1950 by the rel ...

* Haim *

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; Models * Bambi Northwood-Blyth *

Hanne Gaby Odiele Hanne Gaby Odiele (born 8 October 1988) is a Belgian model. Early life Odiele was born on 8 October 1988 in Kortrijk, Belgium. They were born with an intersex condition called androgen insensitivity syndrome. As a child, Odiele underwent m ...

; Designers and Stylists * Imogene Barron *

Ronnie Fieg Ronnie Fieg is an American footwear and clothing designer, entrepreneur and the owner-operator of American retail fashion establishment and brand Kith. Early life and education Aaron 'Ronnie' Fieg was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens in New Yo ...

* Alexandra Spencer/4th & Bleeker ; Artists/Illustrators/Photographers * Brooke Reidt * Josie Ramondetta * Langley Fox Hemmingway * Mark Oblow * Russ Pope * Kid Creature * Todd Francis * Bijou Karman

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2009 establishments in California Clothing brands of the United States Companies based in San Clemente, California Clothing companies established in 2009 Underwear brands Hosiery brands Socks

History

Sponsorship

See also

References

External links