The direct-to-consumer brand Parade will close on Oct. 28, the company known for its undergarments announced on Saturday in an Instagram post.
“Parade was created with the intention to welcome you all to express yourself in full-spectrum color with confidence, and we hope we were able to create that space for you. We are so proud of this community we’ve built,” the statement said.
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Launched in 2019 by then-university students Cami Téllez and Jack DeFuria, Parade cultivated an online following by embracing size diversity and accessible pricing, and by sending free products to “microinfluencers” in exchange for promotional posts across social media. While other fashion companies floundered during the heavily online Covid-19 pandemic, Parade earned $10 million in revenue on the back of its viral marketing strategy.
In 2021, the cult favourite opened its first brick-and-mortar location, in SoHo; at its closure amid the expiration of its lease in 2022, the store had broken even. Following reports of longstanding financial troubles centred on profitability versus growth at the embattled brand, Téllez stepped down from Parade as CEO in 2023, following its acquisition by Fruit of the Loom licence holder Ariela & Associates.
Parade’s online inventory is currently limited to 42 styles of underwear, with 50 percent off all products on its website.
The underwear start-up was once pegged as Gen-Z’s answer to Victoria’s Secret. But investors, executives and founder Cami Téllez couldn’t agree on whether to prioritise growth or profitability. They ended up with the worst of both worlds.
