TABLE OF CONTENTS
As Filed with Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5, 2022
Registration No. 333-264347​
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
AMENDMENT NO. 3
TO
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
DIGITAL BRANDS GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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5699
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46-1942864
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(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
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(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
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(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
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1400 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701
(209) 651-0172
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)​
John Hilburn Davis IV
President and Chief Executive Officer
1400 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701
(209) 651-0172
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)​
Copies to:
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Thomas J. Poletti, Esq
Veronica Lah, Esq
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
695 Town Center Drive, 14th Floor
Costa Mesa, CA 92646
(714) 312-7500
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Ross David Carmel Esq.
Andrew Russell, Esq.
Carmel, Milazzo & Feil LLP
55 West 39th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018
(212) 658-0458
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Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non- accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b- 2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer ☐
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Accelerated filer ☐
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Non-accelerated filer ☒
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Smaller reporting company ☒
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Emerging growth company ☒
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
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The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
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The information contained in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Subject to Completion, dated May 5, 2022
Preliminary Prospectus
36,000,000 Shares of Common Stock
Digital Brands Group, Inc.
This a firm commitment public offering of 36,000,000 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at a public offering price of $0.25 per share of common stock.
Our common stock and Class A Warrants trade on the NasdaqCM (“NasdaqCM”) under the symbols “DBGI” and “DBGIW,” respectively. The last reported sale price of our common stock and Class A Warrants on the Nasdaq CM on May 3, 2022 was $0.538 per share and $0.2501 per Class A Warrant, respectively.
We are an emerging growth company as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and future filings. See “Prospectus Summary — Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Smaller Reporting Company.”
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 for a discussion of the risks that you should consider in connection with an investment in our securities.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed on the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
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Per Share
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Total
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Public offering price
​ ​ ​ $ 0.25 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 9,000,000 ​ ​
Underwriting discount and commissions(1)
​ ​ ​ $ 0.02 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 675,000 ​ ​
Proceeds, before expenses, to us
​ ​ ​ $ 0.23 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 8,325,000 ​ ​
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(1)
See “Underwriting” beginning on page 97 this prospectus for additional information regarding underwriting compensation.
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The underwriters have the option for a period of 45 days from the effective date of this offering to purchase up to an additional 5,400,000 shares of common stock at a per share price of $0.25, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, to cover over-allotments, if any.
Delivery of the shares of common stock is expected to be made on or about       , 2022.
Sole Book Running Manager
Alexander Capital, L.P.
Co-Manager
Revere Securities LLC
The date of this prospectus is            , 2022
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Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with information different from, or in addition to, that contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus and any related free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurances as to the reliability of, any information that others may give you. This prospectus is not an offer to sell, not is it seeking an offer to buy, these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. The information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus is only accurate as of its date, regardless of its time of delivery or the time of any sale of our common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.
For investors outside the United States:   Neither we nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus or any free writing prospectus we may provide to you in connection with this offering in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of our common stock and the distribution of this prospectus and any such free writing prospectus outside of the United States.
DSTLD, 20Jeans ACE STUDIOS, Bailey 44, 44 for Bailey 44, B44 Core, B44 Dressed and STATESIDE are trademarks and are the property of Digital Brands Group, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Our use or display of third parties’ trademarks, service marks and trade names or products in this prospectus is not intended to, and does not imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship by us. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ®, TM
 
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or SM symbols, but the omission of such references is not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable owner of these trademarks, service marks and trade names.
 
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SUMMARY
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in the prospectus. Because it is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in our common stock. You should read and carefully consider this entire prospectus before making an investment decision, especially the information presented under the headings “Risk Factors,” “Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Selected Financial Data,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Unless otherwise indicated by the context, references to “DBG” refer to Digital Brands Group, Inc. solely, and references to the “Company,” “Digital Brands Group,” “our,” “we,” “us” and similar terms refer to Digital Brands Group, Inc., together with Bailey 44, LLC (“Bailey”), Harper & Jones, LLC (“H&J”) and MOSBEST, LLC (“Stateside”).
For accounting and reporting purposes, DBG has been identified as the accounting acquirer of Bailey, H&J, and Stateside.
Our Company
Digital Brands Group is a curated collection of lifestyle brands, including Bailey 44, DSTLD, Harper and Jones, Stateside and ACE Studios, that offers a variety of apparel products through direct-to-consumer and wholesale distribution. Our complementary brand portfolio provides us with the unique opportunity to cross merchandise our brands. We aim for our customers to wear our brands head to toe and to capture what we call “closet share” by gaining insight into their preferences to create targeted and personalized content specific to their cohort. Operating our brands under one portfolio provides us with the ability to better utilize our technological, human capital and operational capabilities across all brands. As a result, we have been able to realize operational efficiencies and continue to identify additional cost saving opportunities to scale our brands and overall portfolio.
Our portfolio currently consists of four significant brands that leverage our three channels: our websites, wholesale and our own stores.
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Bailey 44 combines beautiful, luxe fabrics and on-trend designs to create sophisticated ready-to-wear capsules for women on-the-go. Designing for real life, this brand focuses on feeling and comfort rather than how it looks on a runway. Bailey 44 is primarily a wholesale brand, which we are transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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DSTLD offers stylish high-quality garments without the luxury retail markup valuing customer experience over labels. DSTLD is primarily a digital direct-to-consumer brand, to which we recently added select wholesale retailers to generate brand awareness.
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Harper & Jones was built with the goal of inspiring men to dress with intention. It offers hand-crafted custom fit suits for those looking for a premium experience. Harper & Jones is primarily a direct-to-consumer brand using its own showrooms.
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Stateside is an elevated, America first brand with all knitting, dyeing, cutting and sewing sourced and manufactured locally in Los Angeles. The collection is influenced by the evolution of the classic t-shirt offering a simple yet elegant look. Stateside is primarily a wholesale brand that we will be transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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We believe that successful apparel brands sell in all revenue channels. However, each channel offers different margin structures and requires different customer acquisition and retention strategies. We were founded as a digital-first retailer that has strategically expanded into select wholesale and direct retail channels. We strive to strategically create omnichannel strategies for each of our brands that blend physical and online channels to engage consumers in the channel of their choosing. Our products are sold direct-to-consumers principally through our websites and our own showrooms, but also through our wholesale channel, primarily in specialty stores and select department stores. With the continued expansion of our wholesale distribution, we believe developing an omnichannel solution further strengthens our ability to efficiently acquire and retain customers while also driving high customer lifetime value.
 
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We believe that by leveraging a physical footprint to acquire customers and increase brand awareness, we can use digital marketing to focus on retention and a very tight, disciplined high value new customer acquisition strategy, especially targeting potential customers lower in the sales funnel. Building a direct relationship with the customer as the customer transacts directly with us allows us to better understand our customer’s preferences and shopping habits. Our substantial experience as a company originally founded as a digitally native-first retailer gives us the ability to strategically review and analyze the customer’s data, including contact information, browsing and shopping cart data, purchase history and style preferences. This in turn has the effect of lowering our inventory risk and cash needs since we can order and replenish product based on the data from our online sales history, replenish specific inventory by size, color and SKU based on real times sales data, and control our mark-down and promotional strategies versus being told what mark downs and promotions we have to offer by the department stores and boutique retailers.
The Shifting Retail Landscape
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the retail industry, forcing the closure of physical stores and causing uncertainty for the future of the in-store experience. In-person interaction has dramatically changed or been supplanted by digital engagement, and early indications suggest that much of this shift may endure in the long term. In a global study released by Salesforce Inc., 63% of consumers said the way they obtain goods and services “transformed” during 2020 and 57% said the same about the ways they engage with companies. In addition, 62% said this year changed how they conduct their lives offline, and an equal percentage said it changed their online lives. Also, 58% of consumers said they expect to do more online shopping after the pandemic than they did before it. These abrupt shifts have not only left retailers that prioritized physical stores and face-to-face engagement over omnichannel strategies scrambling to effectively serve customers, but have forced many larger retailers to close a substantial number of physical retail outlets in order to maintain profitability.
However, according to Digital Commerce 360, the in-person store experience will substantially continue to drive retail sales. The report states that 28% of consumers indicate that they will continue to shop mostly online after the pandemic, with 39% saying they will shop both online and in-store, 24% saying they “can’t wait” to shop in-store, and 9% not sure. We believe that pure e-commerce retailers will lag in the ability to capture this available market share as marketing data continues to indicate that for apparel brands, a physical environment is the best way to acquire customers as the customer can touch, see and fit the product in person. Based on our historical pop up store data, a customer who visited or purchased in our pop up store had a significantly lower return rate when they subsequently ordered online, had higher average order values and higher repeat order rate and frequency compared with customers who had not visited or purchased at a pop up store.
Competitive Strengths
Complementary Brand Portfolio
We believe that customers seldomly wear the same brand from head to toe. By owning multiple brands across complementary categories, we provide each customer with head to toe looks and personalized styles. This results in the customer buying and wearing multiple brands, across product categories instead of wearing a singular brand’s products in one category. We believe that we are revolutionizing the fashion retail industry by focusing on a customer’s “closet share” and leveraging the customer’s data to create personalized customer cohorts and customized content. This allows us to successfully increase our customer lifetime value, lower our customer acquisition cost, increase new customer growth across our portfolio brands, increase our average order value and improve our operating margins.
We believe that greater scale will increase our purchasing power and negotiating strength with both customers and suppliers. We believe that more acquisitions generate more customer data and more product offerings, which allows us to create additional personalized customer cohorts and marketing communications. We believe the more personalized our marketing and product selections are, the more the customer will spend with us annually and over their lifetime.
 
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Leverage E-commerce Expertise as a Digitally Native-First Retailer
We were founded as a digitally native-first retailer, developing deep relationships with our on-line customers. As we have moved into a strategic omnichannel retailer, we believe we have been able to leverage our robust on-line experience to further enhance or customer’s shopping experience. We strive to leverage our digital channels to create customized marketing campaigns by customer cohort to increase repeat purchase behavior including frequency and average order value. We can control the cadence, message, promotion value and which customer cohorts we target with different looks or promotions in our digital channels. We can create different marketing and strategic campaigns based on our customer data to increase frequency, win back stale customers or level up customers to higher annual spend by creating specific promotions for them.
By transacting directly with our customers, we capture an individual’s shopping behavior, purchases, and style preferences. This offers us the ability to create customized content that is highly targeted and cross merchandise styles using every brand in our portfolio resulting in personalized looks for each customer. As we aggregate more data and acquire additional brands, it increases the choices we can offer each customer and better target our product offerings.
Extensive Industry Expertise and Relationships
We believe that we benefit from our industry operating track record, management industry expertise and strong customer relationships that our brands have established over the course of their respective histories. Our senior management team has approximately 75 years of combined experience in apparel connected businesses, and we believe this is instrumental in the ongoing implementation of operational best practices across our platform. As long-term participants in the industry, we believe that our management personnel have deep relationships with peers, supply chains and key vendors that help facilitate discussions for future acquisitions and enhance our consolidation strategy.
Our Growth Strategy
Organic Market Share Growth and Profit Margin Expansion
We believe integrated operations create opportunities for economies of scale as we grow. We expect to continue to see cost savings in such areas as material, bulk apparel production, shipping and logistics, information systems, marketing purchasing (both online and offline) and contractual relationships with key suppliers. We also believe there are significant opportunities to improve operating margins by consolidating administrative functions such as accounting, employee benefits, finance, insurance, marketing, data analytics, cross merchandising and risk management. We have identified initiatives to increase market share, revenue and volume and to expand our profit margins. These initiatives include:
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Implement System-Wide Best Practices.   We have identified certain best practices among our brands, including marketing strategies, data analytics, contract renegotiating, sourcing and supply chain and organization structure and hiring plans. We implement these best practices to improve the operating margins of our brands and any subsequently acquired businesses.
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Leverage Size to Create Efficiencies.   We believe our increasing scale enhances our ability to leverage buying power in product quantities, marketing strategies and assets, vendor contracts and fulfillment and shipping, resulting in lower costs, higher margins and cash flow. This in turns creates competitive advantages. We also believe that we will expand our operating margins through a shared services model, which eliminates redundant back-office expenses and leverages our marketing and data analytics teams and expenses across our portfolio of brands.
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Expand our Product Offerings.   We share expertise across our acquired businesses on the sale of certain products and lines that are not currently offered by all of them or that will become available to us through acquisitions.
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Lower our customer acquisition cost and increase our LTV.   We cross market our brands to new customers that are loyal to other brands we own. This cross merchandising lowers our customer acquisition cost while also increasing our LTV. This should not only increase our margins, cash flow
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and revenues, but also creates loyalty and repeat purchases by the customer as we provide a single solution for their products that are personalized to them based on their past purchases and data.
Disciplined Approach to Acquisitions
We believe that our expansion strategy, our financial resources and our ability as a public company to use our stock as acquisition consideration also makes us an attractive buyer to sellers of apparel businesses that may wish to remain active in their business while participating in our acquisition growth strategy. We also believe that there are a number of owners of such businesses who are close to retirement or institutional investors with limited exit strategy options who would find us to be an attractive buyer, providing them with both a way to transition out of their businesses, generate returns for their investors and to protect their employees.
We believe that our ability to acquire businesses at prevailing private company valuations present opportunities for increased earnings through accretive acquisitions. Moreover, our acquisition strategy provides opportunities not only to expand into new geographic areas, but also to expand our range of product offerings in existing areas of operation and cross-sell to all our customers.
Recent Developments
The Proposed Acquisition of Sunnyside, LLC
In January 2022, DBG signed an agreement with the holders of all of the outstanding membership interests in Sunnyside, LLC (“Sundry”). Sundry is an omnichannel women’s lifestyle apparel brand inspired by Mattieu Leblan’s upbringing and ocean lifestyle. Founded in 2011, Sundry offers distinct collections of women’s clothing, including dresses, shirts, sweaters, skirts, shorts, athleisure bottoms and other accessory products. Sundry’s products are coastal casual and consist of soft, relaxed and colorful designs that feature a distinct French chic, resembling the spirits of the French Mediterranean and the energy of Venice Beach in Southern California.
Further to the aforementioned agreement, at the closing of the acquisition, the holders of all of the membership interests of Sundry shall exchange all of such membership interests for $7.5 million of common stock at the closing price of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of the date immediately preceding the closing and monies equal to $34.0 million; of this amount, $20.0 million will be paid at the closing and the balance will be evidenced by promissory notes due December 31, 2022 (“Seller Notes”); provided however, that if the audited aggregate net revenue of Sundry for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “Audited Net Revenue”) times 1.5 is greater than $34.0 million, we shall pay the difference in cash pro rata to the Sellers and if the Audited Net Revenue times 1.5 is less than $34.0 million the Seller Notes will be reduced pro rata for such difference. A portion of the purchase price shall be paid to certain employees of Sundry who have a contractual right to receive a portion of the consideration payable in this transaction (the “Payees”).
$2.0 million of the cash to be paid at the closing will be deposited into escrow to cover possible indemnification obligations of the sellers under the agreement. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder, are not repaid in full on or prior to March 31, 2022, then on March 31, 2022, DBG shall issue an additional $2.5 million of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder remain outstanding after March 31, 2022 and are not repaid in full on or prior to June 30, 2022, then on June 30, 2022, we shall issue an additional $2.5 million of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder remain outstanding after June 30, 2022 and are not repaid in full on or prior to September 30, 2022, then on September 30, 2022, we shall issue an additional $2.5 million of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. Any shares issued on either March 31, June 30 or September 30, 2022, shall be issued at the closing price of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of the date immediately preceding the date of issuance but in no event at a price less than $1.59. If the closing does not occur by June 30, 2022, the agreement terminates and we are obligated to issue to the Payees $2.5 million of our common stock at the closing price of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of such date.
 
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Under applicable NasdaqCM rules, no more than 20% of our common stock, measured as of the date of the closing, may be issued in connection with the acquisition of the membership interests in Sundry. If we are precluded from issuing the entire $7.5 million of common stock at the closing under said 20% rule, the balance owing will be paid in cash at the closing. If we are precluded from issuing $2.5 million of common stock on each of March 31, June 30 or September 30, 2022 under said 20% rule, any such amounts will take the form of promissory notes due on December 31, 2022. We may solicit shareholder approval for the issuance of any shares of common stock in excess of said 20% limitation which, if approved, would allow us to issue all shares described above in lieu of any such cash or note payments.
Please note than none of the proceeds of this offering will be used to fund any portion of the purchase price for the proposed acquisition of Sundry. Furthermore, as of the date of this prospectus, the Company has not arranged for nor entered into any agreements with any potential sources of financing to pay the required amounts under the aforementioned purchase agreement. Unless and until the Company arranges for such financing, whether through financing arrangements with third parties or through the sale of equity or debt either privately or publicly, the Company will be unable to fulfill its obligations further to the aforementioned agreement. As stated above, if the acquisition of Sundry is not closed by June 30, 2022, the agreement terminates. For each of these reasons, there exists a substantial doubt that the Company will be able to effect the acquisition of Sundry under the current provisions of the aforementioned acquisition agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, since the Company entered into the acquisition agreement as stated above, the acquisition can be deemed “probable” under rules applicable to a company subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and therefore financial statements of Sundry are presented in this prospectus along with unaudited pro forma financial statements giving effect to the proposed acquisition of Sundry as of January 1, 2020. However, despite the presentation of this financial information in this prospectus, there can be no assurance that the acquisition of Sundry will in fact occur and investors are cautioned not to place any reliance on any pro forma financial information set forth herein giving effect to such acquisition.
Risk Factors Summary
Investing in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 of this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before investing in our common stock. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our common stock would likely decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Listed below is a summary of some of the principal risks related to our business:
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Our business strategy includes growth through acquisitions. If we are unable to locate desirable companies, acquire them on commercially reasonable terms, or finance such acquisitions, or if we are unable to successfully integrate the companies we do acquire or to manage our internal growth, our operating results could be adversely affected.
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Our success depends in part on the future contributions of our executives and managers, including those who were employees of Bailey, H&J and Stateside. The loss of the services of any of them could have an adverse effect on our business and business prospects.
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Claims may be made against Bailey, H&J and Stateside and other acquired businesses arising from their operations prior to the dates we acquired them.
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We have incurred significant net losses since our inception and we anticipate that our operating expenses will increase substantially as we continue to grow. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or maintain profitable operations, obtain adequate capital funding, or improve our financial performance to continue as a going concern.
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Widespread outbreak of an illness or any other public health crisis, including the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, or an economic downturn in the United States could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected as a result of asset impairments and increases in labor costs.
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If we fail to effectively manage our growth by implementing our operational plans and strategies, improving our business processes and infrastructure, and managing our employee base, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.
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If we are unable to anticipate and respond to changing customer preferences and shifting fashion and industry trends or maintain a strong portfolio of brands, customer base, order and inventory levels or our platforms by which our customers shop with us online, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.
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We operate in highly competitive markets and the size and resources of some of our competitors, including wholesalers and direct retailers of apparel, may allow them to compete more effectively than we can, resulting in a loss of our market share and a decrease in our net revenue.
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If we are unable to cost-effectively use or fully optimize social media platforms and influencers or we fail to abide by applicable laws and regulations, our reputation may be materially and adversely affected or we may be subject to fines or other penalties.
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We rely on third-party suppliers and manufacturers, and in H&J’s case, a single supplier, to provide raw materials for and to produce our products. We have limited control over these suppliers and manufacturers and we may not be able to obtain quality products on a timely basis or in sufficient quantity.
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Our operations are currently dependent on a single warehouse and distribution center in Vernon, California, and the loss of, or disruption in, our warehouse and distribution center or our third-party carriers could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
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Our sales and gross margins may decline as a result of increasing product costs and freight costs and decreasing selling prices.
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We have an amount of debt which may be considered significant for a company of our size and we may not be able to service all of our debt.
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Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer.
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If we cannot successfully protect our intellectual property, our business could suffer.
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We face growing regulatory and compliance requirements and substantial costs associated with failing to meet regulatory requirements, combined with the risk of fallout from security breaches, could have a material adverse effect on our business and brand.
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Our business is affected by the general seasonal trends common to the retail apparel industry.
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Our Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware in January 2013 under the name Denim.LA, Inc, and changed our name to Digital Brands Group, Inc. in December 2020. Our corporate offices are located at 1400 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 78701. Our telephone number is (209) 651-0172. Our website is www.digitalbrandsgroup.com. None of the information on our website or any other website identified herein is part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which it forms a part.
 
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The Offering
Common stock offered by us in this offering
36,000,000 shares
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering(1)
49,001,690 shares
Underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares from us
We have granted a 45-day option to the underwriters, exercisable one or more times in whole or in part, to purchase up to an additional 5,400,000 shares of common stock solely to cover over-allotments, if any, at the public offering price per share less the underwriting discount and commissions.
Use of proceeds
We estimate that our net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $7,632,500 (or $8,871,125 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) assuming a public offering price of $0.25 per share and after deducting underwriter discounts and commissions, the non-accountable expense, the underwriters’ expense reimbursement and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including the repayment of promissory notes in the principal amount of $3,068,750. See “Use of Proceeds”.
Risk factors
See “Risk Factors” and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.
NasdaqCM symbol
Our common stock is currently listed on the NasdaqCM under the symbol “DGBI”.
Lockup Agreements
We have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, and our executive officers and directors have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to sell or transfer any common stock for ninety (90) days after the date of this prospectus, in each case, without first obtaining the written consent of the Representative. See “Underwriting — No Sales of Similar Securities”.
The number of shares of common stock outstanding is based on 13,001,690 shares of our common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and excludes as of such date:
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Outstanding warrants to acquire up to 3,580,116 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $2.50 and $8.28 expiring between October 2021 and October 2030;
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Outstanding stock options to acquire up to 3,895,103 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $0.94 and $4.15 expiring between June 2024 and May 2031;
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Up to 4.8 million shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of approximately $9.5 million of convertible notes;
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Up to 5.83 million shares of common stock issuable further to a $17.5 million equity line of credit; and
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568,000 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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Summary Financial Data
The summary historical financial information for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 represents the historical financial information of DBG. The statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 have been derived from the audited financial statements of DBG included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected in any future periods and our results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results that should be expected for any full year.
You should review the information below together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and the audited financial statements of DBG, Bailey, H&J, Stateside and the related notes all included elsewhere in this prospectus.
​ ​ ​
Year Ended
December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenues
​ ​ ​ $ 7,584,859 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 5,239,437 ​ ​
Cost of net revenues
​ ​ ​ ​ 4,689,200 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 4,685,755 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,895,659 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 553,682 ​ ​
Operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 34,244,317 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 9,701,572 ​ ​
Operating loss
​ ​ ​ ​ (31,348,658) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (9,147,890) ​ ​
Other expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ (2,109,419) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (1,566,764) ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (33,458,077) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (10,714,654) ​ ​
Benefit (provision) for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,100,120 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (13,641) ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (32,357,957) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (10,728,295) ​ ​
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As of
December 31, 2021
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​ ​ ​
Actual
​ ​
As
Adjusted(1)
​
Total cash
​ ​ ​ $ 528,394 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 8,160,984 ​ ​
Total current assets
​ ​ ​ ​ 4,776,334 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 12,408,834 ​ ​
Total assets
​ ​ ​ ​ 36,485,224 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 44,117,724 ​ ​
Total current liabilities including current portion of long-term debt
​ ​ ​ ​ 35,047,266 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 35,047,266 ​ ​
Total long-term obligations
​ ​ ​ ​ 8,527,739 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 8,527,739 ​ ​
Total liabilities
​ ​ ​ ​ 43,575,005 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 43,575,005 ​ ​
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)
​ ​ ​ ​ (7,089,781) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 542,719 ​ ​
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)
​ ​ ​ $ 36,485,224 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 44,117,724 ​ ​
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As adjusted amounts reflect the sale of 36,000,000 shares of our common stock in this offering at the assumed public offering of $0.25 per share, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
(1)
Each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares offered by us would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity and total capitalization by approximately $229,375, assuming that the assumed public offering price remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by us.
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IMPLICATIONS OF BEING AN EMERGING GROWTH COMPANY AND A SMALLER REPORTING COMPANY
We qualify as an emerging growth company as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). An emerging growth company may take advantage of specified reduced reporting and other burdens that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include, among other things:
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a requirement to have only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related selected financial data and management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations disclosure;
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an exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”);
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reduced disclosure about the emerging growth company’s executive compensation arrangements;
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deferral of complying with certain changes in accounting standards; and
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no requirement to seek non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements.
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The JOBS Act also permits emerging growth companies to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies. Currently, we are choosing to take advantage of this extended transition period. We may later choose to “opt out” of the extended transition period, with the result that we would then be required to comply with new or revised accounting standards as applicable to public companies. Any later decision to opt out of the extended transition period would be irrevocable.
We have elected to adopt certain of the reduced disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies. As a result of these elections, the information that we provide in this prospectus may be different from the information you may receive from other public companies in which you hold equity interests. In addition, it is possible that some investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our elections, which may result in a less active trading market for our common stock and more volatility in our stock price.
We may take advantage of these provisions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non- convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We may choose to take advantage of some, but not all, of the reduced disclosure requirements.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation. Furthermore, as long as we are neither a “large accelerated filer” nor an “accelerated filer,” as a smaller reporting company, we would not be required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
 
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RISK FACTORS
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risks related to our financial condition and business
We have incurred significant net losses since our inception and cannot assure you that we will achieve or maintain profitable operations.
We have incurred significant net losses since inception. Our net loss was approximately $32.4 and $10.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $65.7 million. We may continue to incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other unknown events, including the length of time COVID-19 related restrictions impact the business.
We anticipate that our operating expenses will increase substantially in the foreseeable future as we undertake the acquisition and integration of different brands, incur expenses associated with maintaining compliance as a public company, and increased marketing and sales efforts to increase our customer base. These increased expenditures may make it more difficult to achieve and maintain profitability. In addition, our efforts to grow our business may be more expensive than we expect, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to offset increased operating expenses. If we are required to reduce our expenses, our growth strategy could be materially affected. We will need to generate and sustain significant revenue levels in future periods in order to become profitable, and, even if we do, we may not be able to maintain or increase our level of profitability.
Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will achieve sustainable operating profits as we continue to expand our product offerings and infrastructure, further develop our marketing efforts, and otherwise implement our growth initiatives. Any failure to achieve and maintain profitability would have a materially adverse effect on our ability to implement our business plan, our results and operations, and our financial condition.
Even if this offering is successful, if we do not obtain adequate capital funding or improve our financial performance, we may not be able to continue as a going concern.
We have incurred a net loss in each year since our inception and expect to incur losses in future periods as we continue to increase our expenses in order to grow our business. We have a working capital deficit of $30.3 million at December 31, 2021. These factors raise substantial doubt about our Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to obtain adequate funding or if we are unable to grow our revenue substantially to achieve and sustain profitability, we may not be able to continue as a going concern. The report of our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2021 included herein contains an explanatory paragraph indicating that there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern as a result of recurring losses from operations.
If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we will be required to significantly delay, scale back or restrict our operations or obtain funds by entering into agreements on unattractive terms, which would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, stock price and our relationships with third parties with whom we have business relationships, at least until additional funding is obtained. If we do not have sufficient funds to continue operations, we could be required to seek bankruptcy protection or other alternatives that would likely result in our stockholders losing some or all of their investment in us. In addition, our ability to achieve profitability or to respond to competitive pressures would be significantly limited.
 
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The amount and timing of our future funding requirements depends on many factors, including
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The timing and cost of potential future acquisitions;
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Integration of the businesses that we have acquired or may acquire in the future;
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The hiring of additional management and other personnel as we continue to grow; and
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Any costs associated with any build-out and opening of showrooms, as needed, for certain of our brands,
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We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, we have in the past and may in the future be restricted or limited by our current outstanding indebtedness on our ability to enter into additional indebtedness and any future debt financing based upon covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, redeem our stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions.
Widespread outbreak of an illness or any other public health crisis, including the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, could materially and adversely affect, and has materially and adversely affected, our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business has been, and will continue to be, impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic in countries where our suppliers, third-party service providers or consumers are located. These effects include recommendations or mandates from governmental authorities to close businesses, limit travel, avoid large gatherings or to self-quarantine, as well as temporary closures and decreased operations of the facilities of our suppliers, service providers and customers. The impacts on us have included, and in the future could include, but are not limited to:
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significant uncertainty and turmoil in global economic and financial market conditions causing, among other things: decreased consumer confidence and decreased consumer spending, now and in the mid and long-term. Specifically, COVID has impacted our business in several ways, including store closings, supply chain disruptions and delivery delays, meaningfully lower net revenue, furloughs and layoffs of 52 employees and increased costs to operate our warehouse to ensure a healthy and safe work environment. Approximately 220 boutique stores where we sold our products closed temporarily and permanently in 2020 and into 2021, representing a reduction in approximately 40% of such stores prior to COVID. Additionally, approximately 40 department stores that carried our products have closed as well, representing a reduction of approximately 35% of such stores prior to COVID. We do not anticipate the department stores will open those stores back up, and we do not anticipate a majority of the closed boutique stores will reopen. We also waited to hire a new Creative Director until the summer, once we knew that stores would open back up at some capacity. This delay in hiring a new designer also impacted the first half of 2021.. We expect to also experience lower order quantities from our accounts throughout the first half of 2022 versus pre-COVID levels, but meaningfully higher than 2020 or 2021.
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•
inability to access financing in the credit and capital markets at reasonable rates (or at all) in the event we, or our suppliers find it desirable to do so, increased exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. Dollar, and volatility in the availability and prices for commodities and raw materials we use for our products and in our supply chain. Specifically, the pandemic shut down our supply chain for several months in 2020, and delayed deliveries throughout the year.
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inability to meet our consumers’ needs for inventory production and fulfillment due to disruptions in our supply chain and increased costs associated with mitigating the effects of the pandemic caused by, among other things: reduction or loss of workforce due to illness, quarantine or other restrictions or facility closures, scarcity of and/or increased prices for raw materials, scrutiny or embargoing of goods produced in infected areas, and increased freight and logistics costs, expenses and times; failure of third parties on which we rely, including our suppliers, customers, distributors, service providers and commercial banks, to meet their obligations to us or to timely meet those obligations, or significant
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disruptions in their ability to do so, which may be caused by their own financial or operational difficulties, including business failure or insolvency and collectability of existing receivables; and
•
significant changes in the conditions in markets in which we do business, including quarantines, governmental or regulatory actions, closures or other restrictions that limit or close our operating and manufacturing facilities and restrict our employees’ ability to perform necessary business functions, including operations necessary for the design, development, production, distribution, sale, marketing and support of our products. Specifically, we had to furlough and layoff a significant amount of employees to adjust to our lower revenues.
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Any of these impacts could place limitations on our ability to execute on our business plan and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We continue to monitor the situation and may adjust our current policies and procedures as more information and guidance become available regarding the evolving situation. The impact of COVID-19 may also exacerbate other risks discussed in this “Risk Factors” section, any of which could have a material effect on us. This situation is changing rapidly and additional impacts may arise that we are not aware of currently.
If our efforts to locate desirable targets are unsuccessful or if we are unable to acquire desirable companies on commercially reasonable terms , we may not be able to grow the business and our revenues and operating results will be adversely affected.
One of our principal growth strategies has been and continues to be is to grow our business and increase our revenue through the acquisition of additional businesses within our industry.. It may be difficult for us to identify desirable companies to acquire. We may face competition in our pursuit to acquire additional businesses, which could limit the number of available companies for sale and may lead to higher acquisition prices. When we identify desirable companies, their owners may not be willing to sell their companies at all or on terms that we have determined to be commercially reasonable. If our efforts to locate and acquire desirable companies on terms that are acceptable to us are not successful, our revenues and operating results may be adversely affected.
In January 2022, DBG signed an agreement with the holders of all of the outstanding membership interests in Sunnyside, LLC (“Sundry”). Further to the aforementioned agreement, at the closing of the acquisition, the holders of all of the membership interests of Sundry shall exchange all of such membership interests for $7.5 million of common stock at the closing price of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of the date immediately preceding the closing and monies equal to $34.0 million; of this amount, $20.0 million will be paid at the closing and the balance will be evidenced by promissory notes due December 31, 2022 (“Seller Notes”); provided however, that if the audited aggregate net revenue of Sundry for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “Audited Net Revenue”) times 1.5 is greater than $34.0 million, we shall pay the difference in cash pro rata to the Sellers and if the Audited Net Revenue times 1.5 is less than $34.0 million the Seller Notes will be reduced pro rata for such difference. If the closing does not occur by June 30, 2022, the agreement terminates and we are obligated to issue to the Payees $2.5 million of our common stock at the closing price of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of such date.
Please note than none of the proceeds of this offering will be used to fund any portion of the purchase price for the proposed acquisition of Sundry. Furthermore, as of the date of this prospectus, the Company has not arranged for nor entered into any agreements with any potential sources of financing to pay the required amounts under the aforementioned purchase agreement. Unless and until the Company arranges for such financing, whether through financing arrangements with third parties or through the sale of equity or debt either privately or publicly, the Company will be unable to fulfill its obligations further to the aforementioned agreement. As stated above, if the acquisition of Sundry is not closed by June 30, 2022, the agreement terminates. For each of these reasons, there exists a substantial doubt that the Company will be able to effect the acquisition of Sundry under the current provisions of the aforementioned acquisition agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, since the Company entered into the acquisition agreement as stated above, the acquisition can be deemed “probable” under rules applicable to a company subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and therefore financial statements of Sundry are presented in this prospectus along with unaudited pro forma financial statements giving effect to the proposed acquisition of Sundry as of January 1, 2020. However, despite the presentation of this financial information in this
 
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prospectus, there can be no assurance that the acquisition of Sundry will in fact occur and investors are cautioned not to place any reliance on any pro forma financial information set forth herein giving effect to such acquisition.
We may not be able to successfully integrate future acquisitions or generate sufficient revenues from future acquisitions, which could cause our business to suffer.
A significant part of our grown strategy is acquiring additional businesses. If we buy a company or a division of a company in the future, there can be no assurance that we will be able to profitably manage such business or successfully integrate such business without substantial costs, delays or other operational or financial problems. Acquisitions also may require us to spend a substantial portion of our available cash, incur debt or other liabilities, amortize expenses related to intangible assets, incur write-offs of goodwill or other assets or obligate us to issue a substantial number of shares of our capital stock, which would result in dilution for our existing stockholders. There can be no assurance that the businesses we acquire in the future will achieve anticipated revenues or earnings. Additionally:
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the key personnel of the acquired business may decide not to work for us;
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changes in management at an acquired business may impair its relationships with employees and customers;
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we may be unable to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies among acquired businesses;
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we may be unable to successfully implement infrastructure, logistics and systems integration;
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we may be held liable for legal claims (including environmental claims) arising out of activities of the acquired businesses prior to our acquisitions, some of which we may not have discovered during our due diligence, and we may not have indemnification claims available to us or we may not be able to realize on any indemnification claims with respect to those legal claims;
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we will assume risks associated with deficiencies in the internal controls of acquired businesses;
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we may not be able to realize the cost savings or other financial benefits we anticipated;
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we may be unable to successfully scale an acquired business; and
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our ongoing business may be disrupted or receive insufficient management attention.
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Some or all of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, we may not benefit from our acquisitions as we expect, or in the time frame we expect. In the apparel industry, differing brands are used to reach different market segments and capture new market share. However, not every brand deployment is successful. In addition, integrating an acquired business or technology is risky. We may incur significant costs acquiring, developing, and promoting new brands only to have limited market acceptance and limited resulting sales. If this occurs, our financial results may be negatively impacted and we may determine it is in the best interest of the Company to no longer support that brand. If a new brand does not generate sufficient revenues or if we are unable to efficiently manage our expanded operations, our results of operations will be adversely affected. Finally, acquisitions could be viewed negatively by analysts, investors or our customers.
In addition, we may not be successful in acquiring businesses and may expend time and expenses in connection with failed acquisitions. For example, in connection with our Series CF financing, we disclosed that we were planning to acquire a New Jersey based apparel company. On September 10, 2020, we and the acquisition target mutually agreed to terminate the acquisition. In addition to such time and expenses, public announcement of a failed acquisition could also negatively impact the trading price of our common stock.
We may be subject to claims arising from the operations of our various businesses for periods prior to the dates we acquired them.
We may be subject to claims or liabilities arising from the ownership or operation of acquired businesses for the periods prior to our acquisition of them, including environmental, warranty, workers’ compensation
 
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and other employee-related and other liabilities and claims not covered by insurance. These claims or liabilities could be significant. Our ability to seek indemnification from the former owners of our acquired businesses for these claims or liabilities may be limited by various factors, including the specific time, monetary or other limitations contained in the respective acquisition agreements and the financial ability of the former owners to satisfy our indemnification claims. In addition, insurance companies may be unwilling to cover claims that have arisen from acquired businesses or locations, or claims may exceed the coverage limits that our acquired businesses had in effect prior to the date of acquisition. If we are unable to successfully obtain insurance coverage of third-party claims or enforce our indemnification rights against the former owners, or if the former owners are unable to satisfy their obligations for any reason, including because of their current financial position, we could be held liable for the costs or obligations associated with such claims or liabilities, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to acquire additional businesses may require issuances of our common stock and/or debt financing that we may be unable to obtain on acceptable terms.
The timing, size and success of our acquisition efforts and the associated capital commitments cannot be readily predicted. We intend to use our common stock, cash, debt and borrowings under our credit facility, if necessary, as consideration for future acquisitions of companies. The issuance of additional common stock in connection with future acquisitions may be dilutive to holders of shares of common stock issued in this offering. In addition, if our common stock does not maintain a sufficient market value or potential acquisition candidates are unwilling to accept common stock as part of the consideration for the sale of their businesses, we may be required to use more of our cash resources, including obtaining additional capital through debt financing. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain financing if and when it is needed or that it will be available on terms that we deem acceptable. As a result, we may be unable to pursue our acquisition strategy successfully, which may prevent us from achieving our growth objectives.
We have an amount of debt which may be considered significant for a company of our size which could adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to react to changes in our business.
As of December 31, 2021, we had an aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding of approximately $22.3 million.
We believe this is an amount of indebtedness which may be considered significant for a company of our size and current revenue base. Our substantial debt could have important consequences to us. For example, it could:
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make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations to the holders of our outstanding debt, resulting in possible defaults on and acceleration of such indebtedness;
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require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to make payments on our debt, which would reduce the availability of our cash flows from operations to fund working capital, capital expenditures or other general corporate purposes;
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increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions, including interest rate fluctuations;
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place us at a competitive disadvantage to our competitors with proportionately less debt for their size;
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limit our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness or borrow additional funds in the future;
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limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changing conditions in our business; and
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limit our ability to react to competitive pressures or make it difficult for us to carry out capital spending that is necessary or important to our growth strategy.
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Any of the foregoing impacts of our substantial indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
 
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We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our debt or refinance our obligations and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under such indebtedness, which may not be successful.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on our indebtedness or to refinance our obligations under our debt agreements, will depend on our financial and operating performance, which, in turn, will be subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to the financial and business risk factors we face as described in this section, many of which may be beyond our control. We may not be able to maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures or planned growth objectives, seek to obtain additional equity capital or restructure our indebtedness. In the future, our cash flows and capital resources may not be sufficient for payments of interest on and principal of our debt, and such alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet scheduled debt service obligations. In addition, the recent worldwide credit crisis could make it more difficult for us to refinance our indebtedness on favorable terms, or at all.
In the absence of such operating results and resources, we may be required to dispose of material assets to meet our debt service obligations. We may not be able to consummate those sales, or, if we do, we will not control the timing of the sales or whether the proceeds that we realize will be adequate to meet debt service obligations when due.
For example, as of December 31, 2021, we owed our senior secured lender approximately $6.0 million that is due on the scheduled maturity date of December 31, 2022. Our credit agreement contains negative covenants that, subject to significant exceptions limit our ability, among other things to make restricted payments, pledge assets as security, make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions, or undergo other fundamental changes. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under the credit facility and permit the lender to cease making loans to us. If for whatever reason we have insufficient liquidity to make scheduled payments under our credit facility or to repay such indebtedness by the schedule maturity date, we would seek the consent of our senior lender to modify such terms. Although our senior lender has previously agreed to seven prior modifications of our credit agreement, there is no assurance that it will agree to any such modification and could then declare an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under this agreement, the lender could elect to declare all amounts outstanding thereunder to be immediately due and payable. We have pledged all of our assets as collateral under our credit facility. If the lender accelerates the repayment of borrowings, we may not have sufficient assets to repay them and we could experience a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected as a result of asset impairments.
Our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by impairments to goodwill, other intangible assets, receivables, long-lived assets or investments. For example, when we acquire a business, we record goodwill in an amount equal to the amount we paid for the business minus the fair value of the net tangible assets and other identifiable intangible assets of the acquired business. Goodwill and other intangible assets that have indefinite useful lives cannot be amortized, but instead must be tested at least annually for impairment. As a result of our acquisitions of Stateside, H&J and Bailey our goodwill and intangible assets as of December 31, 2021 were $18.3 million and $12.8 million, respectively. Any future impairments, including impairments of goodwill, intangible assets, long- lived assets or investments, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations for the period in which the impairment is recognized.
If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.
We have grown and expect to continue to grow rapidly and to effectively manage our growth, we must continue to implement our operational plans and strategies, improve our business processes, improve and expand our infrastructure of people and information systems, and expand, train and manage our employee base. Since our inception and as a result of our acquisitions, we have rapidly increased our employee headcount across our organization to support the growth of our business. To support continued growth, we
 
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must effectively integrate, develop and motivate a large number of new employees while maintaining our corporate culture. We face significant competition for personnel. To attract top talent, we have had to offer, and expect to continue to offer, competitive compensation and benefits packages before we can validate the productivity of new employees. We may also need to increase our employee compensation levels to remain competitive in attracting and retaining talented employees. The risks associated with a rapidly growing workforce will be particularly acute as we choose to expand into new merchandise categories and internationally. Additionally, we may not be able to hire new employees quickly enough to meet our needs. If we fail to effectively manage our hiring needs or successfully integrate new hires, our efficiency, our ability to meet forecasts and our employee morale, productivity and retention could suffer, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We are also required to manage numerous relationships with various vendors and other third parties. Further growth of our operations, vendor base, fulfillment center, information technology systems or internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support our operations. If we are unable to manage the growth of our organization effectively, our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
If we are unable to anticipate and respond to changing customer preferences and shifts in fashion and industry trends in a timely manner, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.
Our success largely depends on our ability to consistently gauge tastes and trends and provide a diverse and balanced assortment of merchandise that satisfies customer demands in a timely manner. Our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products could be affected by many factors, including an increase or decrease in demand for our products or for products of our competitors, our failure to accurately forecast acceptance of new products, product introductions by competitors, unanticipated changes in general market conditions, and weakening of economic conditions or consumer confidence in future economic conditions. We typically enter into agreements to manufacture and purchase our merchandise in advance of the applicable selling season and our failure to anticipate, identify or react appropriately, or in a timely manner to changes in customer preferences, tastes and trends or economic conditions could lead to, among other things, missed opportunities, excess inventory or inventory shortages, markdowns and write-offs, all of which could negatively impact our profitability and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Failure to respond to changing customer preferences and fashion trends could also negatively impact the image of our brands with our customers and result in diminished brand loyalty.
Our business depends on our ability to maintain a strong portfolio of brands and engaged customers.. We may not be able to maintain and enhance our existing brand portfolio if we receive customer complaints, negative publicity or otherwise fail to live up to consumers’ expectations, which could materially adversely affect our business, operating results and growth prospects.
Our ability to acquire or offer new brands and maintain and enhance the appeal of our existing brands is critical to expanding our base of customers. A significant portion of our customers’ experience depends on third parties outside of our control, including vendors, suppliers and logistics providers such as FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. If these third parties do not meet our or our customers’ expectations, including timely delivery of our products, or if they increase their rates, our business may suffer irreparable damage or our costs may increase. Also, if we fail to promote and maintain our brands, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. We anticipate that as our market becomes increasingly competitive, our ability to acquire or offer new brands and to maintain and enhance our existing brands may become increasingly difficult and expensive and will depend largely on our ability to provide high quality products to our customers and a reliable, trustworthy and profitable sales channel to our vendors, which we may not do successfully.
Customer complaints or negative publicity about our sites, products, product delivery times, customer data handling and security practices or customer support, especially on blogs, social media websites and our sites, could rapidly and severely diminish consumer use of our sites and consumer and supplier confidence in us and result in harm to our brands.
 
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An economic downturn or economic uncertainty in the United States may adversely affect consumer discretionary spending and demand for our products.
Our operating results are affected by the relative condition of the United States economy as many of our products may be considered discretionary items for consumers. Our customers may reduce their spending and purchases due to job loss or fear of job loss, foreclosures, bankruptcies, higher consumer debt and interest rates, reduced access to credit, falling home prices, increased taxes, and/or lower consumer confidence. Consumer demand for our products may not reach our targets, or may decline, when there is an economic downturn or economic uncertainty. Current, recent past, and future conditions may also adversely affect our pricing and liquidation strategy; promotional activities, product liquidation, and decreased demand for consumer products could affect profitability and margins. Any of the foregoing factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Additionally, many of the effects and consequences of U.S. and global financial and economic conditions could potentially have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and capital resources, including the ability to raise additional capital, if needed, or could otherwise negatively affect our business and financial results. For example, global economic conditions may also adversely affect our suppliers’ access to capital and liquidity with which to maintain their inventory, production levels, and product quality and to operate their businesses, all of which could adversely affect our supply chain. Market instability could make it more difficult for us and our suppliers to accurately forecast future product demand trends, which could cause us to carry too much or too little merchandise in various product categories.
We operate in highly competitive markets and the size and resources of some of our competitors may allow them to compete more effectively than we can, resulting in a loss of our market share and a decrease in our net revenue.
The markets in which we compete are highly competitive. Competition may result in pricing pressures, reduced profit margins or lost market share, or a failure to grow or maintain our market share, any of which could substantially harm our business and results of operations. We compete directly against wholesalers and direct retailers of apparel, including large, diversified apparel companies with substantial market share and strong worldwide brand recognition. Many of our competitors, including Vince, James Perse, Rag & Bone, Madewell, AG, FRAME, All Saints, Zegna and Ralph Lauren, have significant competitive advantages, including longer operating histories, larger and broader customer bases, more established relationships with a broader set of suppliers, greater brand recognition and greater financial, research and development, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we do.
As a result, these competitors may be better equipped than we are to influence consumer preferences or otherwise increase their market share by:
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quickly adapting to changes in customer requirements or consumer preferences;
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discounting excess inventory that has been written down or written off;
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devoting resources to the marketing and sale of their products, including significant advertising campaigns, media placement, partnerships and product endorsement; and
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engaging in lengthy and costly intellectual property and other disputes.
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Our inability to compete successfully against our competitors and maintain our gross margin could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Use of social media and influencers may materially and adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.
We use third-party social media platforms as, among other things, marketing tools. We also maintain relationships with many social media influencers and engage in sponsorship initiatives. As existing e-commerce and social media platforms continue to rapidly evolve and new platforms develop, we must continue to maintain a presence on these platforms and establish presences on new or emerging popular social media platforms. If we are unable to cost-effectively use social media platforms as marketing tools or if the social
 
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media platforms we use change their policies or algorithms, we may not be able to fully optimize such platforms, and our ability to maintain and acquire customers and our financial condition may suffer.
Furthermore, as laws and regulations and public opinion rapidly evolve to govern the use of these platforms and devices, the failure by us, our employees, our network of social media influencers, our sponsors or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms and devices or otherwise could subject us to regulatory investigations, class action lawsuits, liability, fines or other penalties and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
In addition, an increase in the use of social media for product promotion and marketing may cause an increase in the burden on us to monitor compliance of such materials, and increase the risk that such materials could contain problematic product or marketing claims in violation of applicable regulations. For example, in some cases, the FTC has sought enforcement action where an endorsement has failed to clearly and conspicuously disclose a financial relationship or material connection between an influencer and an advertiser.
We do not prescribe what our influencers post, and if we were held responsible for the content of their posts or their actions, we could be fined or forced to alter our practices, which could have an adverse impact on our business.
Negative commentary regarding us, our products or influencers and other third parties who are affiliated with us may also be posted on social media platforms and may be adverse to our reputation or business. Influencers with whom we maintain relationships could engage in behavior or use their platforms to communicate directly with our customers in a manner that reflects poorly on our brand and may be attributed to us or otherwise adversely affect us. It is not possible to prevent such behavior, and the precautions we take to detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. Our target consumers often value readily available information and often act on such information without further investigation and without regard to its accuracy. The harm may be immediate, without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction.
If we fail to retain existing customers, or fail to maintain average order value levels, we may not be able to maintain our revenue base and margins, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
A significant portion of our net sales are generated from sales to existing customers. If existing customers no longer find our offerings appealing, or if we are unable to timely update our offerings to meet current trends and customer demands, our existing customers may make fewer or smaller purchases in the future. A decrease in the number of our customers who make repeat purchases or a decrease in their spending on the merchandise we offer could negatively impact our operating results. Further, we believe that our future success will depend in part on our ability to increase sales to our existing customers over time, and if we are unable to do so, our business may suffer. If we fail to generate repeat purchases or maintain high levels of customer engagement and average order value, our growth prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
We purchase inventory in anticipation of sales, and if we are unable to manage our inventory effectively, our operating results could be adversely affected.
Our business requires us to manage a large volume of inventory effectively. We regularly add new apparel, accessories and beauty styles to our sites, and we depend on our forecasts of demand for and popularity of various products to make purchase decisions and to manage our inventory of stock-keeping units, or SKUs. Demand for products, however, can change significantly between the time inventory is ordered and the date of sale. Demand may be affected by seasonality, new product launches, rapid changes in product cycles and pricing, product defects, promotions, changes in consumer spending patterns, changes in consumer tastes with respect to our products and other factors, and our consumers may not purchase products in the quantities that we expect.
It may be difficult to accurately forecast demand and determine appropriate levels of product. We generally do not have the right to return unsold products to our suppliers. If we fail to manage our inventory
 
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effectively or negotiate favorable credit terms with third-party suppliers, we may be subject to a heightened risk of inventory obsolescence, a decline in inventory values, and significant inventory write-downs or write-offs. In addition, if we are required to lower sale prices in order to reduce inventory level or to pay higher prices to our suppliers, our profit margins might be negatively affected. Any failure to manage owned brand expansion or accurately forecast demand for owned brands could adversely affect growth, margins and inventory levels. In addition, our ability to meet customer demand has been and may be in the future negatively impacted by disruptions in the supply chain from a number of factors, including, for example, the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in China. The COVID-19 coronavirus has and is expected to continue to impact our supply chain and may delay or prevent the manufacturing or transport of product. Any of the above may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Merchandise returns could harm our business.
We allow our customers to return products, subject to our return policy. If the rate of merchandise returns increases significantly or if merchandise return economics become less efficient, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed. Further, we modify our policies relating to returns from time to time, which may result in customer dissatisfaction or an increase in the number of product returns. From time to time our products are damaged in transit, which can increase return rates and harm our brands.
We rely on third-party suppliers and manufacturers to provide raw materials for and to produce our products, and we have limited control over these suppliers and manufacturers and may not be able to obtain quality products on a timely basis or in sufficient quantity.
We rely on third-party suppliers primarily located outside of the United States to provide raw materials for our products. In addition, we do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities and rely solely on unaffiliated manufacturers primarily located outside the United States to manufacture our products. Increases in the costs of labor and other costs of doing business in these countries could significantly increase our costs to produce our products and could have a negative impact on our operations, net revenue, and earnings. In addition, certain of our manufacturers are subject to government regulations related to wage rates, and therefore the labor costs to produce our products may fluctuate. Factors that could negatively affect our business include a potential significant revaluation of the currencies used in these countries, which may result in an increase in the cost of producing products, labor shortages and stoppages and increases in labor costs, and difficulties in moving products manufactured out of the countries in which they are manufactured and through the ports in North America, whether due to port congestion, labor disputes, product regulations and/or inspections or other factors, and natural disasters or health pandemics. A labor strike or other transportation disruption affecting these ports could significantly disrupt our business. In addition, the imposition of trade sanctions or other regulations against products imported by us from, or the loss of “normal trade relations” status with any country in which our products are manufactured, could significantly increase our cost of products and harm our business. We may also experience increased costs in raw goods, transportation and labor. Additionally, we are also subject to global supply chain disruptions, which may include longer lead times for raw fabrics, inbound shipping and longer production times Supply chain issues have specifically impacted the following for our brands:
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Increased costs in raw materials from fabric prices, which have increased 10% to 100% depending on the fabric, the time of year, and the origin of the fabric, as well as where the fabric is being shipped;
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Increased cost per kilo to ship via sea or air, which has increased from 25% to 300% depending on the time of year and from the country we are shipping from;
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Increased transit time via sea or air, which have increased by two weeks to two months; and
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Increased labor costs for producing the finished goods, which have increased 5% to 25% depending on the country and the labor skill required to produce the goods.
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The operations of our suppliers can be subject to additional risks beyond our control, including shipping delays, labor disputes, trade restrictions, tariffs and embargos, or any other change in local conditions. We may experience a significant disruption in the supply of fabrics or raw materials from current sources or, in the event of a disruption, we may be unable to locate alternative materials suppliers of
 
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comparable quality at an acceptable price, or at all. We do not have any long-term supply contracts in place with any of our suppliers and we compete with other companies, including many of our competitors, for fabrics, raw materials, production and import quota capacity. We have occasionally received, and may in the future receive, shipments of products that fail to comply with our specifications or that fail to conform to our quality control standards. We have also received, and may in the future receive, products that are otherwise unacceptable to us or our customers. Under these circumstances, we may incur substantial expense to remedy the problems and may be required to obtain replacement products. If we fail to remedy any such problem in a timely manner, we risk the loss of net revenue resulting from the inability to sell those products and related increased administrative and shipping costs. Additionally, if the unacceptability of our products is not discovered until after such products are purchased by our customers, our customers could lose confidence in our products or we could face a product recall. In such an event our brand reputation may be negatively impacted which could negatively impact our results of operations.
These and other factors beyond our control could result in our third-party suppliers and manufacturers being unable to fill our orders in a timely manner. If we experience significant increased demand, or we lose or need to replace an existing third- party supplier and manufacturer as a result of adverse economic conditions or other reasons, we may not be able to secure additional manufacturing capacity when required or on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, or manufacturers may not be able to allocate sufficient capacity to us in order to meet our requirements. In addition, even if we are able to find new third-party suppliers or manufacturers, we may encounter delays in production and added costs as a result of the time it takes to train our manufacturers on our methods, products and quality control standards. Moreover, it is possible that we will experience defects, errors, or other problems with their work that will materially affect our operations and we may have little or no recourse to recover damages for these losses. Any delays, interruption or increased costs in the supply of fabric or manufacture of our products could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet retail customer and consumer demand for our products and result in lower net revenues and net income both in the short and long term.
In addition to the foregoing, H&J depends on two primary suppliers located in China and Turkey for the substantial portion of raw materials used in its products and the manufacture of these products, which makes it vulnerable to a disruption in the supply of its products. As a result, termination of these supply arrangements, an adverse change in the financial condition of these suppliers or an adverse change in their ability to manufacture and/or deliver desired products on a timely basis each could have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition and results of operations of H&J and us.
Our sales and gross margins may decline as a result of increasing product costs and decreasing selling prices.
The fabrics used in our products include synthetic fabrics whose raw materials include petroleum-based products, as well as natural fibers such as cotton. Significant price fluctuations or shortages in petroleum or other raw materials can materially adversely affect our cost of net revenues.
In addition, the United States and the countries in which our products are produced or sold internationally have imposed and may impose additional quotas, duties, tariffs, or other restrictions or regulations, or may adversely adjust prevailing quota, duty or tariff levels. Countries impose, modify and remove tariffs and other trade restrictions in response to a diverse array of factors, including global and national economic and political conditions, which make it impossible for us to predict future developments regarding tariffs and other trade restrictions. Trade restrictions, including tariffs, quotas, embargoes, safeguards, and customs restrictions, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of products available to us or may require us to modify our supply chain organization or other current business practices, any of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations are currently dependent on a single warehouse and distribution center, and the loss of, or disruption in, the warehouse and distribution center and other factors affecting the distribution of merchandise could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
Our warehouse and fulfillment/distribution functions are currently primarily handled from a single facility in Vernon, California. Our current fulfillment/distribution operations are dependent on the continued use of this facility. Any significant interruption in the operation of the warehouse and fulfillment/ distribution center due to COVID-19 restrictions, natural disasters, accidents, system issues or failures, or
 
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other unforeseen causes that materially impair our ability to access or use our facility, could delay or impair the ability to distribute merchandise and fulfill online orders, which could cause sales to decline.
We also depend upon third-party carriers for shipment of a significant amount of merchandise directly to our customers. An interruption in service by these third-party carriers for any reason could cause temporary disruptions in business, a loss of sales and profits, and other material adverse effects.
Our sales and gross margins may decline as a result of increasing freight costs.
Freight costs are impacted by changes in fuel prices through surcharges, among other factors. Fuel prices and surcharges affect freight costs both on inbound freight from suppliers to the distribution center as well as outbound freight from the distribution center to stores/shops, supplier returns and third-party liquidators, and shipments of product to customers. The cost of transporting our products for distribution and sale is also subject to fluctuation due in large part to the price of oil. Because most of our products are manufactured abroad, our products must be transported by third parties over large geographical distances and an increase in the price of oil can significantly increase costs. Manufacturing delays or unexpected transportation delays can also cause us to rely more heavily on airfreight to achieve timely delivery to our customers, which significantly increases freight costs. Increases in fuel prices, surcharges, and other potential factors may increase freight costs. Any of these fluctuations may increase our cost of products and have an adverse effect on our margins, results of operations and financial condition.
Increases in labor costs, including wages, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Labor is a significant portion of our cost structure and is subject to many external factors, including unemployment levels, prevailing wage rates, minimum wage laws, potential collective bargaining arrangements, health insurance costs and other insurance costs and changes in employment and labor legislation or other workplace regulation. From time to time, legislative proposals are made to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States, as well as the minimum wage in California and a number of other states and municipalities, and to reform entitlement programs, such as health insurance and paid leave programs. As minimum wage rates increase or related laws and regulations change, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage employees, but also the wages paid to our other hourly or salaried employees. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations or if we fail to pay such higher wages we could suffer increased employee turnover. Increases in labor costs could force us to increase prices, which could adversely impact our sales. If competitive pressures or other factors prevent us from offsetting increased labor costs by increases in prices, our profitability may decline and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, our proprietary business information, and financial and other personally identifiable information of our customers and employees. The secure processing, maintenance, and transmission of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance, or other disruptions. Any such breach could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost, or stolen. Advanced attacks are multi-staged, unfold over time, and utilize a range of attack vectors with military-grade cyber weapons and proven techniques, such as spear phishing and social engineering, leaving organizations and users at high risk of being compromised. The vast majority of data breaches, whether conducted by a cyber attacker from inside or outside of the organization, involve the misappropriation of digital identities and user credentials. These credentials are used to gain legitimate access to sensitive systems and high-value personal and corporate data. Many large, well-known organizations have been subject to cyber-attacks that exploited the identity vector, demonstrating that even organizations with significant resources and security expertise have challenges securing their identities. Any such access, disclosure, or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings,
 
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liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, regulatory penalties, a disruption of our operations, damage to our reputation, or a loss of confidence in our business, any of which could adversely affect our business, revenues, and competitive position.
Our future success depends on our key executive officers and our ability to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel.
Our future success largely depends upon the continued services of our executive officers and management team, especially our Chief Executive Officer and President, Mr. John “Hil” Davis. If one or more of our executive officers are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them readily, if at all. Additionally, we may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain new executive officers. If any of our executive officers joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose some or all of our customers. Finally, we do not maintain “key person” life insurance on any of our executive officers. Because of these factors, the loss of the services of any of these key persons could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and thereby an investment in our stock.
In addition, our continuing ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, especially employees with experience in the fashion and fitness industries, will also be critical to our success because we will need to hire and retain additional personnel as our business grows. There can be no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain highly qualified personnel. We face significant competition for skilled personnel in our industries. This competition may make it more difficult and expensive to attract, hire, and retain qualified managers and employees. Because of these factors, we may not be able to effectively manage or grow our business, which could adversely affect our financial condition or business. As a result, the value of your investment could be significantly reduced or completely lost.
If we cannot successfully protect our intellectual property, our business could suffer.
We rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, contractual protections and other practices to protect our brand, proprietary information, technologies and processes. We primarily rely on copyright and trade secret laws to protect our proprietary technologies and processes, including the algorithms we use throughout our business. Others may independently develop the same or similar technologies and processes, or may improperly acquire and use information about our technologies and processes, which may allow them to provide a service similar to ours, which could harm our competitive position. Our principal trademark assets include the registered trademarks “DSTLD”, “Bailey 44”, “ACE STUDIOS” and “STATESIDE” and our logos and taglines. Our trademarks are valuable assets that support our brand and consumers’ perception of our services and merchandise. We also hold the rights to the “www.digitalbrandsgroup.co”, www.dstld.com, “www.bailey44.com”, and www.harperandjones.com. Internet domain name and various related domain names, which are subject to Internet regulatory bodies and trademark and other related laws of each applicable jurisdiction. If we are unable to protect our trademarks or domain names, our brand recognition and reputation would suffer, we would incur significant expense establishing new brands and our operating results would be adversely impacted. Further, to the extent we pursue patent protection for our innovations, patents we may apply for may not issue, and patents that do issue or that we acquire may not provide us with any competitive advantages or may be challenged by third parties. There can be no assurance that any patents we obtain will adequately protect our inventions or survive a legal challenge, as the legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of patent and other intellectual property rights are uncertain. We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights, and the efforts we take to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient.
If the technology-based systems that give our customers the ability to shop with us online do not function effectively, our operating results could be materially adversely affected.
A substantial number of our customers currently shop with us through our e-commerce website and mobile application. Increasingly, customers are using tablets and smart phones to shop online with us and with our competitors and to do comparison shopping. Any failure on our part to provide an attractive, effective, reliable, user-friendly e-commerce platform that offers a wide assortment of merchandise with rapid delivery options and that continually meet the changing expectations of online shoppers could place
 
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us at a competitive disadvantage, result in the loss of sales, harm our reputation with customers, and could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Organizations face growing regulatory and compliance requirements.
New and evolving regulations and compliance standards for cyber security, data protection, privacy, and internal IT controls are often created in response to the tide of cyber-attacks and will increasingly impact organizations. Existing regulatory standards require that organizations implement internal controls for user access to applications and data. In addition, data breaches are driving a new wave of regulation with stricter enforcement and higher penalties. Regulatory and policy-driven obligations require expensive and time-consuming compliance measures. The fear of non-compliance, failed audits, and material findings has pushed organizations to spend more to ensure they are in compliance, often resulting in costly, one-off implementations to mitigate potential fines or reputational damage. Any substantial costs associated with failing to meet regulatory requirements, combined with the risk of fallout from security breaches, could have a material adverse effect on our business and brand.
Our failure to comply with trade and other regulations could lead to investigations or actions by government regulators and negative publicity.
The labeling, distribution, importation, marketing and sale of our products are subject to extensive regulation by various federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission and state attorneys general in the U.S., as well as by various other federal, state, provincial, local and international regulatory authorities in the locations in which our products are distributed or sold. If we fail to comply with those regulations, we could become subject to significant penalties or claims or be required to recall products, which could negatively impact our results of operations and disrupt our ability to conduct our business, as well as damage our brand image with consumers. In addition, the adoption of new regulations or changes in the interpretation of existing regulations may result in significant unanticipated compliance costs or discontinuation of product sales and may impair the marketing of our products, resulting in significant loss of net revenues.
Any international operations are also subject to compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and other anti-bribery laws applicable to our operations. Although we have policies and procedures to address compliance with the FCPA and similar laws, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, agents and other partners will not take actions in violations of our policies. Any such violation could subject us to sanctions or other penalties that could negatively affect our reputation, business and operating results.
Our business is affected by seasonality.
Our business is affected by the general seasonal trends common to the retail apparel industry. This seasonality may adversely affect our business and cause our results of operations to fluctuate, and, as a result, we believe that comparisons of our operating results between different quarters within a single fiscal year are not necessarily meaningful and that results of operations in any period should not be considered indicative of the results to be expected for any future period.
Risks Related to this Offering and our Common Stock
The price of our common stock has in the past and may in the future fluctuate substantially, and your investment may decline in value.
The market price of our common stock has in the past and could in the future be extremely volatile. From May 2021 to March 31, 2022, the high and low prices of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM was $8.80 and $0.91, respectively. The future market price of our common stock may be significantly affected by factors, such as:
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market conditions affecting the apparel industries;
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quarterly variations in our results of operations;
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changes in government regulations;
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the announcement of acquisitions by us or our competitors;
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changes in general economic and political conditions;
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volatility in the financial markets;
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results of our operations and the operations of others in our industry;
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changes in interest rates;
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threatened or actual litigation and government investigations;
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the addition or departure of key personnel;
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actions taken by our stockholders, including the sale or disposition of their shares of our common stock; and
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differences between our actual financial and operating results and those expected by investors and analysts and changes in analysts’ recommendations or projections.
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These and other factors may lower the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. As a result, our common stock may trade at prices significantly below the public offering price.
Furthermore, in recent years the stock market has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies. The changes frequently appear to occur without regard to the operating performance of the affected companies. Hence, the price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with us, and these fluctuations could materially reduce the price of our common stock and materially affect the value of your investment.
In the past, securities class action litigation often has been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their securities. This type of litigation, if directed at us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.
If we are not able to comply with the applicable continued listing requirements or standards of NasdaqCM, NasdaqCM could delist our common stock.
Our common stock is listed on the NasdaqCM. In order to maintain that listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including those regarding director independence and independent committee requirements, minimum stockholders’ equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements. There can be no assurances that we will be able to comply with the applicable listing standards. If NasdaqCM were to delist our common stock or warrants, it would be more difficult for our stockholders to dispose of our common stock or warrants and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our common stock or warrants. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our common stock or warrants are not listed on a national securities exchange.
If we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We are not currently required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and are therefore not required to make an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses relate to the fact that we do not maintain a comprehensive policies and procedures manual designed to establish internal controls over financial reporting to reduce the risk of publishing materially misstated financial statements, as well as define responsibilities and segregate incompatible duties to reduce the risk of unauthorized transactions.
 
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We are in the process of taking steps intended to remedy these material weaknesses, and we will not be able to fully address these material weaknesses until these steps have been completed. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Controls and Procedures” for information regarding our remediation efforts.
As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. A material weakness is defined in the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) as a deficiency, or an acquisition of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In addition, we will be required to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, at the time of our second annual report on Form 10-K, which will be for our year ending December 31, 2022. We intend to begin the process of designing, implementing and testing the internal control over financial reporting required to comply with this obligation upon the completion of this offering, which process is time consuming, costly and complex. If we fail to increase and maintain the number and expertise of our staff for our accounting and finance functions and to improve and maintain internal control over financial reporting adequate to meet the demands that will be placed upon us as a public company, including the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes- Oxley Act, we may be unable to report our financial results accurately and prevent fraud. In addition, we cannot be certain that any such steps we undertake will successfully remediate the material weaknesses or that other material weaknesses and control deficiencies will not be discovered in the future. If our remediation efforts are not successful or other material weaknesses or control deficiencies occur in the future, we may be unable to report our financial results accurately or on a timely basis, which could cause our reported financial results to be materially misstated and result in the loss of investor confidence or delisting and cause our stock price to decline. As a result of such failures, we could also become subject to investigations by NasdaqCM, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, and become subject to litigation from investors and stockholders, any of which could harm our reputation and financial condition, and divert financial and management resources. Even if we are able to report our consolidated financial statements accurately and timely, if we do not make all the necessary improvements to address the material weaknesses, continued disclosure of our material weaknesses will be required in future filings with the SEC, which could reduce investor confidence in our reported results and our cause our stock price to decline.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Those exemptions include, but are not limited to, a requirement to present only two years of audited financial statements, an exemption from the auditor attestation requirement of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure about executive compensation arrangements in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and no requirement to seek non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements. We have elected to adopt these reduced disclosure requirements. We may take advantage of these provisions until we are no longer an emerging growth company.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31st, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our taking advantage of these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of our choices, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
 
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Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation. Furthermore, as long as we are neither a “large accelerated filer” nor an “accelerated filer,” as a smaller reporting company, we would not be required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Future sales of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.
The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market after this offering. These sales, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock or make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
Upon the completion of this offering and assuming a public offering price of $0.25 per share, we will have 49,001,690 shares of common stock outstanding (or 54,401,690 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). Of these shares, 43,795,600 shares sold in this offering (or 49,195,600 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) and shares held by persons not subject to a lock-up agreement with our underwriters are freely tradable without restriction immediately following this offering. The number of shares of common stock outstanding is based on 13,001,690 shares of our common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2021, and excludes as of such date:
•
Outstanding warrants to acquire up to 3,580,116 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $2.50 and $8.28 expiring between October 2021 and October 2030;
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•
Outstanding stock options to acquire up to 3,895,103 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $0.94 and $4.15 expiring between June 2024 and May 2031;
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•
Up to 4.8 million shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of approximately $9.5 million of convertible notes;
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•
Up to 5.83 million shares of common stock issuable further to a $17.5 million equity line of credit; and
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•
568,000 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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We have been notified by Oasis Capital LLC (“Oasis Capital”), a holder of variable rate convertible notes, that it believes that our recent issuance of certain 20% OID Notes triggers the “most favored nations clause” in its securities purchase agreement. The demand requests that its notes be modified to provide an identical original issue discount and mirror several of the default conversion provisions of the 20% OID Notes. In addition it has demanded identical warrant coverage provided to the investors in the 20% OID Notes; Oasis Capital believes it is entitled to 4,930,328 warrants exercisable at “market” as of April 8, 2022. We believe these demands are without merit as the 20% OID Notes do not become convertible unless and until said Notes go into default at which time any “most favored nations” clause would then become pertinent. Should it later be deemed that Oasis Capital is indeed entitled to such demands, we would experience substantial additional dilution which could have a material adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We estimate that our net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $7,632,500 (or $8,871,125 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) assuming a public offering price of $0.25 per share and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding short-term notes, with the remaining proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. See “Use of Proceeds”. Our management will have broad discretion to use the remaining net proceeds from this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of such proceeds.
A significant amount of the proceeds we receive may be invested in short-term, investment-grade securities; there can be no guarantees that our investments will not lose value or that the returns on our investments will not decrease due to market and economic conditions or other factors outside of our control.
We intend to invest the net proceeds from this offering in short-term, investment grade securities until we deploy them for other corporate uses. See “Use of Proceeds.” Although the risks inherent in short-term, investment grade securities are generally low, economic and market conditions could result in a decrease in returns on short-term securities or in the partial or entire loss of our investment. For example, there can be sudden shifts in interest rates, major credit quality downgrades for multiple firms and/or world events that create extreme volatility in the financial markets. Although we intend to implement investment procedures and safeguards and to diversify investments and asset allocations so that our combined investment risk exposure is limited, there is no guarantee that our efforts will prevent the loss of, or the decrease in returns on, our investments, which may cause our stock price to decline.
Provisions in our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable.
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable because they, among other things:
•
establish a supermajority voting requirement of at least 662∕3% of the outstanding voting stock in order to amend certain provisions in our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which makes it more difficult for stockholders to eliminate anti- takeover provisions;
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•
eliminate stockholder-initiated action by written consent in lieu of a meeting, which hampers the ability of stockholders to take action during the interim periods between annual meetings of stockholders; and
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•
require the written request of stockholders holding an aggregate of 25% of shares of our common stock in order for stockholders to call a special meeting, which together with the elimination of stockholder action by written consent described above, makes it very difficult for stockholders to take action during the interim periods between annual meetings of stockholders.
​
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to the Delaware anti-takeover provisions contained in Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not engage in a business acquisition with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the
 
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stock for three years or, among other things, the board of directors has approved the transaction. Our board of directors could rely on this provision to prevent or delay an acquisition of us. See “Description of Capital Stock.”
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks subject matter jurisdiction, any state court located within the State of Delaware or, if and only if all such state courts lack subject matter jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law:
•
any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
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•
any action asserting a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders;
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•
any action asserting a claim against us or our directors, officers or other employees arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws;
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•
any action or proceeding to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws;
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•
any action or proceeding as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; or
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•
any action asserting a claim against us or our directors, officers or other employees that is governed by the “internal affairs doctrine” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the Delaware General Corporation Law,
​
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the U.S. federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction of the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. The enforceability of similar exclusive federal forum provisions in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and while the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that this type of exclusive federal forum provision is facially valid under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts would enforce such provisions and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this exclusive forum provision of our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find this choice of forum provision in our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions. Additional costs associated with resolving an action in other jurisdictions could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue shares of blank check preferred stock, and issuances of such preferred stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable for such preferred stock, may result in immediate dilution to existing stockholders, including investors in this offering.
If we raise additional funds through future issuances of preferred equity or debt securities convertible into preferred equity, our stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity or debt securities
 
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that we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of shares of common stock. Although we have no present plans to issue any shares of preferred stock or any additional convertible debt securities, in the event that we issue shares of our preferred stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable for our common stock after the date of the offering, the investors in this offering may be diluted. We may choose to raise additional capital using such preferred equity or debt securities because of market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.
Purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering will result in an immediate and substantial dilution of your investment, and your investment may be further diluted if new securities are issued in connection with capital raises.
The public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock. Therefore, investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the book value of our tangible assets after subtracting our liabilities. As a result, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will incur immediate dilution of $0.86 per share (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock), based on an assumed public offering price of $0.25 per share. Furthermore, if we raise additional capital or acquire new businesses by issuing new convertible or equity securities, the interests of investors in this offering may be further diluted. This may result in the loss of all or a portion of their investment. In addition, newer securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of securities held by investors in our common stock. See “Dilution.”
We may be required to issue additional shares of our common stock further to agreements whereby we acquired each of Bailey and H&J. Any such additional issuances would result in additional dilution to our stockholders including investors in this offering.
Further to the acquisitions of Bailey and H&J, we agreed that if, at May 18, 2022, the one year anniversary of the closing date of our initial public offering, the product of the number of shares of our common stock issued at the closing of such acquisitions multiplied by the average closing price per share of our shares of common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM for the thirty (30) day trading period immediately preceding such date plus the gross proceeds, if any, of shares of our stock issued to such sellers and sold by them during the one year period from the closing date of this offering does not exceed the sum of $11.0 million or $9.1 million, respectively, less the value of any shares of common stock cancelled further to any indemnification claims or post-closing adjustments under the acquisition agreements, then we shall issue to the subject sellers an additional aggregate number of shares of common stock equal to any such valuation shortfall at a per share price equal to the then closing price per share of our common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM. Although we have agreed that concurrently we will cause a number of shares of common stock or common stock equivalents held by certain of our affiliated stockholders prior to this offering to be cancelled in an equivalent dollar amount as any such valuation shortfalls on a pro rata basis in proportion to the number of shares of common stock or common stock equivalents held by each of them, the substantial majority of such cancellations would likely be in the form of cancellation of stock options held by such persons as opposed to shares held by them. By way of example only, the closing price per share of our common stock as of March 29, 2022 as quoted on the NasdaqCM was $1.68. If shares were issued as of such date in accordance with the agreements referenced above, an additional 8,443,213 shares of our common stock would be issued in the aggregate further to the acquisitions of Bailey and H&J. This would result in an equivalent number of stock options held by certain of our affiliated stockholders being concurrently cancelled. As a result, additional shares of common stock would be issued further to which the interests of investors in this offering would be further diluted.
We do not expect to pay any dividends in the foreseeable future.
We intend to retain our future earnings, if any, in order to reinvest in the development and growth of our business and, therefore, do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, the limits imposed by the terms of our credit facility and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. Accordingly,
 
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investors in our common stock may need to sell their shares to realize a return on their investment in our common stock, and investors may not be able to sell their shares at or above the prices paid for them.
If securities analysts do not publish favorable reports about us or if we, or our industry, are the subject of unfavorable commentary, the price of our common stock could decline.
The trading price for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports about us that are published by analysts in the financial industry. Analysts could issue negative commentary about us or our industry, or they could downgrade our common stock. We may also not receive sufficient research coverage or visibility in the market. Any of these factors could result in the decline the trading price of our common stock, causing investors in our common stock to lose all or a portion of their investment.
 
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CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information, this prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward- looking terminology, including the terms “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “aim,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “seek,” “predict,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “possible,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “forecast,” “future,” “might,” “will,” “could,” would” or “should” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this prospectus and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth strategies, the industry in which we operate and potential acquisitions. We derive many of our forward- looking statements from our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, of course, it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us on the date of this prospectus.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the stability of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and the development of the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
Important factors that could cause our results to vary from expectations include, but are not limited to:
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our lack of combined operating history and our ability to successfully integrate Bailey and H&J into one entity;
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•
the highly fragmented and competitive nature of our industry;
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•
our ability to successfully locate and acquire companies in the apparel business, to obtain debt financing for that purpose and to successfully integrate them into our business and manage our internal growth;
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•
loss of any of our executives and managers;
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•
quarterly variations in our operating results;
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•
our ability to attract and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs;
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•
our ability to manage our working capital to facilitate our inventory management;
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•
disruptions in the manufacturing and supply chains;
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•
our ability to adapt our product offerings to changing preferences and consumer tastes;
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•
our exposure to claims relating to employment violations and workplace injuries;
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•
our exposure to claims arising from our acquired operations;
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•
the potential for asset impairments when we acquire businesses;
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•
disruptions in our information technology systems;
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•
restrictions imposed on our operations by our credit facility and by other indebtedness we may incur in the future;
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•
our ability to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; and
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•
additional factors discussed under the sections captioned “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Our Business.”
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Other sections of this prospectus include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events described in this prospectus may not occur. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or acquisition of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward- looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
Estimates and forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and, except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or to review any estimate and/or forward- looking statement because of new information, future events or other factors. Estimates and forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. As a result of the risks and uncertainties described above, the estimates and forward-looking statements discussed in this prospectus might not occur and our future results and our performance may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements due to, but not limited to, the factors mentioned above.
Because of these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when making an investment decision.
 
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INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA
In this prospectus, we rely on and refer to information and statistics regarding our industry. We obtained this information and these statistics from sources other than us, which we have supplemented where necessary with information from publicly available sources, discussions with our customers and our own internal estimates. The industry publications, reports, surveys, sources and forecasts containing the industry and market data cited in this prospectus are provided below:
We believe these sources and estimates to be reliable, but we cannot give you any assurance that any of the projected results will occur. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of the future performance of the industry in which we operate and our future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.
 
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USE OF PROCEEDS
We estimate that the net proceeds we will receive from the sale of 36,000,000 shares of our common stock this offering, after deducting underwriter discounts and commissions, the non-accountable expense, the underwriters’expense reimbursement and estimated offering expenses payable by us, will be approximately $7,632,500 (approximately $8,871,125 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). This estimate assumes a public offering price of $0.25 per share.
An increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 in the number of shares we are offering would increase (decrease) the net proceeds to us from this offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, by approximately $229,375, assuming the public offering price stays the same. We do not expect that a change in the offering price or the number of shares by these amounts would have a material effect on our intended uses of the net proceeds from this offering, although it may impact the amount of time prior to which we may need to seek additional capital.
As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to us of this offering. However, we currently intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering primarily for general corporate purposes, including working capital. Specifically, we intend to use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to repay $3,068,750 principal amount of 20% original discount notes due July 8, 2022.
The net proceeds we actually expend for general corporate purposes may vary significantly depending on a number of factors, including future revenue growth and our cash flows. As a result, we will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the remaining net proceeds from this offering. Pending use of the net proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in short-term, investment-grade securities.
 
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DIVIDEND POLICY
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We currently expect to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on a number of factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, general business conditions, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of our credit facility may place certain limitations on the amount of cash dividends we can pay, even if no amounts are currently outstanding under such credit facility.
 
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CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of December 31, 2021:
•
on an actual basis; and
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•
on an as adjusted basis to reflect the sale of 36,000,000 shares of common stock at the assumed public offering price of $0.25 per share of common stock, less the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.
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You should read this information in conjunction with the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our unaudited pro forma combined financial statements and the related notes and the historical financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.
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As of December 31, 2021
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​ ​ ​
Actual
​ ​
As Adjusted(1)
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Cash and cash equivalents
​ ​ ​ $ 528,394 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 8,390,269 ​ ​
Indebtedness, including current portion
​ ​ ​ $ 43,575,005 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 43,575,005 ​ ​
Debt ​ ​ ​ ​ 18,618,040 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 18,618,040 ​ ​
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized and no shares issued outstanding, actual and pro forma
​ ​ ​ ​ — ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ — ​ ​
Common stock, $0.0001 par value: 200,000,000 shares authorized,
13,001,690 shares issued and outstanding actual; 49,001,690 shares issued
and outstanding as adjusted
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,300 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 5,000 ​ ​
Additional paid-in capital
​ ​ ​ ​ 58,612,873 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 66,471,048 ​ ​
Accumulated deficit
​ ​ ​ ​ (65,703,954) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (65,703,954) ​ ​
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)
​ ​ ​ $ (7,089,781) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 772,094 ​ ​
Total capitalization
​ ​ ​ $ 11,528,259 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 19,390,134 ​ ​
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(1)
Excludes:
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•
Outstanding warrants to acquire up to 3,580,116 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $2.50 and $8.28 expiring between October 2021 and October 2030;
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•
Outstanding stock options to acquire up to 3,895,103 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $0.94 and $4.15 expiring between June 2024 and May 2031;
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•
Up to 4.8 million shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of approximately $9.5 million of convertible notes;
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•
Up to 5.83 million shares of common stock issuable further to a $17.5 million equity line of credit; and
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•
568,000 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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Each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity and total capitalization by approximately $229,375, assuming that the assumed public offering price remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by us.
 
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DILUTION
If you invest in our stock, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering.
The net tangible book value of our common stock on December 31, 2021 was ($38.6) million, or ($2.97) per share of common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets less total liabilities, divided by the number of shares of common stock outstanding.
Dilution in net tangible book value per share represents the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of shares of our common stock in this offering and the net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately afterwards. After giving effect to our sale of 36,000,000 shares of common stock offered by this prospectus at the assumed public offering price of $0.25 per share (and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), and after deducting the underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated offering and acquisition expenses payable by us, our pro forma net tangible book value would have been $(30.7) million, or approximately $(0.61) per share. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $2.36 per share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $0.86 per share to new investors. The following table illustrates the per share dilution:
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Assumed public offering price per share
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 0.25 ​ ​
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Net tangible book value per share as of December 31, 2021
​ ​ ​ $ (2.97) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
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Increase in pro forma net tangible book value in this offering
​ ​ ​ $ 2.36 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
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Pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (0.61) ​ ​
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Dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 0.86 ​ ​
If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after giving effect to this offering would be $(0.53) per share of our common stock. This represents an increase in net tangible book value of $2.44 per share of our common stock to existing stockholders and dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $0.78 per share to new investors.
An increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 in the number of shares we are offering would increase (decrease) the net proceeds to us from this offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, by approximately $229,375, assuming the public offering price stays the same. We do not expect that a change in the offering price or the number of shares by these amounts would have a material effect on our intended uses of the net proceeds from this offering, although it may impact the amount of time prior to which we may need to seek additional capital.
Excludes:
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Outstanding warrants to acquire up to 3,580,116 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $2.50 and $8.28 expiring between October 2021 and October 2030;
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Outstanding stock options to acquire up to 3,895,103 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $0.94 and $4.15 expiring between June 2024 and May 2031;
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•
Up to 4.8 million shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of approximately $9.5 million of convertible notes;
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Up to 5.83 million shares of common stock issuable further to a $17.5 million equity line of credit; and
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568,000 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, the number of shares held by new public investors will be increased to 41,400,000, or approximately 76.1% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering.
 
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SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The selected historical financial information for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 represents the historical financial information of DBG. The statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 have been derived from the audited financial statements of DBG included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected in any future periods.
You should review the information below together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and the audited financial statements of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside and the related notes all included elsewhere in this prospectus.
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenues
​ ​ ​ $ 7,584,859 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 5,239,437 ​ ​
Cost of net revenues
​ ​ ​ ​ 4,689,200 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 4,685,755 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,895,659 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 553,682 ​ ​
Operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 34,244,317 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 9,701,572 ​ ​
Operating loss
​ ​ ​ ​ (31,348,658) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (9,147,890) ​ ​
Other expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ (2,109,419) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (1,566,764) ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (33,458,077) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (10,714,654) ​ ​
Benefit (provision) for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,100,120 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (13,641) ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (32,357,957) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (10,728,295) ​ ​
​ ​ ​
As of
December 31,
2021
​
Total cash
​ ​ ​ $ 528,394 ​ ​
Total current assets
​ ​ ​ ​ 4,776,334 ​ ​
Total assets
​ ​ ​ ​ 36,485,224 ​ ​
Total current liabilities including current portion of long-term debt
​ ​ ​ ​ 35,047,266 ​ ​
Total long-term obligations
​ ​ ​ ​ 8,527,739 ​ ​
Total liabilities
​ ​ ​ ​ 43,575,005 ​ ​
Total stockholders’ deficit
​ ​ ​ ​ (7,089,781) ​ ​
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
​ ​ ​ $ 36,485,224 ​ ​
 
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the historical financial statements of the relevant entities and the pro forma financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion and analysis contains forward- looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”
Unless otherwise indicated by the context, references to “DBG” refer to Digital Brands Group, Inc. solely, and references to the “Company,” “our,” “we,” “us” and similar terms refer to Digital Brands Group, Inc., together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Bailey 44, LLC, Harper & Jones LLC and MOSBEST, LLC (“Stateside”).
Business Overview
Digital Brands Group is a curated collection of lifestyle brands, including Bailey 44, DSTLD, Harper and Jones, Stateside and ACE Studios, that offers a variety of apparel products through direct-to-consumer and wholesale distribution. Our complementary brand portfolio provides us with the unique opportunity to cross merchandise our brands. We aim for our customers to wear our brands head to toe and to capture what we call “closet share” by gaining insight into their preferences to create targeted and personalized content specific to their cohort. Operating our brands under one portfolio provides us with the ability to better utilize our technological, human capital and operational capabilities across all brands. As a result, we have been able to realize operational efficiencies and continue to identify additional cost saving opportunities to scale our brands and overall portfolio.
Our portfolio currently consists of four significant brands that leverage our three channels: our websites, wholesale and our own stores.
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Bailey 44 combines beautiful, luxe fabrics and on-trend designs to create sophisticated ready-to-wear capsules for women on-the-go. Designing for real life, this brand focuses on feeling and comfort rather than how it looks on a runway. Bailey 44 is primarily a wholesale brand, which we are transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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DSTLD offers stylish high-quality garments without the luxury retail markup valuing customer experience over labels. DSTLD is primarily a digital direct-to-consumer brand, to which we recently added select wholesale retailers to generate brand awareness.
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Harper & Jones was built with the goal of inspiring men to dress with intention. It offers hand- crafted custom fit suits for those looking for a premium experience. Harper & Jones is primarily a direct-to-consumer brand using its own showrooms.
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Stateside is an elevated, America first brand with all knitting, dyeing, cutting and sewing sourced and manufactured locally in Los Angeles. The collection is influenced by the evolution of the classic t-shirt offering a simple yet elegant look. Stateside is primarily a wholesale brand that we will be transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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We believe that successful apparel brands sell in all revenue channels. However, each channel offers different margin structures and requires different customer acquisition and retention strategies. We were founded as a digital-first retailer that has strategically expanded into select wholesale and direct retail channels. We strive to strategically create omnichannel strategies for each of our brands that blend physical and online channels to engage consumers in the channel of their choosing. Our products are sold direct-to-consumers principally through our websites and our own showrooms, but also through our wholesale channel, primarily in specialty stores and select department stores. With the continued expansion of our wholesale distribution, we believe developing an omnichannel solution further strengthens our ability to efficiently acquire and retain customers while also driving high customer lifetime value.
We believe that by leveraging a physical footprint to acquire customers and increase brand awareness, we can use digital marketing to focus on retention and a very tight, disciplined high value new customer
 
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acquisition strategy, especially targeting potential customers lower in the sales funnel. Building a direct relationship with the customer as the customer transacts directly with us allows us to better understand our customer’s preferences and shopping habits. Our substantial experience as a company originally founded as a digitally native-first retailer gives us the ability to strategically review and analyze the customer’s data, including contact information, browsing and shopping cart data, purchase history and style preferences. This in turn has the effect of lowering our inventory risk and cash needs since we can order and replenish product based on the data from our online sales history, replenish specific inventory by size, color and SKU based on real times sales data, and control our mark-down and promotional strategies versus being told what mark downs and promotions we have to offer by the department stores and boutique retailers.
We define “closet share” as the percentage (“share”) of a customer’s clothing units that (“of closet”) she or he owns in her or his closet and the amount of those units that go to the brands that are selling these units. For example, if a customer buys 20 units of clothing a year and the brands that we own represent 10 of those units purchased, then our closet share is 50% of that customer’s closet, or 10 of our branded units divided by 20 units they purchased in entirety. Closet share is a similar concept to the widely used term wallet share, it is just specific to the customer’s closet. The higher our closet share, the higher our revenue as higher closet share suggests the customer is purchasing more of our brands than our competitors.
We have strategically expanded into an omnichannel brand offering these styles and content not only on-line but at selected wholesale and retail storefronts. We believe this approach allows us opportunities to successfully drive Lifetime Value (“LTV”) while increasing new customer growth. We define Lifetime Value or LTV as an estimate of the average revenue that a customer will generate throughout their lifespan as our customer. This value/revenue of a customer helps us determine many economic decisions, such as marketing budgets per marketing channel, retention versus acquisition decisions, unit level economics, profitability and revenue forecasting.
We acquired Bailey in February 2020, H&J in May 2021 and Stateside in August 2021. We agreed on the consideration that we paid in each acquisition in the course of arm’s length negotiations with the holders of the membership interests in each of Bailey, H&J and Stateside. In determining and negotiating this consideration, we relied on the experience and judgment of our management and our evaluation of the potential synergies that could be achieved in combining the operations of Bailey, H&J and Stateside. We did not obtain independent valuations, appraisals or fairness opinions to support the consideration that we paid/​agreed to pay.
On January 18, 2022 we entered into entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Moise Emquies, George Levy, Matthieu Leblan and Carol Ann Emquies (“Sellers”), Sunnyside, LLC, a California limited liability company (“Sundry”), and George Levy as the Sellers’ representative, pursuant to which the Company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of Sundry (such transaction, the “Acquisition”).
Pursuant to the Agreement, Sellers, as the holders of all of the outstanding membership interests of Sundry, will exchange all of such membership interests for (i) $7.5 million of shares of the Company’s common stock at the volume-weighted average (rounded to the nearest $0.0001) of the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“NasdaqCM”) during the thirty (30) trading day period immediately prior to the closing, but in no event at a price less than $1.59; and (ii) $34.0 million in cash, $20.0 million of which will be paid at the closing and the balance of which will be evidenced by promissory notes due December 31, 2022 (“Seller Notes”); provided, however, that if the audited aggregate net revenue of Sundry for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “Audited Net Revenue”) times 1.5 is greater than $34.0 million, the Company will pay the difference in cash pro rata to the Sellers and if the Audited Net Revenue times 1.5 is less than $34.0 million, the Seller Notes will be reduced pro rata for such difference. A portion of the purchase price will be paid to certain employees of Sundry who have a contractual right to receive a portion of the consideration payable in the Acquisition (“Payees”).
Of the $34.0 million in cash payable in the Acquisition, $2.0 million will be held in escrow to cover possible indemnification claims. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder, are not repaid in full on or prior to March 31, 2022, then on March 31, 2022, the Company will issue an additional $2.5 million of shares of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder remain outstanding after March 31, 2022 and are not repaid in full on or prior to June 30,
 
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2022, then on June 30, 2022, the Company will issue an additional $2.5 million of shares of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. If the Seller Notes, plus all unpaid interest thereunder remain outstanding after June 30, 2022 and are not repaid in full on or prior to September 30, 2022, then on September 30, 2022, the Company will issue an additional $2.5 million of shares of common stock pro rata to the Sellers and the Payees. Any shares issued on either March 31, June 30 or September 30, 2022 shall be issued at the closing price of the Company’s common stock as quoted on the NasdaqCM as of the date immediately preceding the date of issuance but in no event at a price less than $1.59.
Under applicable NasdaqCM rules, no more than 20% of our common stock, measured as of the date of the closing, may be issued in connection with the acquisition of the membership interests in Sundry. If we are precluded from issuing the entire $7.5 million of common stock at the closing under said 20% rule, the balance owing will be paid in cash at the closing. If we are precluded from issuing $2.5 million of common stock on each of March 31, June 30 or September 30, 2022 under said 20% rule, any such amounts will take the form of promissory notes due on December 31, 2022. We may solicit shareholder approval for the issuance of any shares of common stock in excess of said 20% limitation which, if approved, would allow us to issue all shares described above in lieu of any such cash or note payments.
Please note than none of the proceeds of this offering will be used to fund any portion of the purchase price for the proposed acquisition of Sundry. Furthermore, as of the date of this prospectus, the Company has not arranged for nor entered into any agreements with any potential sources of financing to pay the required amounts under the aforementioned purchase agreement. Unless and until the Company arranges for such financing, whether through financing arrangements with third parties or through the sale of equity or debt either privately or publicly, the Company will be unable to fulfill its obligations further to the aforementioned agreement. As stated above, if the acquisition of Sundry is not closed by June 30, 2022, the agreement terminates. For each of these reasons, there exists a substantial doubt that the Company will be able to effect the acquisition of Sundry under the current provisions of the aforementioned acquisition agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, since the Company entered into the acquisition agreement as stated above, the acquisition can be deemed “probable” under rules applicable to a company subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and therefore financial statements of Sundry are presented in this prospectus along with unaudited pro forma financial statements giving effect to the proposed acquisition of Sundry as of January 1, 2020. However, despite the presentation of this financial information in this prospectus, there can be no assurance that the acquisition of Sundry will in fact occur and investors are cautioned not to place any reliance on any pro forma financial information set forth herein giving effect to such acquisition.
Material Trends, Events and Uncertainties
COVID-19
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) a pandemic. As the global spread of COVID-19 continues, DBG remains first and foremost focused on a people-first approach that prioritizes the health and well-being of its employees, customers, trade partners and consumers. To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, DBG has modified its business practices, including in response to legislation, executive orders and guidance from government entities and healthcare authorities (collectively, “COVID-19 Directives”). These directives include the temporary closing of offices and retail stores, instituting travel bans and restrictions and implementing health and safety measures including social distancing and quarantines.
Our digital platform remains a high priority through which its brands stay connected with consumer communities while providing experiential content. In accordance with local government guidelines and in consultation with the guidance of global health professionals, DBG has implemented measures designed to ensure the health, safety and well-being of associates employed in its distribution and fulfillment centers. Many of these facilities remain operational and support digital consumer engagement with its brands and to service retail partners as needed.
Our business has been, and will continue to be, impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic in countries where our suppliers, third-party service providers or consumers are located. These effects include recommendations or mandates from governmental authorities to close businesses, limit travel,
 
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avoid large gatherings or to self-quarantine, as well as temporary closures and decreased operations of the facilities of our suppliers, service providers and customers. The impacts on us have included, and in the future could include, but are not limited to:
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significant uncertainty and turmoil in global economic and financial market conditions causing, among other things: decreased consumer confidence and decreased consumer spending, now and in the mid and long-term. Specifically, COVID has impacted our business in several ways, including store closings, supply chain disruptions and delivery delays, meaningfully lower net revenue, furloughs and layoffs of 52 employees and increased costs to operate our warehouse to ensure a healthy and safe work environment. Approximately 220 boutique stores where we sold our products closed temporarily and permanently in 2020 and into 2021, representing a reduction in approximately 40% of such stores prior to COVID. Additionally, approximately 40 department stores that carried our products have closed as well, representing a reduction of approximately 35% of such stores prior to COVID. We do not anticipate the department stores will open those stores back up, and we do not anticipate a majority of the closed boutique stores will reopen. We also waited to hire a new designer until the summer, once we knew that stores would open back up at some capacity. This delay in hiring a new designer also impacted the first four months of 2021, as her first collection was not offered until recently for a May 2021 shipment to our accounts. We expect to also experience lower order quantities from our accounts throughout the first half of 2022 versus pre-COVID levels, but meaningfully higher than 2021 or 2020.
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inability to access financing in the credit and capital markets at reasonable rates (or at all) in the event we, or our suppliers find it desirable to do so, increased exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. Dollar, and volatility in the availability and prices for commodities and raw materials we use for our products and in our supply chain. Specifically, the pandemic shut down our supply chain for several months in 2020, and delayed deliveries throughout the year.
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inability to meet our consumers’ needs for inventory production and fulfillment due to disruptions in our supply chain and increased costs associated with mitigating the effects of the pandemic caused by, among other things: reduction or loss of workforce due to illness, quarantine or other restrictions or facility closures, scarcity of and/or increased prices for raw materials, scrutiny or embargoing of goods produced in infected areas, and increased freight and logistics costs, expenses and times; failure of third parties on which we rely, including our suppliers, customers, distributors, service providers and commercial banks, to meet their obligations to us or to timely meet those obligations, or significant disruptions in their ability to do so, which may be caused by their own financial or operational difficulties, including business failure or insolvency and collectability of existing receivables; and
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significant changes in the conditions in markets in which we do business, including quarantines, governmental or regulatory actions, closures or other restrictions that limit or close our operating and manufacturing facilities and restrict our employees’ ability to perform necessary business functions, including operations necessary for the design, development, production, distribution, sale, marketing and support of our products. Specifically, we had to furlough and layoff a significant amount of employees to adjust to our lower revenues.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and dynamic in nature, and continues to drive global uncertainty and disruption. As a result, COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the Company’s business, including the consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows through of 2021. While we are not able to determine the ultimate length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect store closures, an anticipated reduction in traffic once stores initially reopen and a highly promotional marketplace will have a significant negative impact on our financial performance for at least the first two quarters of 2022.
We have implemented cost controls to reduce discretionary spending to help mitigate the loss of sales and to conserve cash while continuing to support employees. We are also assessing our forward inventory purchase commitments to ensure proper matching of supply and demand, which will result in an overall reduction in future commitments. As we continue to actively monitor the situation, we may take further actions that affect our operations.
 
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Although we have taken several measures to maximize liquidity and flexibility to maintain operations during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty regarding the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, governmental actions in response to the pandemic, and the impact on us and our consumers, customers and suppliers, there is no certainty that the measures we take will be sufficient to mitigate the risks posed by COVID-19.
Supply Chain Disruptions
We are subject to global supply chain disruptions, which may include longer lead times for raw fabrics, inbound shipping and longer production times. Supply chain issues have specifically impacted the following for our brands:
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Increased costs in raw materials from fabric prices, which have increased 10% to 100% depending on the fabric, the time of year, and the origin of the fabric, as well as where the fabric is being shipped;
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Increased cost per kilo to ship via sea or air, which has increased from 25% to 300% depending on the time of year and from the country we are shipping from;
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Increased transit time via sea or air, which have increased by two weeks to two months; and
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Increased labor costs for producing the finished goods, which have increased 5% to 25% depending on the country and the labor skill required to produce the goods.
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Seasonality
Our quarterly operating results vary due to the seasonality of our individual brands, and are historically stronger in the second half of the calendar year. However, the second half of each of 2021 and 2020 were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Senior Credit Facility
As of December 30, 2021, we owed our senior secured lender approximately $6.0 million that is due on the scheduled maturity date of December 31, 2022. Our credit agreement contains negative covenants that, subject to significant exceptions limit our ability, among other things to make restricted payments, pledge assets as security, make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions, or undergo other fundamental changes. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under the credit facility and permit the lender to cease making loans to us. If for whatever reason we have insufficient liquidity to make scheduled payments under our credit facility or to repay such indebtedness by the scheduled maturity date, we would seek the consent of our senior lender to modify such terms. Although our senior lender has previously agreed to seven prior modifications of our credit agreement, there is no assurance that it will agree to any such modification and could then declare an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under this agreement, the lender could elect to declare all amounts outstanding thereunder to be immediately due and payable. We have pledged all of our assets as collateral under our credit facility. If the lender accelerates the repayment of borrowings, we may not have sufficient assets to repay them and we could experience a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. For a description of our other outstanding indebtedness, please see “— Liquidity and Capital Resources” below.
Performance Factors
We believe that our future performance will depend on many factors, including the following:
Ability to Increase Our Customer Base in both Online and Traditional Wholesale Distribution Channels
We are currently growing our customer base through both paid and organic online channels, as well as by expanding our presence in a variety of physical retail distribution channels. Online customer acquisitions typically occur at our direct websites for each brand. Our online customer acquisition strategies include paid and unpaid social media, search, display and traditional media. Our products for Bailey, DSTLD and Stateside are also sold through a growing number of physical retail channels, including specialty stores, department stores and online multi-brand platforms. Our products for Harper & Jones are sold through its own showrooms and its outside sales reps, which can use the showrooms to meet clients.
 
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Ability to Acquire Customers at a Reasonable Cost
We believe an ability to consistently acquire customers at a reasonable cost relative to customer retention rates, contribution margins and projected life-time value will be a key factor affecting future performance. To accomplish this goal, we intend to balance advertising spend between online and offline channels, as well as cross marketing and cross merchandising our portfolio brands and their respective products. We believe the ability to cross merchandise products and cross market brands, will decrease our customer acquisition costs while increasing the customer’s lifetime value and contribution margin. We will also balance marketing spend with advertising focused on creating emotional brand recognition, which we believe will represent a lower percentage of our spend.
Ability to Drive Repeat Purchases and Customer Retention
We accrue substantial economic value and margin expansion from customer cohort retention and repeat purchases of our products on an annual basis. Our revenue growth rate and operating margin expansion will be affected by our customer cohort retention rates and the cohorts annual spend for both existing and newly acquired customers.
Ability to Expand Our Product Lines
Our goal is to expand our product lines over time to increase our growth opportunity. Our customer’s annual spend and brand relevance will be driven by the cadence and success of new product launches.
Ability to Expand Gross Margins
Our overall profitability will be impacted by our ability to expand gross margins through effective sourcing and leveraging buying power of finished goods and shipping costs, as well as pricing power over time.
Ability to Expand Operating Margins
Our ability to expand operating margins will be impacted by our ability to leverage (1) fixed general and administrative costs, (2) variable sales and marketing costs, (3) elimination of redundant costs as we acquire and integrate brands, (4) cross marketing and cross merchandising brands in our portfolio, and (4) drive customer retention and customer lifetime value. Our ability to expand operating margins will result from increasing revenue growth above our operating expense growth, as well as increasing gross margins. For example, we anticipate that our operating expenses will increase substantially in the foreseeable future as we undertake the acquisition and integration of different brands, incur expenses associated with maintaining compliance as a public company, and increased marketing and sales efforts to increase our customer base. While we anticipate that the operating expenses in absolute dollars will increase, we do not anticipate that the operating expenses as a percentage of revenue will increase. We anticipate that the operating expenses as a percentage of revenue will decrease as we eliminate duplicative costs across brands including a reduction in similar labor roles, contracts for technologies and operating systems and creating lower costs from higher purchasing power from shipping expenses to purchase orders of products. This reduction of expenses and lower cost per unit due to purchasing power should create meaningful savings in both dollars and as a percentage of revenue.
As an example, we were able to eliminate several million in expenses within six months of acquiring Bailey. Examples of these savings include eliminating several Bailey teams, which our teams took over.
We merged over half of the technology contracts and operating systems contracts from two brands into one brand contract at significant savings. We also eliminated our office space and rent and moved everyone into the Bailey office space. Finally, we eliminated DSTLD’s third-party logistics company and started using Bailey’s internal logistics. This resulted in an increase in our operating expenses in absolute dollars as there were now two brands versus one brand. However, the operating expenses as a percentage of pre-COVID revenue declined meaningfully and as we increase revenue for each brand, we expect to experience higher margins.
 
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Ability to Create Free Cash Flow
Our goal is to achieve near term free cash flow through cash flow positive acquisitions, elimination of redundant expenses in acquired companies, increasing customer annual spend and lowering customer acquisition costs through cross merchandising across our brand portfolio.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
Our accounting and reporting policies conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Business Acquisitions
We record our acquisitions under the acquisition method of accounting, under which most of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed are initially recorded at their respective fair values and any excess purchase price is reflected as goodwill. We utilize management estimates and, in some instances, independent third-party valuation firms to assist in determining the fair values of assets acquired, liabilities assumed and contingent consideration, if any. Such estimates and valuations require us to make significant assumptions, including projections of future events and operating performance.
The fair value of customer relationships, backlog and trade names/trademarks acquired in our acquisitions are determined using various valuation methods, based on a number of significant assumptions.
We determine which assets have finite lives and then determine the estimated useful life of finite assets.
The expected useful life of customer relationships is established as three years, which is the period over which these assets are expected to reasonably contribute to future cash flows. We expect to amortize such customer relationships using the straight-line method.
The estimated fair values are subject to change during the measurement period, which is limited to one year subsequent to the acquisition date.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when performance obligations are satisfied through the transfer of promised goods to our customers. Control transfers upon shipment of product and when the title has been passed to the customers. This includes the transfer of legal title, physical possession, the risks and rewards of ownership, and customer acceptance. We provide the customer the right of return on the product and revenue is adjusted based on an estimate of the expected returns based on historical rates. We consider the sale of products as a single performance obligation. Sales tax collected from customers and remitted to taxing authorities is excluded from revenue and is included in accrued expenses. Revenue is deferred for orders received for which associated shipments have not occurred. ASC 606 has been adopted effective January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective method with no adjustment.
Accounts Receivable
We carry our accounts receivable at invoiced amounts less allowances for customer credits, doubtful accounts, and other deductions. We do not accrue interest on its trade receivables. Management evaluates the ability to collect accounts receivable based on a combination of factors. Receivables are determined to be past due based on individual credit terms. A reserve for doubtful accounts is maintained based on the
 
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length of time receivables are past due, historical collections, or the status of a customer’s financial position. Receivables are written off in the year deemed uncollectible after efforts to collect the receivables have proven unsuccessful.
We periodically review accounts receivable, estimate an allowance for bad debts, and simultaneously record the appropriate expense in the statement of operations. Such estimates are based on general economic conditions, the financial conditions of customers, and the amount and age of past due accounts. Past due accounts are written off against that allowance only after all collection attempts have been exhausted and the prospects for recovery are remote.
Goodwill Impairment
We are required to assess our goodwill for impairment at least annually for each reporting unit that carries goodwill. We may elect to first do a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is in excess of its carrying value. If the qualitative assessment concludes that it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, a quantitative assessment is performed. If the fair value is determined to be less than its carrying value, we record goodwill impairment equal to the amount by which the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill.
Intangible Assets Impairment
We evaluate the carrying amount of intangible assets and other long-lived assets for impairment whenever indicators of impairment exist. We test these assets for recoverability by comparing the net carrying amount of the asset or asset group to the undiscounted net cash flows to be generated from the use and eventual disposition of that asset or asset group. If the assets are recoverable, an impairment loss does not exist, and no loss is recorded. If the carrying amounts of the assets are not recoverable, an impairment loss is recognized for any deficiency of the asset or asset group’s fair value compared to their carrying amount. Although we base cash flow forecasts on assumptions that are consistent with plans and estimates we use to manage our business, there is significant judgment in determining the cash flows attributable to these assets, including markets and market share, sales volumes and mix, and working capital changes.
Stock Based Compensation
We account for stock-based compensation costs under the provisions of ASC 718, Compensation —​Stock Compensation, which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense related to the fair value of stock-based compensation awards that are ultimately expected to vest. Stock based compensation expense recognized includes the compensation cost for all stock-based payments granted to employees, officers, and directors based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718. ASC 718 is also applied to awards modified, repurchased, or cancelled during the periods reported. Stock-based compensation is recognized as expense over the employee’s requisite vesting period and over the nonemployee’s period of providing goods or services.
Income Taxes
We use the liability method of accounting for income taxes as set forth in ASC 740, Income Taxes. Under the liability method, deferred taxes are determined based on the temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using tax rates expected to be in effect during the years in which the basis differences reverse. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is unlikely that the deferred tax assets will not be realized. We assess our income tax positions and record tax benefits for all years subject to examination based upon our evaluation of the facts, circumstances and information available at the reporting date. In accordance with ASC 740-10, for those tax positions where there is a greater than 50% likelihood that a tax benefit will be sustained, our policy will be to record the largest amount of tax benefit that is more likely than not to be realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. For those income tax positions where there is less than 50% likelihood that a tax benefit will be sustained, no tax benefit will be recognized in the financial statements.
 
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Controls and Procedures
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, that company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by that company’s board of directors, management and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate.
We have concluded that, overall, there were material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting at DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside. Historically, Bailey, H&J and Stateside were private companies that had not previously been audited and they had maintained a complement of resources with a variety of levels of accounting knowledge, experience, and expertise that is, overall, not commensurate with our prospective financial reporting needs. These material weaknesses relate to the fact that we do not maintain a comprehensive policies and procedures manual designed to establish internal controls over financial reporting to reduce the risk of publishing materially misstated financial statements, as well as define responsibilities and segregate incompatible duties to reduce the risk of unauthorized transactions. Collectively, this could prospectively result in difficulties in meeting our internal reporting needs and our external reporting requirements and assessing the appropriate accounting treatment for a variety of events and/or circumstances.
We have initiated various remediation efforts, including the hiring of additional financial personnel/​consultants with the appropriate public company and technical accounting expertise and other actions that are more fully described below. As such remediation efforts are still ongoing, we have concluded that the material weaknesses have not been fully remediated. Our remediation efforts to date have included the following:
•
We have made an assessment of the basis of accounting, revenue recognition policies and accounting period cutoff procedures of each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside. In some cases, we made the necessary adjustments to convert the basis of accounting from cash basis to accrual basis. In all cases we have done the required analytical work to ensure the proper cutoff of the financial position and results of operations for the presented accounting periods.
​
•
We have made an assessment of the current accounting personnel, financial reporting and information system environments and capabilities of each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside. Based on our preliminary findings, we have found these resources and systems lacking and have concluded that these resources and systems will need to be supplemented and/or upgraded. We are in the process of identifying a single, unified accounting and reporting system that can be used by each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside, with the goal of ensuring consistency and timeliness in reporting, real time access to data while also ensuring ongoing data integrity, backup and cyber security procedures and processes.
​
•
We engaged external consultants with public company and technical accounting experience to facilitate accurate and timely accounting closes and to accurately prepare and review the financial statements of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside and related footnote disclosures. We plan to retain these financial consultants until such time that the internal resources of DBG , Bailey, H&J and/or Stateside have been upgraded and the required financial controls have been fully implemented.
​
The actions that have been taken are subject to continued review, implementation and testing by management, as well as audit committee oversight. While we have implemented a variety of steps to remediate these weaknesses, we cannot assure you that we will be able to fully remediate them, which could impair our ability to accurately and timely meet our public company reporting requirements.
Notwithstanding the assessment that our internal controls over financial reporting are not effective and that material weaknesses exist, we believe that we have employed supplementary procedures to ensure that the financial statements contained in this filing fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the reporting periods covered herein in all material respects.
 
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Financial Statement Components
Bailey
Net Revenue
Bailey sells its products directly to customers. Bailey also sells its products indirectly through wholesale channels that include third-party online channels and physical channels such as specialty retailers and department stores.
Cost of Net Revenue
Bailey’s cost of net revenue includes the direct cost of purchased and manufactured merchandise; inventory shrinkage; inventory adjustments due to obsolescence including excess and slow-moving inventory and lower of cost and net realizable reserves; duties; and inbound freight.
Operating Expenses
Bailey’s operating expenses include all operating costs not included in cost of net revenues and sales and marketing. These costs consist of general and administrative, fulfillment and shipping expense to the customer.
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of all payroll and payroll-related expenses, professional fees, insurance, software costs, occupancy expenses related to Bailey’s stores and to Bailey’s operations at its headquarters, including utilities, depreciation and amortization, and other costs related to the administration of its business.
Bailey’s fulfillment and shipping expenses include the cost to operate its warehouse including occupancy and labor costs to pick and pack customer orders and any return orders; packaging; and shipping costs to the customer from the warehouse and any returns from the customer to the warehouse.
Sales & Marketing
Bailey’s sales and marketing expense primarily includes digital advertising; photo shoots for wholesale and direct-to-consumer communications, including email, social media and digital advertisements; and commission expenses associated with sales representatives.
Interest Expense
Bailey’s interest expense consists primarily of interest related to its outstanding debt to our senior lender.
DBG
Net Revenue
We sell our products to our customers directly through our website. In those cases, sales, net represents total sales less returns, promotions and discounts.
Cost of Net Revenue
Cost of net revenue include direct cost of purchased merchandise; inventory shrinkage; inventory adjustments due to obsolescence, including excess and slow-moving inventory and lower of cost and net realizable reserves.
Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses include all operating costs not included in cost of net revenues. These costs consist of general and administrative, sales and marketing, and fulfillment and shipping expense to the customer.
 
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General and administrative expenses consist primarily of all payroll and payroll-related expenses, professional fees, insurance, software costs, and expenses related to our operations at our headquarters, including utilities, depreciation and amortization, and other costs related to the administration of our business.
We expect to continue to incur additional expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including costs to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on a national securities exchange, costs related to compliance and reporting obligations pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and higher expenses for insurance, investor relations and professional services. We expect these costs will increase our operating costs.
Fulfillment and shipping expenses include the cost to operate our warehouse — or prior to Bailey 44 acquisition, costs paid to our third-party logistics provider — including occupancy and labor costs to pick and pack customer orders and any return orders; packaging; and shipping costs to the customer from the warehouse and any returns from the customer to the warehouse.
In addition, going forward, the amortization of the identifiable intangibles acquired in the acquisitions will be included in operating expenses.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists primarily of interest related to our debt outstanding to our senior lender, convertible debt, and other interest bearing liabilities.
H&J
Net Revenue
H&J sells its products directly to customers through their showrooms and sales reps.
Cost of Net Revenue
H&J’s cost of net revenue sold is associated with procuring fabric and custom tailoring each garment.
Operating Expenses
H&J’s operating expenses include all operating costs not included in cost of net revenue.
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of all payroll and payroll-related expenses, professional fees, insurance, software costs, occupancy expenses related to H&J’s stores and to H&J’s operations at its headquarters, including utilities, depreciation and amortization, and other costs related to the administration of its business.
H&J’s sales and marketing expense primarily includes digital advertising; photo shoots for wholesale and direct-to-consumer communications, including email, social media and digital advertisements; and commission expenses associated with sales representatives.
Interest Expense
H&J’s interest expense consists primarily of interest related to its outstanding debt.
Stateside
Net Revenue
Stateside sells its products directly to customers. Stateside also sells its products indirectly through wholesale channels that include third-party online channels and physical channels such as specialty retailers and department stores.
 
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Cost of Net Revenue
Stateside’s cost of net revenue includes the direct cost of purchased and manufactured merchandise; inventory shrinkage; inventory adjustments due to obsolescence including excess and slow-moving inventory and lower of cost and net realizable reserves; duties; and inbound freight.
Operating Expenses
Stateside’s operating expenses include all operating costs not included in cost of net revenues and sales and marketing. These costs consist of general and administrative, fulfillment and shipping expense to the customer.
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of all payroll and payroll-related expenses, professional fees, insurance, software costs, occupancy expenses related to Stateside’s stores and to Stateside’s operations at its headquarters, including utilities, depreciation and amortization, and other costs related to the administration of its business.
Stateside’s fulfillment and shipping expenses include the cost to operate its warehouse including occupancy and labor costs to pick and pack customer orders and any return orders; packaging; and shipping costs to the customer from the warehouse and any returns from the customer to the warehouse.
Sales & Marketing
Stateside’s sales and marketing expense primarily includes digital advertising; photo shoots for wholesale and direct-to-consumer communications, including email, social media and digital advertisements; and commission expenses associated with sales representatives.
DBG
Results of Operations
Year ended December 31, 2021 compared to year ended December 31, 2020
The following table presents our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenues
​ ​ ​ $ 7,584,859 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 5,239,437 ​ ​
Cost of net revenues
​ ​ ​ ​ 4,689,200 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 4,685,755 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,895,659 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 553,682 ​ ​
General and administrative
​ ​ ​ ​ 17,779,903 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 7,149,210 ​ ​
Sales and marketing
​ ​ ​ ​ 3,810,583 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 576,469 ​ ​
Other operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 12,653,831 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,975,893 ​ ​
Operating loss
​ ​ ​ ​ (31,348,658) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (9,147,890) ​ ​
Other expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ (2,109,419) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (1,566,764) ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (33,458,077) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (10,714,654) ​ ​
Provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,100,120 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (13,641) ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (32,357,957) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (10,728,295) ​ ​
Net Revenues
Net revenues increased by $2.4 million to $7.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $5.2 million in the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase is primarily due to the acquisition of H&J in May 2021 and Stateside in August 2021.
 
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Gross Profit
Gross profit increased by $2.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $2.9 million from $0.6 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in gross margin was primarily attributable to the margins achieved by H&J and Stateside, as well as significant write-downs to inventory in 2020, and liquidation of product and low margins to monetize inventory during COVID in 2020.
Gross margin was 38.2% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 10.6% for year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in in gross margin was primarily attributable to the margins achieved by H&J and Stateside, as well as mark downs to net realizable value of DBG and Bailey’s inventory in the third quarter of 2020.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses increased by $24.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $34.2 million compared to $9.7 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020, including an increase in general and administrative expenses of $10.6 million and an increase in sales and marketing expenses of $3.2 million. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to non-cash charges incurred in 2021 upon the Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), effective May 18, 2021, and acquisition of H&J, including stock-based compensation expense of $4.8 million and the change in fair value of contingent consideration of $8.8 million, the impairment of intangible assets of $3.4 million, as well as increased professional fees, marketing costs and investor relations costs. We expect operating expenses to increase in total dollars and as a percentage of revenues as our revenue base increases.
Other Income (Expense)
Other expense increased by $0.5 million to $2.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $1.6 million in the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in the other expense was primarily due to increased interest expense in 2021 from the Company’s debt, as well as amortization of debt discount of the April 2021 notes, notes converted during the IPO and the convertible notes issued to Oasis and FirstFire. The increase in other expenses was partially offset by a gain on the change in fair value of the derivative liability and gains on PPP forgiveness in 2021.
Net Loss
Net loss increased by $21.6 million to a loss of $32.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to a loss of $10.7 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020 primarily due to our increased operating expenses, partially offset by a higher gross profit and tax benefit recorded in 2021. The majority of the increase was primarily due to non-cash charges incurred in 2021 upon the IPO and acquisition of H&J, including stock-based compensation expense of $4.8 million and the change in fair value of contingent consideration of $8.8 million, the impairment of intangible assets of $3.4 million, as well as increased professional fees, marketing costs and investor relations costs.
Cash Flow Activities
The following table presents selected captions from our condensed statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended
December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net cash provided by operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (32,357,957) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (10,728,295) ​ ​
Non-cash adjustments
​ ​ ​ $ 17,758,597 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 2,413,918 ​ ​
Change in operating assets and liabilities
​ ​ ​ $ 381,001 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 6,252,790 ​ ​
Net cash used in operating activities
​ ​ ​ $ (14,218,359) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (2,061,587) ​ ​
Net cash used in investing activities
​ ​ ​ $ (6,011,052) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 204,884 ​ ​
Net cash provided by financing activities
​ ​ ​ $ 20,181,820 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 2,392,220 ​ ​
Net change in cash
​ ​ ​ $ (47,591) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 535,517 ​ ​
 
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Cash Flows Used In Operating Activities
Cash used in operating activities increased by $12.2 million to $14.2 million to cash used for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to cash used of $2.1 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in net cash used in operating activities was primarily driven by our higher net loss and less cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities in 2021, partially offset by an increase in non-cash charges.
Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities
Cash used in investing activities was $6.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to cash used of $0.2 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. Cash used in 2021 was primarily related to the cash consideration in the H&J and Stateside acquisitions. Cash used during 2020 was primarily related to purchases of property and equipment, partially offset by cash generated due to the acquisition of Bailey and deposits.
Cash Flows Provided by Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities was $20.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to cash provided of $2.4 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. Cash inflows in 2021 were primarily related to $8.6 million in net proceeds from the IPO after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, as well as $1.4 million in net proceeds from the underwriter’s exercise of their over-allotment option. Cash was also generated in 2021 from proceeds from loan payables of $2.8 million, exercises of warrants of $1.8 million and proceeds from convertible notes payable of $8.4 million, partially offset by loan and note repayments of $2.0 million.
Cash inflows in 2020 were primarily related to proceeds from PPP and SBA loans of $1.7 million, proceeds from our Series A-3 and CF preferred stock for $0.8 million and proceeds from venture debt of $1.1 million, partially offset by repayments to the factor of $1.9 million.
Harper & Jones, LLC
Year ended December 31, 2021 compared to year ended December 31, 2020
Results of Operations
The following table presents our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenue
​ ​ ​ $ 2,842,641 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 2,542,721 ​ ​
Cost of net revenue
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,210,709 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 897,873 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,631,932 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,644,848 ​ ​
Operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,392,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2,207,521 ​ ​
Loss from operations
​ ​ ​ ​ (760,068) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (562,673) ​ ​
Other income
​ ​ ​ ​ 233,030 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 143,227 ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (527,038) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (419,446) ​ ​
Provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ — ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ — ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (527,038) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (419,446) ​ ​
Net Revenues
H&J’s net revenue was $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $2.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.
 
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Gross Profit
H&J’s gross profit was $1.6 million in 2021 and 2020. Gross margin decreased to 57.4% in 2021 compared to 64.7% in 2020 primarily due to increased product costs in 2021.
Operating Expense
H&J’s operating expense increased by $0.2 million in 2021 to $2.4 million compared to $2.2 million. General and administrative expense increased due to new hires and new showrooms that were made late 2020. Sales and marketing expense decreased primarily due to lower commissions.
Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased in 2021 from 87% in 2020 to 84%.
Other Income (Expense)
H&J’s other income was $0.2 million and $0.1 million in 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Net Loss
H&J’s net loss was $0.5 million in 2021 and $0.4 million in 2020, primarily as a result in the increase in operating expenses.
Cash Flow Activities
The following table presents selected captions from H&J’s condensed statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net cash provided by operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
Net income
​ ​ ​ $ (527,038) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (419,446) ​ ​
Non-cash adjustments
​ ​ ​ $ (112,047) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (33,742) ​ ​
Change in operating assets and liabilities
​ ​ ​ $ 399,842 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 61,146 ​ ​
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
​ ​ ​ $ (239,244) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (392,042) ​ ​
Net cash used in investing activities
​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (65,750) ​ ​
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
​ ​ ​ $ 197,926 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 490,598 ​ ​
Net change in cash
​ ​ ​ $ (41,317) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 32,806 ​ ​
Cash Flows Used In Operating Activities
H&J’s cash used by operating activities decreased by $153,000 to $239,000 in 2021 compared to $392,000 in 2020. The decrease in cash used by operating activities was primarily driven by increases in non-cash adjustments.
Cash Flows Used In Investing Activities
H&J’s cash used from investing activities was $0 for 2021 and $66,000 for 2020, which was due to expenditures for leasehold improvements.
Cash Flows Provided By Financing Activities
H&J’s cash provided by financing activities was $197,000 for 2021 compared to $490,000 for 2020. Cash inflows in 2021 were primarily related to advances from DBG. Cash inflows in 2020 were primarily related to proceeds from a note payable.
 
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Stateside
Year ended December 31, 2021 compared to year ended December 31, 2020
Results of Operations
The following table presents our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenue
​ ​ ​ $ 4,965,244 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 3,187,512 ​ ​
Cost of net revenue
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,988,501 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,485,726 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,976,743 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,701,786 ​ ​
Operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 2,965,113 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2,186,362 ​ ​
Operating income (loss)
​ ​ ​ ​ 11,630 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (484,577) ​ ​
Other income (loss)
​ ​ ​ ​ (12,494) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 261,035 ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (863) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (223,541) ​ ​
Provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ 800 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 800 ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (1,663) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (224,341) ​ ​
Net Revenues
Stateside’s net revenue increased by $1.8 million to $5.0 million in 2021, compared to $3.2 million in 2020. This increase was due to a recovery in demand and operations back to full scale after the impact of COVID-19 in 2020.
Gross Profit
Stateside’s gross profit increase by $1.3 million in 2021 to $3.0 million from $1.7 million in 2020. Gross margin was 60.0% in 2021 compared to 53.4% in 2020, primarily due to efficiencies in lower product costs.
Operating Expense
Stateside’s operating expense increased by $0.8 million in 2021 to $3.0 million compared to $2.2 million in 2020. The increase was primarily due to increased headcount and personnel costs with higher revenues.
The decrease in the general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to consistent general and administrative expenses and increased in revenue in 2021. Stateside’s sales and marketing expense increased due to a recovery in demand after the impact of COVID-19 in 2020.
Stateside’s operating expense as a percentage of revenue was 59.7% in 2021 compared to 68.6% in 2020 due to higher revenues offsetting increased expenses.
Other Income (Expense)
Other income (expense) was $(13,000) and $261,000 in 2021 and 2020, respectively. In 2020, we recorded forgiveness of our PPP loan.
Net Loss
Stateside’s net income was $1,663 in 2021 compared to a net loss of $0.2 million in 2020, primarily due to increased revenue and gross profit in dollars, partially offset by a slight increase in operating expenses in 2021 and PPP forgiveness in 2020.
 
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Cash Flow Activities
The following table presents selected captions from Stateside’s statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net cash provided by operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (1,663) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (224,341) ​ ​
Non-cash adjustments
​ ​ ​ $ 17,839 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (196,014) ​ ​
Change in operating assets and liabilities
​ ​ ​ $ 226,850 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (32,141) ​ ​
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
​ ​ ​ $ 243,026 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (452,496) ​ ​
Net cash used in investing activities
​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (9,594) ​ ​
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
​ ​ ​ $ (327,905) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 615,803 ​ ​
Net change in cash
​ ​ ​ $ (84,879) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 153,713 ​ ​
Cash Flows Used In Operating Activities
Stateside had cash provided by operating activities of $243,026 in 2021 as compared to cash used of $452,496 in 2020. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily driven a lower net loss in 2021 and less cash used by changes in operating assets and liabilities in 2021.
Cash Flows Used In Investing Activities
Stateside’s cash used from investing activities was $9,594 in 2020.
Cash Flows Provided By Financing Activities
Stateside’s cash used in financing activities was $327,905 in 2021 compared to cash provided of $615,803 in 2020. Cash inflows in 2021 were related to proceeds from the PPP loan of $229,000 offset by distributions of $550,000. Cash inflows in 2020 were primarily related to proceeds from the PPP loan of $251,000 and advances from the factor of $668,000.
Digital Brands Group, Inc. — Pro Forma Combined after giving effect to the acquisitions of Bailey, H&J and Stateside
Year ended December 31, 2021 compared to year ended December 31, 2020
Results of Operations
The following table presents our pro forma results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net revenues
​ ​ ​ $ 11,834,601 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 12,989,493 ​ ​
Cost of net revenues
​ ​ ​ ​ 6,233,897 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 8,089,592 ​ ​
Gross profit
​ ​ ​ ​ 5,600,704 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 4,899,902 ​ ​
Operating expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ 34,762,316 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 18,372,629 ​ ​
Operating loss
​ ​ ​ ​ (29,161,612) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (13,472,727) ​ ​
Other expenses
​ ​ ​ ​ (3,499,580) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (1,674,320) ​ ​
Loss before provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ (32,661,192) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (15,147,047) ​ ​
Provision for income taxes
​ ​ ​ ​ 1,100,120 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (14,441) ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ ​ (31,561,072) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (15,132,606) ​ ​
 
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Net Revenues
Pro forma net revenues decreased by $1.2 million in 2021 to $11.8 million, compared to $13.0 in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to full effects of COVID-19 on the operations of Bailey in the winter of 2021, partially offset by an increase in the pro forma revenue of Stateside.
Gross Profit
Pro forma gross profit was $5.6 million in 2021 as compared to $4.9 million in 2020. The increase was primarily due to Stateside’s increased gross profit due to its higher revenues in 2021.
Pro forma gross margin was 47.3% in 2021 compared to 37.7% in 2020.
Operating Expenses
Pro forma operating expenses increased by $16.4 million in 2021 to $34.8 million compared to $18.4 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in operating expense was primarily due to non-cash charges in 2021 incurred in connection with the IPO and the acquisition of H&J, including stock-based compensation expense of $4.8 million and the change in fair value of contingent consideration of $8.8 million, as well as increased professional fees and investor relations costs. We expect operating expenses to increase in total dollars and as a percentage of revenues as our revenue base increases.
Other Expenses
Pro forma other expenses increased by $1.8 million to $3.5 million in 2021 compared to $1.7 million in the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in the other expense was primarily due to interest expense from the 2021 notes, partially offset by the change in the fair value of derivatives in 2021.
Net Loss
Pro forma net loss increased by $16.4 million to a loss of $31.6 million in 2021 compared to a loss of $15.1 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020 primarily due to our increased operating expenses, partially offset by a tax benefit recorded in 2021.
Cash Flow Activities
The following table presents selected captions from our pro forma condensed statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
​ ​ ​
Year Ended
December 31,
​
​ ​ ​
2021
​ ​
2020
​
Net cash provided by operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
Net loss
​ ​ ​ $ (31,561,072) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (15,132,606) ​ ​
Non-cash adjustments
​ ​ ​ $ 16,961,712 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 4,290,785 ​ ​
Change in operating assets and liabilities
​ ​ ​ $ 381,001 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 6,920,522 ​ ​
Net cash used in operating activities
​ ​ ​ $ (14,218,359) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (3,921,300) ​ ​
Net cash used in investing activities
​ ​ ​ $ (6,011,052) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ (4,881,889) ​ ​
Net cash provided by financing activities
​ ​ ​ $ 20,181,820 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 8,998,621 ​ ​
Net change in cash
​ ​ ​ $ (47,591) ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 195,432 ​ ​
Cash Flows Used In Operating Activities
Pro forma cash used by operating activities increased by $10.3 million to cash used of $14.2 million in 2021 as compared to cash used of $3.9 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. The increase in net cash used in operating activities was primarily driven by our higher net loss and less cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities in 2021, partially offset by an increase in non-cash charges.
 
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Cash Flows Used In Investing Activities
Pro forma cash used in investing activities was $6.0 million in 2021 as compared to $4.9 million in 2020. Cash used in 2021 was primarily related to the cash consideration paid in the H&J and Stateside acquisitions. Pro forma cash used in 2020 was primarily related to the cash consideration paid in the Stateside acquisition, partially offset by cash acquired due to the acquisition of Bailey and deposits.
Cash Flows Provided by Financing Activities
Pro forma cash provided by financing activities was $20.2 million in 2020 as compared to cash provided of $9.0 million for the corresponding fiscal period in 2020. Cash inflows in 2021 were primarily related to $8.6 million in net proceeds from the IPO after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, as well as $1.4 million in net proceeds from the underwriter’s exercise of their over-allotment option, as well as proceeds from loan payables of $2.8 million and proceeds from convertible notes payable of $8.4 million and proceeds from the Oasis and First Fire convertibles notes, partially offset by loan and note repayments of $2.0 million.
Pro forma cash inflows in 2020 were primarily related to proceeds from PPP and SBA loans of $1.7 million, proceeds from our Series A-3 and CF preferred stock for $0.8 million, proceeds from venture debt of $1.1 million and proceeds from convertible notes of $1.3 million.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside has historically satisfied its liquidity needs and funded operations with internally generated cash flow and borrowings and capital raises. Changes in working capital, most notably accounts receivable, are driven primarily by levels of business activity. Historically each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside has maintained credit line facilities to support such working capital needs and makes repayments on that facility with excess cash flow from operations.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash of $528,394, but we had a working capital deficit of $30,270,932. The Company requires significant capital to meet its obligations as they become due. These factors raise substantial doubt about our Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Throughout the next twelve months, the Company intends to fund its operations primarily from the funds raised through the equity line of credit agreement. The Company may pursue secondary offerings or debt financings to provide working capital and satisfy debt obligations. There can be no assurance as to the availability or terms upon which such financing and capital might be available in the future. If the Company is unable to secure additional funding, it may be forced to curtail or suspend its business plans. The report of our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2021 included herein contains an explanatory paragraph indicating that there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern as a result of recurring losses from operations.
In 2020 and 2021, each of DBG, Bailey, H&J and Stateside has benefited from PPP and EIDL loans to fund operations. PPP loans are to be partially or fully forgiven based on the terms of the notes and related expenses incurred. DBG has also benefited from convertible debt, which may convert upon a public offering into common stock.
In March 2017, DBG entered into a senior credit agreement with an outside lender for up to $4,000,000, dependent upon the achievement of certain milestones. The initial close amount was a minimum of $1,345,000. The loan bears interest at 12.5% per annum, compounded monthly, including fees. A 5% closing fee is due upon each closing, legal and accounting fees of up to $40,000, and management fees of $4,167-$5,000 per month. As of December 31, 2021, we owed our senior secured lender approximately $6.0 million that is due on the scheduled maturity date of December 31, 2022. Our credit agreement contains negative covenants that, subject to significant exceptions, limit our ability, among other things to make restricted payments, pledge assets as security, make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions, or undergo other fundamental changes. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under the credit facility and permit the lender to cease making loans to us. If for whatever reason we have insufficient liquidity to make scheduled payments under our credit facility or to repay such indebtedness by the schedule maturity date, we would seek the consent of our senior lender to modify such terms. Although our senior lender has previously
 
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agreed to seven prior modifications of our credit agreement, there is no assurance that it will agree to any such modification and could then declare an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under this agreement, the lender could elect to declare all amounts outstanding thereunder to be immediately due and payable. We have pledged all of our assets as collateral under our credit facility. If the lender accelerates the repayment of borrowings, we may not have sufficient assets to repay them and we could experience a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Repayment is accelerated upon a change in control, as defined in the senior credit agreement. The loan is senior to all other debts and obligations of DBG, is collateralized by all assets of DBG, and shares of DBG’s common stock pledged by officers of DBG. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the gross loan balance was $6,001,755 resulting from cash disbursed to DBG of $0 and $1,459,211, respectively. DBG failed to comply with certain debt covenants during the years ended December 31, 2020. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, the entire amount is shown as a current liability. The senior lender has waived any default in connection with DBG’s prior failure to comply with such debt covenants.
The lender was also granted warrants to purchase common stock representing 1% of the fully diluted capitalization of DBG for each $1,000,000 of principal loaned under the agreement, which was increased to 1.358% during 2020. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, DBG granted 0 and 493,462 common stock warrants, respectively, to the lender with an exercise price of $2.50 per share and a ten-year contractual life. As discussed in Note 10 to the financial statements, during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, these warrants were valued at $0 and $184,191, respectively. The value of the warrants was initially recorded as a discount to the note, which is amortized over its term. As of December 31, 2021, the warrants were fully amortized.
Interest expense and effective interest rate on this loan for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $825,219 and $770,277, 13.7% and 14.6 %, all respectively.
In April 2021, DBG received gross proceeds of $1.0 million from a debt offering. The terms of the debt offering were (1) repayment of $1.0 million (reflecting a 15% original issue discount), (2) a three month maturity date from the closing, (3) 50% warrant coverage for five year cash warrants with the exercise price set at the IPO price and callable at a 200% increase in the IPO price, (4) 50,000 common shares issued at the closing, and (5) if the IPO is not completed or the Note is not repaid by the maturity date then the warrant coverage will increase to 75% and the note will begin generating a 15% annual interest rate, paid in cash, until the default is cured. The debt was repaid using a portion of the proceeds from the IPO.
On August 27, 2021, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Oasis Capital, LLC (“Oasis Capital”) further to which Oasis Capital purchased a Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note (the “Oasis Note”), with an interest rate of 6% per annum, having a face value of $5,265,000 for a total purchase price of $5,000,000, secured by all of our assets. The Oasis Note, in the principal amount of $5,265,000, bears interest at 6% per annum and is due and payable 18 months from the date of issuance, unless sooner converted. The Note is convertible at the option of Oasis Capital into shares of our common stock at a conversion price (the “Oasis Conversion Price”) which is the lesser of (i) $3.601, and (ii) 90% of the average of the two lowest volume-weighted average prices during the five consecutive trading day period preceding the delivery of the notice of conversion. Oasis Capital is not permitted to submit conversion notices in any thirty day period having conversion amounts equaling, in the aggregate, in excess of $500,000. If the Oasis Conversion Price set forth in any conversion notice is less than $3.00 per share, we, at our sole option, may elect to pay the applicable conversion amount in cash rather than issue shares of our common stock. In connection with the issuance of the Oasis Note, we entered into a security agreement (the “Security Agreement”) pursuant to which we agreed to grant Oasis Capital a security interest in substantially all of our assets to secure the obligations under the Oasis Note and a registration rights agreement with Oasis Capital (the “RRA”).
On October 1, 2021, we entered into an Amended and Restated Securities Purchase Agreement with FirstFire Global Opportunities Fund, LLC (“FirstFire”) and Oasis Capital further to which FirstFire purchased a Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note (the “First FirstFire Note”), with an interest rate of 6% per annum, having a face value of $1,575,000 for a total purchase price of $1,500,000, secured by all of our assets. The First FirstFire Note, in the principal amount of $1,575,000, bears interest at 6% per annum and is due and payable 18 months from the date of issuance, unless sooner converted. The First
 
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FirstFire Note is convertible at the option of FirstFire into shares of our common stock at a conversion price (the “First FirstFire Conversion Price”) which is the lesser of (i) $3.952, and (ii) 90% of the average of the two lowest volume-weighted average prices during the five consecutive trading day period preceding the delivery of the notice of conversion. FirstFire is not permitted to submit conversion notices in any thirty day period having conversion amounts equaling, in the aggregate, in excess of $500,000. If the First FirstFire Conversion Price set forth in any conversion notice is less than $3.00 per share, we, at our sole option, may elect to pay the applicable conversion amount in cash rather than issue shares of our common stock. In connection with the issuance of the First FirstFire Note, we, Oasis Capital and FirstFire amended the Security Agreement to grant FirstFire a similar security interest in substantially all of our assets to secure the obligations under the First FirstFire Note. We, Oasis Capital and FirstFire also amended the RRA to join FirstFire as a party thereto and to include the shares of our common stock issuable under the First FirstFire Note as registrable securities.
On November 16, 2021, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with FirstFire further to which FirstFire purchased a Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note (the “Second FirstFire Note” and together with the First FirstFire Note, the “FirstFire Notes”), with an interest rate of 6% per annum, having a face value of $2,625,000 for a total purchase price of $2,500,000. The Second FirstFire Note is convertible at the option of FirstFire into shares of our common stock at a conversion price (the “Second FirstFire Conversion Price”) which is the lesser of (i) $4.28, and (ii) 90% of the average of the two lowest volume-weighted average prices during the five consecutive trading day period preceding the delivery of the notice of conversion. FirstFire is not permitted to submit conversion notices in any thirty day period having conversion amounts equaling, in the aggregate, in excess of $500,000. If the Second FirstFire Conversion Price set forth in any conversion notice is less than $3.29 per share, we, at our sole option, may elect to pay the applicable conversion amount in cash rather than issue shares of our common stock. In connection with the Second FirstFire Note, we issued (a) 30,000 additional shares of common stock to FirstFire and (b) 100,000 additional shares of common stock to Oasis Capital, as set forth in the waivers and consents (the “Waivers”), dated November 16, 2021 executed by each of FirstFire and Oasis Capital (collectively, the “Waiver Shares”). In addition, we entered into an amendment to the RRA, dated November 16, 2021. The RRA, as amended, provides that we shall file a registration statement registering the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the FirstFire Notes, and the Waiver Shares by November 30, 2021 and use our best efforts to cause such registration statement to be effective with the SEC no later than 120 days from the date of the FirstFire Note. We filed such registration statement in December 2021 and it became effective in January 2022.
Equity Line of Credit
On August 27, 2021, we entered into what is sometimes termed an equity line of credit arrangement with Oasis Capital, LLC (“Oasis Capital”). Specifically, we entered into an equity purchase agreement (the “Equity Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which Oasis Capital is committed to purchase up to $17,500,000 of our common stock over the 24-month term of the Equity Purchase Agreement. We are not obligated to request any portion of the $17,500,000.
In connection with the execution of the Equity Purchase Agreement, we issued Oasis Capital $350,000 of its shares of common stock, or 126,354 shares (the “Commitment Shares”) at a per share price which was based on the closing sale price per share on the NasdaqCM on the trading date prior to issuance (the “Issuance Reference Date”). On the earlier of (i) the date that is nine months from the date of execution, and (ii) the date that the Equity Purchase Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms (the “Reference Date”), if the closing sale price per share on the NasdaqCM on the trading date preceding the Reference Date is higher than the closing sale price on the Issuance Reference Date, then Oasis Capital shall return to us a portion of the Commitment Shares equal to the amount of Commitment Shares required to be issued on the execution date minus the amount of Commitment Shares that would have been required to have been issued if the closing sale price per share on the NasdaqCM on the trading date preceding the Reference Date had been used to calculate the amount of Commitment Shares issuable on the execution date.
As of the date of this prospectus, we have not drawn down any portion of this commitment, leaving the entire $17,500,000 available under the equity line of credit, and for which we have agreed, pursuant to the registration rights agreement (the “Oasis Equity RRA”), to register the shares of common stock issuable
 
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further to the equity line of credit with the SEC, before any such issuances. We filed such registration statement in December 2021 and it became effective in January 2022.
During the 24-month term of the Equity Purchase Agreement, we may request a drawdown on the equity line of credit by delivering a “put notice” to Oasis Capital stating the dollar amount of shares we intend to sell to Oasis Capital. We may make either an Option 1 or Option 2 request to Oasis Capital. Under Option 1, the purchase price Oasis Capital is required to pay for the shares is the lesser of (i) the lowest traded price of our common stock on the NasdaqCM on the Clearing Date, which is the date on which Oasis Capital receives the put shares as DWAC shares in its brokerage account, or (ii) the average of the three lowest closing sale prices of our common stock on the NasdaqCM during the period of twelve (12) consecutive trading days immediately preceding the Clearing Date. The maximum amount we may request in an Option 1 request is $500,000. Under Option 2, the purchase price Oasis Capital is required to pay for the shares is the lesser of (i) 93% of the one (1) lowest traded price of our common stock on the NasdaqCM during the period of five (5) consecutive trading days immediately preceding the put date, or (ii) 93% of the VWAP on the Clearing Date, or (iii) 93% of the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock on the NasdaqCM on the Clearing Date. The maximum amount we may request in an Option 2 request is $2,000,000.
We are not entitled to request a drawdown unless each of the following conditions is satisfied:
(a)
a registration statement is and remains effective for the resale of securities in connection with the equity line of credit;
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(b)
the trading of our common stock shall not have been suspended by the SEC, the NasdaqCM or FINRA, or otherwise halted for any reason, and our common stock shall have been approved for listing or quotation on and shall not have been delisted from the NasdaqCM;
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(c)
we have complied with its obligations and are otherwise not in breach or default of any agreement related to the equity line of credit;
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(d)
no statute, regulation, order, guidance, decree, writ, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated, threatened or endorsed by any federal, state, local or foreign court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction, including, without limitation, the SEC, which prohibits the consummation of or which would materially modify or delay any of the transactions contemplated by the equity line of credit;
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(e)
our common stock must be DWAC eligible and not subject to a “DTC chill”;
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(f)
all reports, schedules, registrations, forms, statements, information and other documents required to have been filed by us with the SEC pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act of 1934 (other than Forms 8-K) shall have been filed with the SEC within the applicable time periods prescribed for such filings;
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(g)
to the extent the issuance of the put shares requires shareholder approval under the listing rules of the NasdaqCM, we have or will seek such approval; and
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(h)
the lowest traded price of the common stock in the five (5) trading days immediately preceding the respective put date must exceed $3.00.
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If any of the events described in clauses (a) through (h) above occurs after we make a drawdown request, then Oasis Capital shall have no obligation to fund that drawdown.
The equity line of credit terminates when Oasis Capital has purchased an aggregate of $17,500,000 of our common stock or August 30, 2024, whichever occurs first.
Under the terms of the Equity Purchase Agreement, Oasis Capital may not own more than 9.99% of our issued and outstanding stock at any one time.
20% OID Promissory Notes
On April 5, 2022, the Company and various purchasers (the “Investors”) executed a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) whereby the Investors purchased from the Company promissory notes
 
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(the “Notes”) in the aggregate principal amount of $3.1 million original principal amount of notes, consisting of aggregate cash to Issuer of $2.5 million (“Cash Principal”) and an Original Issue Discount of $0.6 million.
The Notes are due and payable on that date which is the earlier of three months from the date of issuance or the closing of an equity financing of at least $5,000,000 (excluding amounts, if any, from the conversion of the Notes). If the Notes are not repaid in full by the date of maturity or if any other event of default occurs, the Notes will begin generating an annual interest rate of 20%, which will be paid in cash monthly until the default is cured, and if such default continues for 14 or more calendar days, the principal amount of the Notes (but not the Original Issue Discount, which must be payable in cash), will become convertible at the option of the Investors into shares of the Company’s common stock (“Conversion Shares”) at a conversion price equal to the sum of (A) the lower of: (i) the Nasdaq official closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) on the date of the Note, and (ii) the average Nasdaq official closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) for the five consecutive trading days ending on the date of the Note, and (B) $0.125 (“Conversion Price”), provided that if the Investors elect a “Default Conversion Election,” ​(1) the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to submit to its stockholders as soon as practicable in order to obtain as soon as practicable stockholder approval for the Company to issue the number of Conversion Shares necessary to complete such conversion (inclusive of the Original Issue Discount) but at the “Default Conversion Price” ​(in lieu of the Conversion Price), defined as the product of: (i) the lowest closing stock price of the common stock over the five trading days immediately preceding the conversion date (as published or reported by the principal trading market for such securities), and (ii) 60%, subject to adjustment, in accordance with Nasdaq Rule 5635(a)(1) and/or 5635(d) (as applicable, the “20% Rule”), Delaware corporate law and the Exchange Act; (2) if such stockholder approval is obtained, such conversion shall be effected within one business day of such approval at the Default Conversion Price; (3) to the extent that, prior to obtaining such stockholder approval, the Company may then issue Conversion Shares at the Default Conversion Price without violating the 20% Rule (the “Maximum Amount”), the Company shall issue to the Investors the Maximum Amount of Conversion Shares at the Default Conversion Price; and (4) if such stockholder approval is not obtained within 14 calendar days of the conversion date, then the Company shall cause (i) all members of its management team to pledge their shares of common stock to the Investors to secure the repayment of amounts due under the Notes, and (ii) the Chief Executive Officer to personally guarantee the repayment of all amounts due thereunder.
In connection with the SPA, the Company issued to the Investors five-year Warrants exercisable for shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to the lower of: (i) the Nasdaq official closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) on the date of the Notes, and (ii) the average Nasdaq official closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) for the five consecutive trading days ending on the date of the Notes.
In addition, the Company entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with the Investors, dated April 5, 2022 (the “RRA”). The RRA provides that if the Notes are not repaid by the date of maturity, the Company must file a registration statement within 45 days thereafter to register the shares of common stock then issuable upon the conversion of the Notes.
Merchant Cash Advances
In April 2022, the Company obtained two short-term merchant advances, which totaled $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, from a single lender to fund operations. These advances included origination fees totaling $22,500. These advances include interest expense that will total $315,000 for the year ended December 31, 2022. Average interest will be approximately 42% over the term of the agreement before associated fees. These advances are, for the most part, secured by expected future sales transactions of the Company. The Company has made payments of the origination fees for $22,500 and interest and loan principal totaling $76,072. These advances contain various financial and non-financial covenants. As of May 5, 2022, the Company was in compliance with these covenants.
Capital Resources
Our current capital resources, combined with the net proceeds from the offering, are expected to be sufficient for us to fund operations for the next 12 months. We expect that additional sources of equity and debt financing should be available to us after the closing of this offering.
 
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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Future Commitments
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that is material to investors.
 
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BUSINESS
Digital Brands Group is a curated collection of lifestyle brands, including Bailey 44, DSTLD, Harper and Jones, Stateside and ACE Studios, that offers a variety of apparel products through direct-to-consumer and wholesale distribution. Our complementary brand portfolio provides us with the unique opportunity to cross merchandise our brands. We aim for our customers to wear our brands head to toe and to capture what we call “closet share” by gaining insight into their preferences to create targeted and personalized content specific to their cohort. Operating our brands under one portfolio provides us with the ability to better utilize our technological, human capital and operational capabilities across all brands. As a result, we have been able to realize operational efficiencies and continue to identify additional cost saving opportunities to scale our brands and overall portfolio.
Our portfolio currently consists of four significant brands that leverage our three channels: our websites, wholesale and our own stores.
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Bailey 44 combines beautiful, luxe fabrics and on-trend designs to create sophisticated ready-to-wear capsules for women on-the-go. Designing for real life, this brand focuses on feeling and comfort rather than how it looks on a runway. Bailey 44 is primarily a wholesale brand, which we are transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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•
DSTLD offers stylish high-quality garments without the luxury retail markup valuing customer experience over labels. DSTLD is primarily a digital direct-to-consumer brand, to which we recently added select wholesale retailers to generate brand awareness.
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•
Harper & Jones was built with the goal of inspiring men to dress with intention. It offers hand-crafted custom fit suits for those looking for a premium experience. Harper & Jones is primarily a direct-to-consumer brand using its own showrooms.
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•
Stateside is an elevated, America first brand with all knitting, dyeing, cutting and sewing sourced and manufactured locally in Los Angeles. The collection is influenced by the evolution of the classic t-shirt offering a simple yet elegant look. Stateside is primarily a wholesale brand that we will be transitioning to a digital, direct-to-consumer brand.
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We believe that successful apparel brands sell in all revenue channels. However, each channel offers different margin structures and requires different customer acquisition and retention strategies. We were founded as a digital-first retailer that has strategically expanded into select wholesale and direct retail channels. We strive to strategically create omnichannel strategies for each of our brands that blend physical and online channels to engage consumers in the channel of their choosing. Our products are sold direct-to-consumers principally through our websites and our own showrooms, but also through our wholesale channel, primarily in specialty stores and select department stores. With the continued expansion of our wholesale distribution, we believe developing an omnichannel solution further strengthens our ability to efficiently acquire and retain customers while also driving high customer lifetime value.
We believe that by leveraging a physical footprint to acquire customers and increase brand awareness, we can use digital marketing to focus on retention and a very tight, disciplined high value new customer acquisition strategy, especially targeting potential customers lower in the sales funnel. Building a direct relationship with the customer as the customer transacts directly with us allows us to better understand our customer’s preferences and shopping habits. Our substantial experience as a company originally founded as a digitally native-first retailer gives us the ability to strategically review and analyze the customer’s data, including contact information, browsing and shopping cart data, purchase history and style preferences. This in turn has the effect of lowering our inventory risk and cash needs since we can order and replenish product based on the data from our online sales history, replenish specific inventory by size, color and SKU based on real times sales data, and control our mark-down and promotional strategies versus being told what mark downs and promotions we have to offer by the department stores and boutique retailers.
The Shifting Retail Landscape
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the retail industry, forcing the closure of physical stores and causing uncertainty for the future of the in-store experience. In-person interaction has dramatically changed or been supplanted by digital engagement, and early indications suggest that much of this shift may
 
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endure in the long term. In a global study released by Salesforce Inc., 63% of consumers said the way they obtain goods and services “transformed” during 2020 and 57% said the same about the ways they engage with companies. In addition, 62% said this year changed how they conduct their lives offline, and an equal percentage said it changed their online lives. Also, 58% of consumers said they expect to do more online shopping after the pandemic than they did before it. These abrupt shifts have not only left retailers that prioritized physical stores and face-to-face engagement over omnichannel strategies scrambling to effectively serve customers, but have forced many larger retailers to close a substantial number of physical retail outlets in order to maintain profitability.
However, according to Digital Commerce 360, the in-person store experience will substantially continue to drive retail sales. The report states that 28% of consumers indicate that they will continue to shop mostly online after the pandemic, with 39% saying they will shop both online and in-store, 24% saying they “can’t wait” to shop in-store, and 10% not sure. We believe that pure e-commerce retailers will lag in the ability to capture this available market share as marketing data continues to indicate that for apparel brands, a physical environment is the best way to acquire customers as the customer can touch, see and fit the product in person. Based on our historical pop up store data, a customer who visited or purchased in our pop up store had a significantly lower return rate when they subsequently ordered online, had higher average order values and higher repeat order rate and frequency compared with customers who had not visited or purchased at a pop up store.
Our Growth Model
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We believe that the highly fragmented nature of the apparel industry, combined with the opportunity to leverage our position as a public company with access to financial resources, presents a significant opportunity for consolidation of apparel brands. We use a disciplined approach to identify and evaluate acquisition candidates. We believe there are three ideal acquisition targets: (1) strong legacy brands that have been mismanaged, (2) strong brands that do not have capital to grow, and (3) wholesale brands that are struggling to transition to e-commerce. We look for brands that have an emotional hook in its customers, a high repeat customer rate, the potential to scale and strong financials. We source and identify acquisition targets based on our industry knowledge and through our network of investment banks, finders, private equity and venture capital firms, among others.
We intend to continue to actively pursue acquisitions to increase and tighten customer cohorts and increase our ability to create more customized content and personalized looks and styles for each customer cohort. We believe that customers want and trust brands that can deliver customized content and personalized
 
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looks and styles. We expect this should results in higher customer loyalty, higher lifetime value, higher average order value and lower customer acquisition cost.
The acquisition of other apparel businesses increases our customer base, our data to create tighter customer cohorts, customized customer content and personalized styles and looks utilizing products across all our portfolio brands. These acquisitions also increase our future acquisition network, as these potential acquisitions can watch how we integrate and grow the brands we acquire.
We believe that our ability to acquire businesses at prevailing private company valuations will continue to present opportunities for earnings growth, accretion, and private-to-public valuation multiple positive arbitrage. Moreover, our acquisition strategy will continue to provide opportunities, not only to expand into new geographic areas, but also to expand our range of product offerings in existing areas of operation and cross-sell to our collective enterprise.
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We believe that we are revolutionizing the corporate holding company for direct-to-consumer and wholesale apparel brands by focusing on a customer’s “closet share” and leveraging the customer’s data to create personalized customer cohorts and customized customer content. This allows the Company to successfully increase our customer lifetime value, lower our customer acquisition cost, exponentially increase new customer growth across our portfolio brands and increase our average order value.
We believe that customers seldomly wears the same brand from head to toe. By owning multiple brands across complementary categories, the customer is provided head to toe looks and personalized styles based on products across our brands. This results in the customer buying and wearing multiple brands, across product categories instead of wearing a singular brand’s products in one category. Digital Brands Group refers to this as “Closet Share,” which results in best of class KPIs, margins and sustainable revenue growth. This lowers the cost of customer acquisition for each brand and increases customer loyalty to all of our brands.
By owning the customer data, Digital Brands Group captures an individual’s shopping behavior, purchases and style preferences. This results in the ability to create customized customer content that is highly targeted and cross merchandise styles for every customer using all the brands in the portfolio to create personalized looks for each customer. As we aggregate more data, it exponentially increases the customers in each customer cohort, which results in each customer cohort becoming more targeted and customized.
 
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Furthermore, we believe that we will increase our gross margins by leveraging a consolidated supply chain to give the Company more control and lower our inventory purchases and control and optimize our pricing and promotions. We also believe that we will expand our operating margin expansion through a shared services model, which eliminates redundant back office expenses and leverages our marketing and data analytics teams and expenses across our portfolio of brands.
We believe this creates a proprietary and scalable flywheel driven by personalized and targeted customer experiences, fueling loyalty, lifetime value and virality resulting in increased revenue growth that leverages operating costs and generates significant cash flow. Wholesale and direct to consumer channels provide different cash flow to our business. Wholesale provides a good source of cash upfront because financing can be provided to purchase inventory and fund operations. In contrast, direct to consumer requires scaling and results in cash flow once inventory is sold to consumers. We believe having a proper mix of both wholesale and direct to consumer enables us to maintain a strong cash business.
Organizational Structure
We operate the brands on a decentralized basis with an emphasis on brand level execution supported by corporate coordination. The brand’s executive teams will continue to operate and leverage relationships with customers and suppliers, including designing and producing product and developing marketing plans including social media, email and digital communications.
We consolidate marketing and tech contracts as we have done with Bailey’s contracts, which has provided significant cost savings. We review the fabric mills and factories used by each brand to see if we can consolidate or cross utilize these mills and factories, which will drive increased volumes, lower production costs and higher gross margins. As an example, we are utilizing DSTLD’s denim mills and factories to develop denim products for Bailey’s and Harper & Jones. We are also consolidating production into a few factories in Europe from China and the U.S., which lowers our average production cost per unit.
We leverage the Digital Brands Group marketing and data analytics team to create cross marketing campaigns based on the customer data respective to each brand’s customer base. As an example, the Digital Brand’s Group marketing and data team reviews the customer data across all our portfolio brands and will work with each brand to identify the new customers from our other portfolio brands that they can target and what styles and looks should be created for each of those customer cohorts. The brand level employees
 
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then execute the looks and styles and create the customized customer communication based on the information and data from the Digital Brand Group marketing and data teams.
Certain administrative functions are centralized on a regional and, in certain circumstances, a national basis following, including but not limited to accounting support functions, corporate strategy and acquisitions, human resources, information technology, insurance, marketing, data analytics and customer cross merchandising, advertising buys, contract negotiations, safety, systems support and transactional processing.
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We believe integrated operations will continue to create opportunities for economies of scale as we grow in such areas as materials purchasing, bulk apparel production, shipping and logistics, information systems, marketing purchasing (both online and offline) and contractual relationships with key suppliers. We have identified initiatives to increase market share, revenue and volume and to expand our profit margins. These initiatives include, but are not limited to:
•
Implement System-Wide Best Practices.   We have identified certain best practices among our brands, including marketing strategies, data analytics, contract renegotiating, sourcing and supply chain and organization structure and hiring plans. We plan to continue to implement these best practices to improve the operating margins of our brands and any subsequently-acquired businesses.
​
•
Leverage Size to Create Efficiencies.   We believe our increasing scale enhances our ability to leverage buying power in product quantities, marketing strategies and assets, vendor contracts and fulfillment and shipping, resulting in lower costs, higher margins and cash flow. This in turns creates competitive advantages.
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•
Expand our Product Offerings.   We share expertise across our acquired businesses on the sale of certain products and lines that are not currently offered by all of them or that will become available to us through acquisitions.
​
•
Increase our Margins and Enhance Operating Efficiencies.   We believe that as our portfolio of acquired businesses grows, so will our ability to negotiate volume and cash discounts from our suppliers, thereby increasing our profit margins.
​
•
Lower our customer acquisition cost and increase our LTV.   We cross market our brands to new customers that are loyal to other brands we own. This cross merchandising should lower our customer acquisition cost meaningfully, while also increasing our LTV. This should not only increases our margins, cash flow and revenues, but also creates loyalty and repeat purchases by the customer as we provide a single solution for their products that are personalized to them based on their past purchases and data.
​
As we organically grow and acquire new businesses, we believe we will be in an improved position to negotiate volume and cash discounts and to increase the mix of higher- margin product offerings. We also believe that we will lower our customer acquisition cost, while increasing our annual average spend per customer and LTV. These increased profit margins and customer retention and repeat purchases will provide us with additional room to improve pricing with our customers that will improve our competitive advantages.
Principal Products and Services
DSTLD — Brand Summary
DSTLD focuses on minimalist design, superior quality, and only the essential wardrobe pieces. We deliver casual luxury rooted in denim; garments that are made with exhaustive attention to detail from the finest materials for a closet of timeless, functional staples. Our brand name “DSTLD” is derived from the word ‘distilled,’ meaning to extract only the essentials. As such, DSTLD boasts a line of key wardrobe pieces in a fundamental color palette of black, white, grey, and denim.
Our denim prices generally range from $75 to $95; similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $95 to $125 and retail for $185 to $350. Our tee shirts and tops will range $30 to $90, similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $25 to $75 and retail for $60 to $250. Our casual pants will range $85 to $109, similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $85 to $115 and retail for $175 to $250.
ACE Studios — Brand Summary
ACE Studios will design and offer luxury men’s suiting with superior performance, superb fits, and excellent quality at an exceptional value. We will offer men’s classic tailored apparel with premium and luxury fabrics and manufacturing. We work with the same high-quality mills and factories in the world as the leading luxury brands. We believe most customers have different shapes and sizes, so we plan to offer multiple fits for our products. We sidestep the middleman and sell our products ourselves, allowing us to offer top-tier quality without the standard retail markup.
Our suits are expected to range from $295 to $495; similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $300 to $600 and retail for $600 to $1,200. Our dress shirts will range $55 to $65, similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $50 to $75 and retail for $95 to $150. Our casual pants will range $85 to $109, similar quality brands produced at the same factories wholesale for approximately $85 to $115 and retail for $175 to $250.
We anticipate rolling out the ACE Studios brand in the second quarter of 2022 as a digitally native first brand.
Bailey — Brand Summary
In February 2020, we acquired Bailey. Bailey delivers distinct high-quality, well-fitting, on-trend contemporary apparel using at an entry contemporary price point. Bailey combines beautiful, luxe fabrics
 
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and on-trend designs to offer clean, sophisticated ready-to-wear separates that easily transition from day to night and for date night. Bailey offers fashionable staples with timeless design features, making them wearable for any occasion — majority of products are tops, sweaters and dresses.
Bailey’s full seasonal collections of dresses, tops, jumpsuits, bottoms, sets, jackets and rompers retail at price points between $90 – $350. We believe that we can create more compelling price points as we leverage our direct-to-consumer expertise. As we increase the direct-to-consumer revenue mix, we believe we will have opportunities to increase our margins, which will mostly be passed along to the customer with lower price points.
With our acquisition of Bailey 44, LLC, we view the following as tangible near-term growth opportunities:
•
Increase emphasis on email and SMS communications allowing for personalized direct customer engagement, retention and repurchases.
​
•
Increase market share in existing and new wholesale, including specialty boutiques due to the well-known and respected designer we hired in June 2020.
​
•
Increase digital spend, social media presence, and brand and influencer collaborations.
​
•
Selective opportunity to roll out proven retail concept in well defined, strategic locations.
​
•
International expansion and licensing opportunities in select categories.
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Harper & Jones — Brand Summary
H&J is well-known for delivering extremely high-quality, luxury custom and made-to-measure suiting and sportswear. The company provides full-closet customization, including shirts, jackets, pants, shorts, polos, plus more products that made-to-measure. H&J offers a proprietary custom and made-to-measure supply chain, which creates positive working capital since the customer pays for the product upfront and we have terms with vendors to pay 60+ days later.
Their custom bench-made suit prices range between $1,995 – $4,995, custom bench-made jacket prices range from $1,895 – $3,495, custom-bench made trousers range from $600 – $1,100, and custom bench- made shirts range from $250 – $450.
With our acquisition of H&J, we view the following as tangible near-term growth opportunities:
•
Increase showroom openings, which generate a 100% cash-on-cash return in the first year.
​
•
Incorporate a store in store concept into their showrooms to sell our others menswear brands.
​
•
Increase gross margins by buying fabric directly from the mills versus fabric agents.
​
•
Launch ready-to-wear in certain categories based on small batch limited editions.
​
Stateside — Brand Summary
We acquired Stateside in August 2021. Stateside is a collection of elevated American basics influenced by the evolution of the classic T-Shirt. All garments are designed and produced in Los Angeles from the finest fabrics. All knitting, dyeing, cutting and sewing is sourced and manufactured locally in Los Angeles.
Stateside is known for delivering high quality, luxury T-shirts, tops and bottoms. Stateside is primarily a wholesale brand with very limited online revenue. Their T-shirt prices range from $68 to $94, their other tops range from $98 to $130, and their bottoms from $80 to $144.
 
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With our acquisition of Stateside, we view the following as tangible near-term growth opportunities:
•
Increase online revenues significantly as we have spent very little resources on developing their online sales opportunity from the website optimization to photography to email marketing to online advertising to digital customer acquisition and retention.
​
•
Increase gross margins by ordering larger quantities as we pay meaningful upcharges for minimum order quantities.
​
•
Launch new product categories for Fall 2022 in women’s knits and wovens in the top category and women’s wovens in the bottom category. We believe knits and wovens tops are one of the larger product categories in womenswear, with higher price points and dollar profit.
​
Sales and Distribution
DSTLD products have historically been sold solely direct-to-consumer, via our website. We started offering DSTLD products through a wholesale channel in October 2020. We intend to leverage the Bailey sales force to sell DSTLD products into their select independent boutiques and select department stores. We believe that we can increase the brand awareness, new customer acquisition and revenue by leveraging the Bailey independent boutiques. We will start selling old season stock through selected off-price retailers, with additional sales expected to be generated through specifically-cut product for select off-price retailers.
Bailey products are distributed through wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. The wholesale channel includes premium department stores, select independent boutiques and third-party online stores. H&J products are currently sold solely through direct-to-consumer, via their three showrooms. The three showrooms are located in Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. We expect to open additional showrooms in the future. We believe that we can sell our other menswear products and brands in the H&J showrooms. Since all the product is custom made, there is no old stock to sell off.
Stateside products are distributed through wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.
As of December 31, 2021, our products are distributed through 75+ doors at major department stores, over 350 points of sale at boutique stores and several major e-commerce multi-brand platform wholesale customers.
We do not have material terms or arrangements with our third-party distributors. As is customary in the wholesale side of the retail apparel industry, we work with the wholesale buyers for every product collection and season to develop a purchase order based on quantities, pricing, profit margin and any future mark- down agreements. Historically, these factors are driven by the wholesale buyer’s belief of how well they think the product will sell at their stores. For example, if the collection is considered very strong by the wholesale buyer, we usually achieve higher quantities, higher margins and lower future markdown guarantees. Conversely, when the wholesale buyer considers the collection to be weak, we experience lower quantities, lower margins and higher mark-down guarantees.
Our direct-to-consumer channels include our own website. Old season stock is sold through selected off- price retailers, with additional sales generated through specifically-cut product for select off-price retailers.
All of our DSTLD, Bailey and Stateside sellable product is stored at our corporate warehouse and distribution center in Vernon, CA, which also houses our corporate office. In addition to storing product, we also receive and process new product deliveries, process and ship outbound orders, and process and ship customer returns in this same facility.
All of H&J product is sent directly to the showroom, clothier or customer. They also receive and process new product deliveries, process and ship outbound orders, and process and ship customer returns through their showrooms or clothiers.
We offer free shipping and returns above to all our customers in the United States. We also offer customers the option to upgrade to 2-Day or Overnight Shipping for an additional cost.
 
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Design and Development
Our products are designed at headquarters of each brand, which are in in Los Angeles, CA and Dallas, TX in the top floor of H&J’s showroom. Each brand’s design efforts are supported by well-established product development and production teams. The continued collaboration between design and merchandising ensures it responds to consumer preferences and market trends with new innovative product offerings while maintaining its core fashion foundation. . In-house design and production teams in Los Angeles perform development of the sample line allowing for speed to market, flexibility and quality of fit.
We are engaged in analyzing trends, markets, and social media feedback along with utilizing historical data and industry tools to identify essential styles and proper replenishment timing and quantities.
We hired a new head designer for DSTLD Men’s in December 2019 and contracted with a third-party designer for DSTLD Women’s in June 2020. We also contracted with a third-party designer for Bailey in June 2020.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers to provide our finished products, so we can aggregate pricing power. As we continue to increase our volumes, we will source additional factories to spread out our risks.
While we have developed long-standing relationships with a number of our suppliers and manufacturing sources and take great care to ensure that they share our commitment to quality and ethics, we do not have any long-term term contracts with these parties for the production and supply of our fabrics and products. We require that all of our manufacturers adhere to a vendor code of ethics regarding social and environmental sustainability practices. Our product quality and sustainability team partners with leading inspection and verification firms to closely monitor each supplier’s compliance with applicable laws and our vendor code of ethics.
Currently, our Bailey, DSTLD and Stateside products are shipped from our suppliers to our distribution center in Vernon, CA which currently handles all our warehousing, fulfillment, outbound shipping and returns processing. Our Sundry products will be shipped from our suppliers to our distribution center in Los Angeles, CA which will handle all our warehousing, fulfillment, outbound shipping and returns processing. In 2022, we will review maintaining our own distribution centers versus using a third-party solution.
For Harper & Jones, finished product is shipped to either the Company’s headquarters in Dallas Texas, or directly to one of their showroom locations.
Product Suppliers: Sourcing and Manufacturing
We work with a variety of apparel manufacturers in North America, Asia and Europe. We only work with full package suppliers, which supply fabric, trims, along with cut/sew/wash services, only invoicing us for the final full cost of each garment. This allows us the ability to maximize cash flows and optimize operations. We do not have long-term written contracts with manufacturers, though we have long-standing relationships with a diverse base of vendors.
We do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities and rely solely on third-party contract manufacturers operating primarily in Europe, United States, and the Asia Pacific region for the production of our products depending on the brand. All of our contract manufacturers are evaluated for quality systems, social compliance and financial strength by our internal teams prior to being selected and on an ongoing basis. Where appropriate, we strive to qualify multiple manufacturers for particular product types and fabrications.
All of our garments are produced according to each brand’s specifications, and requires that all of manufacturers adhere to strict regulatory compliance and standards of conduct. The vendors’ factories are monitored by each brand’s production team to ensure quality control, and they are monitored by independent third-party inspectors we employ for compliance with local manufacturing standards and regulations on an annual basis. We also monitor our vendors’ manufacturing facilities regularly, providing technical assistance and performing in-line and final audits to ensure the highest possible quality.
 
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We source our products from a variety of domestic and international manufacturers. When deciding which factory to source a specific product from, we take into account the following factors:
•
Cost of garment
​
•
Retail price for end consumer
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•
Production time
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•
Minimum order quantity
​
•
Shipping/delivery time
​
•
Payment terms
​
By taking all of these into consideration, we can focus on making sure we have access to in-demand and high quality products available for sale to our customer at the competitive price points and sustainable margins for our business.
Marketing
We believe marketing is a critical element in creating brand awareness and an emotional connection, as well as driving new customer acquisition and retention. Each brand has their own in-house marketing department, which creates and produces marketing initiatives specific to each marketing channel and based on the specific purpose, such as acquisition, retention or brand building. We also have an in-house marketing team at the DBG portfolio level, which reviews these brand initiatives, develops and helps initiate cross merchandising strategies, manages the data analytics and negotiates contracts using all our brands to lower the cost.
Our goal at the brand and the portfolio level is to increase brand awareness and reach, customer engagement, increase new customer conversion and repurchase rates and average order size. We utilize a multi-pronged marketing strategy to connect with our customers and drive traffic to our online platform, comprised of the following:
Customer Acquisition Marketing
Paid Social Media Marketing:   This is our primary customer acquisition channel, and it is composed almost entirely of paid Facebook and Instagram marketing. We believe our core customers rely on the opinions of their peers, often expressed through social media, Social media platforms are viral marketing platforms that allow our brands to communicate directly with our customers while also allowing customers to interact with us and provide feedback on our products and service. We make regular posts highlighting new products, brand stories, and other topics and images we deem “on brand”. By being a verified brand, our followers can shop products directly from our posts. We are also able to link to products in the stories feature.
Affiliate Marketing:   With select online publications and influencers, we’ve sought to establish CPA or revenue sharing agreements. We believe these agreements are effective in incentivizing influencers or media to push our product and allowing us to only pay partners based on performance.
Email Marketing:   We utilize email marketing to build awareness and drive repeat purchases. We believe this can be the most personalized customer communication channel for our brands, and therefore should continue to be one of our highest performing channels. We use an email service provider that enables us to send out a variety of promotional, transactional, and retargeting emails, with the main goal of driving increased site traffic and purchases. We maintain a database through which we track and utilize key metrics such as customer acquisition cost, lifetime value per customer, cost per impression and cost per click.
Retargeting:    We engage the services of certain retargeting engines that allow us to dynamically target our visitors on third-party websites via banner/content ads.
Content Marketing:   We use content marketing platforms that allow us to serve up native ads in the form of articles promoting our brand story and specific products.
 
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Search Engine Optimization:   This is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to our website by increasing our rankings in the search results on internet search engines. This is done by optimizing our onsite content, by making sure our pages, titles, tags, links, and blog content is structured to increase our search results on certain keywords, and our offsite content, which is the number of external websites linking to our website, usually through press articles and other advertising channels.
Print Advertising:   We also intend to utilize print advertisements in magazines or billboards in major metropolitan areas to drive increased site traffic and brand awareness.
Video / Blog Content:   We plan to offer videos and blog posts as a way to engage and educate the customer on our brands, how to wear different looks and styles, and create confidence and trust between our brands and customers. Videos and blog posts will include interviews with our designers, a behind-the- scenes look at how products are made, features of other artists or creatives, and photo shoots.
Retail Stores:   We have successfully tested retail “pop ups” in the past. These “pop ups” have resulted in higher average order value, significantly lower customer returns (even when the retail customer orders online at a later date), and higher repurchase rate and annual spend. We view these retail locations as a marketing strategy, similar to allocating funds towards digital/online marketing. We expect our pop ups to generate a small to break even profit, which is more than offset by any potential marketing costs to acquire those customers in another marketing channel.
As we grow the entire DBG portfolio, we will test “pop up” locations for specific brands, and also develop a multi-line pop up that incorporate our other brands into the “pop-up”. We believe this strategy should be cost effective given the number of store closures from COVID-19. We will determine whether a “pop up” or wholesale specialty boutique is the better option for each market and brand.
Instagram and Influencer Marketing
Instagram and influencer marketing is one of our largest initiatives. On a weekly basis, we reach out to and receive requests from tastemakers in fashion, lifestyle, and photography. We have developed a certain set of criteria for working with influencers (for example, engagement level, aesthetic, audience demographic) that have enabled us to garner impactful impressions. Our focus is not on the size of an account, but on creating organic relationships with influencers who are excited to tell our story. While most of our collaborations are compensated solely through product gifts, we also offer an affiliate commission of up to 20% through the influencer platform reward Style, which is the parent company of LiketoKnow.it, the first influencer platform to make Instagram shoppable (users receive an email directly to their inbox with complete outfit details when they “Like” a photo with LiketoKnow.it technology).
Retail Locations
Currently, H&J has three showrooms located in Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. We plan to selectively open a number of selected additional H&J showrooms. We will also test opening a men’s multi-line showroom next to our H&J showrooms.
At the time of acquisition, Bailey 44 operated three retail locations in Southern California. All three locations were shut down in 2020 due to declining revenue and profitability.
Public Relations
To generate ongoing organic and word-of-mouth awareness, we intend to work with print and online media outlets to announce new products and develop timely news stories. We are in contact with leading fashion, business, and tech writers in order to capitalize on celebrity fashion features, e-commerce trend pieces, or general brand awareness articles. We may utilize outside agencies from time to time. We plan to visit the major fashion, tech, and news outlets in New York City on a quarterly basis to keep them up to date on our latest launches and any relevant company developments. We also plan to host local Los Angeles press at our office space.
 
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Celebrity gifting
We approach celebrity gifting in a strategic, discerning manner. We have longstanding, personal relationships with the industries top stylists; we do not send clothing blindly or unsolicited. We have successfully placed clothing (and as a result, fashion press) on a number of well-known A-list celebrities.
Loyalty Program
We plan to develop and launch a company-wide loyalty program, which would include all our brands. Our customer loyalty program will be designed to engage and reward our customers in a direct and targeted manner, and to cross merchandise our portfolio brands to our customers. Customers will earn reward points that can be used to purchase products. We will also use loyalty point multipliers to create customer purchases, especially, which is a strategy beauty retailers have effectively used.
Competition
Our business depends on our ability to create consumer demand for our brands and products. We believe we are well-positioned to compete in the apparel, leather products and accessories segments by developing high quality, well designed products at competitive prices that are often below our competitor’s pricing. We focus on designing products that we hope exceed consumer expectations, which should result in retention and repurchases. We will invest in cross merchandising brands to customers through customized customer communications and personalized styles and looks utilizing products across all our portfolio brands, which we believe creates a competitive advantage for our brands versus single brands. As noted above, each of our brands has different competitors depending on product, quality and price point.
Government Regulation
Our business is subject to a number of domestic and foreign laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet, many of which are still evolving and could be interpreted in ways that could harm our business. These laws and regulations include federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations, which address, among other things, the privacy and security of consumer information, sending of commercial email, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Under applicable federal and state laws and regulations addressing privacy and data security, we must provide notice to consumers of our policies with respect to the collection and use of personal information, and our sharing of personal information with third parties, and notice of any changes to our data handling practices. In some instances, we may be obligated to give customers the right to prevent sharing of their personal information with third parties. Under applicable federal and state laws, we also are required to adhere to a number of requirements when sending commercial email to consumers, including identifying advertising and promotional emails as such, ensuring that subject lines are not deceptive, giving consumers an opportunity to opt-out of further communications and clearly disclosing our name and physical address in each commercial email. Regulation of privacy and data security matters is an evolving area, with new laws and regulations enacted frequently. For example, California recently enacted legislation that, among other things, will require new disclosures to California consumers, and afford such consumers new abilities to opt out of certain sales of personal information.. In addition, under applicable federal and state unfair competition laws, including the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, regulations, we must, and our network of influencers may be required to, accurately identify product offerings, not make misleading claims on our websites or in advertising, and use qualifying disclosures where and when appropriate. The growth and demand for eCommerce could result in more stringent domestic and foreign consumer protection laws that impose additional compliance burdens on companies that transact substantial business on the Internet.
Our international business is subject to additional laws and regulations, including restrictions on imports from, exports to, and services provided to persons located in certain countries and territories, as well as foreign laws and regulations addressing topics such as advertising and marketing practices, customs duties and taxes, privacy, data protection, information security and consumer rights, any of which might apply by virtue of our operations in foreign countries and territories or our contacts with consumers in such foreign countries and territories. Many foreign jurisdictions have laws, regulations, or other requirements
 
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relating to privacy, data protection, and consumer protection, and countries and territories are adopting new legislation or other obligations with increasing frequency.
In many jurisdictions, there is great uncertainty whether or how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, libel and personal privacy apply to the Internet and eCommerce. New legislation or regulation, the application of laws and regulations from jurisdictions whose laws do not currently apply to our business or the application of existing laws and regulations to the Internet and eCommerce could result in significant additional obligations on our business or may necessitate changes to our business practices. These obligations or required changes could have an adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations. Further, any actual or alleged failure to comply with any of these laws or regulations by us, our vendors or our network of influencers could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defending against proceedings or investigations, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of customers and suppliers and may result in the imposition of monetary penalties.
Facilities
We currently lease approximately 57,398 square feet of office and showroom spaces in the states of California, Dallas, Texas and Louisiana, United States, with leases that expire through 2023. We believe that our existing facilities, will be sufficient for our needs for the foreseeable future.
The following table sets forth information with respect to our facilities:
Location
​ ​
Type
​ ​
Square
Footage
(approximate)
​ ​
Lease
Expiration
​
Vernon, California
​ ​
Corporate Warehouse and Distribution Center
​ ​ ​ ​ 42,206 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​
Los Angeles, California
​ ​ Showroom ​ ​ ​ ​ 2,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2020(1) ​ ​
Los Angeles, California
​ ​ Stateside Office ​ ​ ​ ​ 7,700 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2022 ​ ​
Austin, Texas
​ ​ Interim Corporate Headquarters ​ ​ ​ ​ 500 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2021(2) ​ ​
Dallas, Texas
​ ​ Office Space and Showroom ​ ​ ​ ​ 2,860 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2022 ​ ​
Houston, Texas
​ ​ Showroom ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,117 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2021(3) ​ ​
New Orleans, Louisiana
​ ​ Showroom ​ ​ ​ ​ 1,015 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2021(4) ​ ​
​
(1)
Bailey’s lease for its showroom in Los Angeles, California expired on May 31, 2020. The lease is now a month-to-month lease.
​
(2)
We are currently leveraging shared office space and working remotely as we work with an agent to secure long-term office space in Austin, TX for our corporate headquarters.
​
Employees
As of March 31, 2022, we had 58 employees, all of whom were full-time employees. We believe our relationship with our employees is good. None of our employees are currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have had no labor-related work stoppages and we believe our relationship with our employees is strong.
Litigation
We are currently involved in, and may in the future be involved in, legal proceedings, claims, and government investigations in the ordinary course of business. These include proceedings, claims, and investigations relating to, among other things, regulatory matters, commercial matters, intellectual property, competition, tax, employment, pricing, discrimination, consumer rights, personal injury, and property rights. These matters also include the following:
•
On February 28, 2020, a Company vendor filed a lawsuit against the Company’s non-payment of trade payables totaling $123,000. Such amounts, including expected interest, are included in accounts
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payable in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the Company does not believe it is probable that losses in excess of such trade payables will be incurred. The Company is actively working to resolve this matter.
•
On March 25, 2020, a Bailey’s product vendor filed a lawsuit against Bailey for non-payment of trade payables totaling $492,390. Approximately the same amount is held in accounts payable for this vendor in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the Company does not believe it is probable that losses in excess of such trade payables will be incurred. The Company and product vendor have entered into a settlement, which require the Company make ten monthly payments of approximately $37,000, the initial payment of which commenced in May 2021. Upon completion of the payment schedule, any remaining amounts will be forgiven. If the Company fails to meet its obligations based on the prescribed time frame, the full amount will be due with interest, less payments made.
​
•
On December 21, 2020, a Company investor filed a lawsuit against DBG for reimbursement of their investment totaling $100,000. Claimed amounts are included in short-term convertible note payable in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the Company does not believe it is probable that losses in excess of such short-term note payable will be incurred. The Company is actively working to resolve this matter.
​
•
In August 2020 and March 2021, two lawsuits were filed against Bailey’s by third-party’s related to prior services rendered. The claims (including fines, fees, and legal expenses) total an aggregate of $96,900. One matter was settled in February 2022 and the other matter is being actively worked on to achieve settlement.
​
•
On September 24, 2020 a Bailey’s product vendor filed a lawsuit against Bailey’s non-payment of trade payables totaling approximately $481,000 and additional damages of approximately $296,000. Claimed amounts for trade payables are included in accounts payable in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, net of payments made. In December 2021, the Company reached a settlement; however, the settlement terms were not met and the Company received a judgement of $469,000.
​
Depending on the nature of the proceeding, claim, or investigation, we may be subject to monetary damage awards, fines, penalties, or injunctive orders. Furthermore, the outcome of these matters could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The outcomes of legal proceedings, claims, and government investigations are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant judgment to determine the likelihood and amount of loss related to such matters. While it is not possible to determine the outcomes, we believe based on our current knowledge that the resolution of all such pending matters will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition.
 
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MANAGEMENT
Executive Officers and Directors
The following table sets forth certain information with respect to our executive officers and directors as of March 31, 2022.
Name
​ ​
Age
​ ​
Position
​
Executive Officers and Directors ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
John “Hil” Davis
​ ​ 49 ​ ​ President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director ​
Laura Dowling
​ ​ 42 ​ ​ Chief Marketing Officer ​
Reid Yeoman
​ ​ 39 ​ ​ Chief Financial Officer ​
Mark T. Lynn
​ ​ 37 ​ ​ Director ​
Trevor Pettennude
​ ​ 54 ​ ​ Director ​
Jameeka Aaron
​ ​ 41 ​ ​ Director ​
Huong “Lucy” Doan
​ ​ 53 ​ ​ Director ​
Board Composition
Our board of directors may establish the authorized number of directors from time to time by resolution.
No current or pending member of our board of directors or Compensation Committee serves as a member of the board of directors or the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving as a member of our board of directors or Compensation Committee.
Executive Officers
John Hilburn Davis IV, “Hil”, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since March 2019 and a Director since November 2020.He joined DSLTD to overhaul its supply chain in March 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Davis founded two companies, BeautyKind and J.Hilburn. He founded and was CEO of BeautyKind from October 2013 to January 2018. He also founded and was CEO of J.Hilburn from January 2007 to September 2013, growing it from $0 to $55 million in revenues in six years. From 1998 to 2006 Mr. Davis worked as an equity research analyst covering consumer luxury publicly traded companies at Thomas Weisel Partners, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Citadel Investment Group. He graduated from Rhodes College in 1995 with a BA in Sociology and Anthropology. On December 16, 2021, Mr. Davis filed for personal bankruptcy through the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Texas federal court.
Laura Dowling has served as our Chief Marketing Officer since February 2019. Prior to that she was the Divisional Vice President of Marketing & PR, North America at Coach from February 2016 to August 2018. At Coach Ms. Dowling led a team of 25 and was held accountable for $45 million profit and loss. From August 2011 to February 2016, she was the Director of Marketing & PR at Harry Winston and from March 2009 to August 2011 she was the Director of Wholesale Marketing at Ralph Lauren. Ms. Dowling holds both a Masters degree (2002) and Bachelors degree (2001) in Communications & Media Studies with a Minor in French from Fordham University.
Reid Yeoman has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2019. Mr. Yeoman is a finance professional with a core Financial Planning & Analysis background at major multi-national Fortune 500 companies — including Nike & Qualcomm. He has a proven track record of driving growth and expanding profitability with retail. From November 2017 to September 2019, Mr. Yeoman served as CFO/ COO at Hurley — a standalone global brand within the Nike portfolio — where he managed the full profit and loss/Balance Sheet, reporting directly to Nike and oversaw the brand’s logistics and operations. He is a native Californian and graduated with an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 2013 and a BA from UC Santa Barbara in 2004.
 
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Nonemployee Board Members
Mark T. Lynn has been a director of our company since inception and serve as our Co-Chief Executive Officer from September 2013 to the October 2018. Prior to joining us, until September 2011 he was Co-Founder of WINC, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce company which was then the fastest growing winery in the world, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners. Prior to Club W, Mr. Lynn co-founded a digital payments company that was sold in 2011. He holds a digital marketing certificate from Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Program. Mr. Lynn’s extensive corporate and leadership experience qualifies him to serve on our board of directors.
Trevor Pettennude is a seasoned financial services executive. In 2013, Mr. Pettennude became the CEO of 360 Mortgage Group, where he oversees a team of 70 people generating over $1 billion of annual loan volume. He is also the founder and principal of Banctek Solutions, a global merchant service company which was launched in 2009 and which processes over $300 million of volume annually. Mr. Pettennude’s extensive corporate and leadership experience qualifies him to serve on our board of directors.
Jameeka Green Aaron became a director of our company in May 2021. Ms. Aaron is the Chief Information Security Officer at Auth0. Ms Aaron is responsible for the holistic security and compliance of Auth0’s platform, products, and corporate environment. Auth0 provides a platform to authenticate, authorize, and secure access for applications, devices, and users. Prior to her current role Ms. Aaron was the Chief Information Officer Westcoast Operations at United Legwear and Apparel. Her 20+ years of experience include serving as the Director of North American Technology and Director of Secure Code and Identity and Access Management at Nike, and as Chief of Staff to the CIO of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Ms. Aaron is also a 9-year veteran of the United States Navy. Ms. Aaron’s dedication to service has extended beyond her military career. She is committed to advancing women and people of color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields she is an alumni of the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen program and the National Urban League of Young Professionals. Ms. Aaron currently sits on the board of the California Women Veterans Leadership Council, is an advisor for U.C. Riverside Design Thinking Program, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Born in Stockton, California, Ms. Aaron holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Ms. Aaron’s extensive corporate and leadership experience qualifies her to serve on our board of directors.
Huong “Lucy” Doan became a director of our company in December 2021. Ms. Doan is a seasoned finance and strategy executive who brings expertise working with some of the world’s best-known brands. Since 2018, Ms. Doan serves as advisor to CEOs and founders of high-growth DTC, ecommerce and retail brands, in apparel and consumer products. In this capacity, she provides strategic guidance to successfully scale businesses while driving profitability, with focus on operational excellence and capital resource planning. In 2019, she became a board member of Grunt Style, a patriotic apparel brand. Prior, Ms. Doan spent 20 years in senior executive roles at Guitar Center, Herbalife International, Drapers & Damons, and Fox Television, where she built high performance teams to drive execution of business plans and growth strategies. Ms. Doan’s extensive corporate and leadership experience qualifies her to serve on our board of directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, each of which operates pursuant to a charter adopted by our board of directors. The board of directors may also establish other committees from time to time to assist our company and the board of directors. The composition and functioning of all of our committees will comply with all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, NasdaqCM and SEC rules and regulations, if applicable. Each committee’s charter is available on our website at www.digitalbrandsgroup.co. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained at or available through our website, and you should not consider it to be part of this prospectus.
Audit committee
Trevor Pettennude, Jameeka Green Aaron and Hong Doan serve on the audit committee, which is chaired by Trevor Pettennude. Our board of directors has determined that each are “independent” for audit
 
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committee purposes as that term is defined by the rules of the SEC and NasdaqCM, and that each has sufficient knowledge in financial and auditing matters to serve on the audit committee. Our Board of directors has designated Trevor Pettennude as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under the applicable rules of the SEC. The audit committee’s responsibilities include:
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appointing, approving the compensation of, and assessing the independence of our independent registered public accounting firm;
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•
pre-approving auditing and permissible non-audit services, and the terms of such services, to be provided by our independent registered public accounting firm;
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reviewing the overall audit plan with our independent registered public accounting firm and members of management responsible for preparing our financial statements;
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•
reviewing and discussing with management and our independent registered public accounting firm our annual and quarterly financial statements and related disclosures as well as critical accounting policies and practices used by us;
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•
coordinating the oversight and reviewing the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting;
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•
establishing policies and procedures for the receipt and retention of accounting-related complaints and concerns;
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•
recommending, based upon the audit committee’s review and discussions with management and our independent registered public accounting firm, whether our audited financial statements shall be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K;
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•
monitoring the integrity of our financial statements and our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements as they relate to our financial statements and accounting matters;
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•
preparing the audit committee report required by SEC rules to be included in our annual proxy statement;
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•
reviewing all related person transactions for potential conflict of interest situations and approving all such transactions; and
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•
reviewing quarterly earnings releases.
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Compensation committee
Trevor Pettennude, Jameeka Green Aaron and Hong Doanserve on the compensation committee, which is chaired by Jameeka Green Aaron. Our board of directors has determined that each member of the compensation committee is “independent” as defined in the applicable NasdaqCM rules. The compensation committee’s responsibilities include:
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annually reviewing and recommending to the board of directors the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of our Chief Executive Officer;
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•
evaluating the performance of our Chief Executive Officer in light of such corporate goals and objectives and based on such evaluation: (i) recommending to the board of directors the cash compensation of our Chief Executive Officer, and (ii) reviewing and approving grants and awards to our Chief Executive Officer under equity-based plans;
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reviewing and recommending to the board of directors the cash compensation of our other executive officers;
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•
reviewing and establishing our overall management compensation, philosophy and policy;
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•
overseeing and administering our compensation and similar plans;
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reviewing and approving the retention or termination of any consulting firm or outside advisor to assist in the evaluation of compensation matters and evaluating and assessing potential and current compensation advisors in accordance with the independence standards identified in the applicable NasdaqCM rules;
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•
retaining and approving the compensation of any compensation advisors;
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reviewing and approving our policies and procedures for the grant of equity-based awards;
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reviewing and recommending to the board of directors the compensation of our directors; and
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preparing the compensation committee report required by SEC rules, if and when required, to be included in our annual proxy statement.
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None of the members of our compensation committee has at any time during the prior three years been one of our officers or employees. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past fiscal year has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors or compensation committee.
Nominating and corporate governance committee
Trevor Pettennude, Jameeka Green Aaron and Hong Doan serve on the nominating and corporate governance committee, which is chaired by Hong Doan. Our board of directors has determined that each member of the nominating and corporate governance committee is “independent” as defined in the applicable NasdaqCM rules. The nominating and corporate governance committee’s responsibilities include:
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developing and recommending to the board of directors’ criteria for board and committee membership;
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establishing procedures for identifying and evaluating board of director candidates, including nominees recommended by stockholders; and
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reviewing the composition of the board of directors to ensure that it is composed of members containing the appropriate skills and expertise to advise us.
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Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
There are no legal proceedings that have occurred within the past ten years concerning our directors, or control persons which involved a criminal conviction, a criminal proceeding, an administrative or civil proceeding limiting one’s participation in the securities or banking industries, or a finding of securities or commodities law violations.
On December 16, 2021, Mr. Davis filed for personal bankruptcy through the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Texas federal court. Except for Mr. Davis, none of our directors and officers has been affiliated with any company that has filed for bankruptcy within the last ten years. We are not aware of any proceedings to which any of our officers or directors, or any associate of any such officer or director, is a party adverse to us or any of our or has a material interest adverse to us or any of our subsidiaries.
 
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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation of Named Executive Officers
The summary compensation table below shows certain compensation information for services rendered in all capacities for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Other than as set forth herein, no executive officer’s salary and bonus exceeded $100,000 in any of the applicable years. The following information includes the dollar value of base salaries, bonus awards, the number of stock options granted and certain other compensation, if any, whether paid or deferred.
Name and Principal Position
​ ​
Fiscal
Year
​ ​
Salary(1)
​ ​
Bonus
​ ​
Option
Awards
​ ​
All Other
Compensation(2)
​ ​
Total
​
John “Hil” Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer
​ ​ ​ ​ 2021 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 350,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 3,704,483 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 233,184 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 4,287,667 ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2020 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 222,500 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 222,500 ​ ​
Laura Dowling, Chief Marketing Officer
​ ​ ​ ​ 2021 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 300,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 691,135 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 991,135 ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2020 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 258,231 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 258,231 ​ ​
Reid Yeoman, Chief Financial
Officer
​ ​ ​ ​ 2021 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 250,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 176,623 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 426,623 ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2020 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 225,000 ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ — ​ ​ ​ ​ $ 225,000 ​ ​
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(1)
2021 salaries represent gross pay per the respective employment contracts, not actual salaries paid to officer during 2021.
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(2)
Upon closing of the IPO, 127,278 shares of common stock were issued to the CEO as conversion of an outstanding note payable and related accrued interest, accrued compensation and other consideration. As of a result of the transaction, the Company recorded an additional $233,184 in stock compensation expense, which is included in general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.
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Employment Agreements
In December 2020, we entered into an offer letter with Mr. Davis, our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board. The offer letter provides for an annual base salary of $350,000 effective October 1, 2020, and for Mr. Davis to be appointed to our board effective November 30, 2020. Effective January 1, 2021, Mr. Davis is also eligible to receive an annual bonus with a target of 175%, and with a range from 0% to a maximum of 225%, of his base salary based upon achievement of Company and individual goals. He is also eligible to participate in employee benefit plans that we offer to our other senior executives. In the event of a termination of his employment after June 30, 2021, Mr. Davis is eligible for severance benefits as may be approved by the Board. Mr. Davis is subject to our recoupment, insider trading and other company policies, a perpetual non-disclosure of confidential information covenant, a non-disparagement covenant and a non-solicitation of employees covenant. Mr. Davis’ offer letter also provided for an option grant exercisable for up to 2,144,000 shares of our common stock to him at a per share exercise price equal to the IPO price, of which 75% of the options vested on the effective date of the IPO and 25% of the options vest in accordance with the vesting schedule provided in the Company’s 2020 Stock Plan. Mr. Davis is an at- will employee and does not have a fixed employment term.
In December 2020, we entered into an offer letter with Ms. Dowling, our Chief Marketing Officer. The offer letter provides for an annual base salary of $300,000 effective upon the closing of the IPO. Effective January 1, 2021, Ms. Dowling is also eligible to receive an annual bonus with a target of 100%, and with a range from 0% to a maximum of 125%, of her base salary based upon achievement of Company and individual goals. She is also eligible to participate in employee benefit plans that we offer to our other senior executives. In the event of a termination of her employment after June 30, 2021, Ms. Dowling is eligible for severance benefits as may be approved by the Board. Ms. Dowling is subject to our recoupment, insider trading and other company policies, a perpetual non-disclosure of confidential information covenant, a non- disparagement covenant and a non-solicitation of employees covenant. Ms. Dowling’s offer letter also
 
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provided for an option grant exercisable for up to 288,000 shares of our common stock to her at a per share exercise price equal to the IPO price, of which 75% of the options vested on the effective date of the IPO and 25% of the options vest in accordance with the vesting schedule provided in the Company’s 2020 Stock Plan. Ms. Dowling is an at-will employee and does not have a fixed employment term.
In December 2020, we entered into an offer letter with Mr. Yeoman, our Chief Financial Officer. The offer letter provides for an annual base salary of $250,000 effective upon the closing of the IPO. Effective January 1, 2021, Mr. Yeoman is also eligible to receive an annual bonus with a target of 50%, and with a range from 0% to a maximum of 75%, of his base salary based upon achievement of Company and individual goals. He is also eligible to participate in employee benefit plans that we offer to our other senior executives. In the event of a termination of his employment after June 30, 2021, Mr. Yeoman is eligible for severance benefits as may be approved by the Board. Mr. Yeoman is subject to our recoupment, insider trading and other company policies, a perpetual non-disclosure of confidential information covenant, a non- disparagement covenant and a non-solicitation of employees covenant. Mr. Yeoman’s offer letter also provided for an option grant 128,000 shares of our common stock to him at a per share exercise price equal to the IPO price, of which 75% of the options vested on the effective date of the IPO and 25% of the options vest in accordance with the vesting schedule provided in the Company’s 2020 Stock Plan. Mr. Yeoman is an at-will employee and does not have a fixed employment term.
Compensation of Directors
No obligations with respect to compensation for non-employee directors have been accrued or paid for any periods presented in this Prospectus.
Going forward, our board of directors believes that attracting and retaining qualified non-employee directors will be critical to the future value growth and governance of our company. Our board of directors also believes that any compensation package for our non-employee directors should be equity-based to align the interest of these directors with our stockholders. On the effective date of the offering, each of our director nominees will be granted options to purchase 20,000 shares of common stock at a per share exercise price equal to the price of the shares of common stock in this offering. The options will vest over a one year period of time. We may in the future grant additional options to our non-employee directors although there are no current plans to do so. We do not currently intend to provide any cash compensation to our non-employee directors.
Directors who are also our employees will not receive any additional compensation for their service on our board of directors.
2020 Incentive Stock Plan
We have adopted a 2020 Omnibus Incentive Stock Plan (the “2020 Plan”). An aggregate of 3,300,000 shares of our common stock is reserved for issuance and available for awards under the 2020 Plan, including incentive stock options granted under the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan administrator may grant awards to any employee, director, and consultants of the Company and its subsidiaries. To date, 2,732,000 grants have been made under the 2020 Plan and 588,000 shares remain eligible for issuance under the Plan.
The 2020 Plan is currently administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board as the Plan administrator. The 2020 Plan administrator has the authority to determine, within the limits of the express provisions of the 2020 Plan, the individuals to whom awards will be granted, the nature, amount and terms of such awards and the objectives and conditions for earning such awards. The Board may at any time amend or terminate the 2020 Plan, provided that no such action may be taken that adversely affects any rights or obligations with respect to any awards previously made under the 2020 Plan without the consent of the recipient. No awards may be made under the 2020 Plan after the tenth anniversary of its effective date.
Awards under the 2020 Plan may include incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted shares of common stock, restricted stock Units, performance share or Unit awards, other stock-based awards and cash-based incentive awards.
Stock Options
The 2020 Plan administrator may grant to a participant options to purchase our common stock that qualify as incentive stock options for purposes of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code (“incentive
 
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stock options”), options that do not qualify as incentive stock options (“non-qualified stock options”) or a combination thereof. The terms and conditions of stock option grants, including the quantity, price, vesting periods, and other conditions on exercise will be determined by the 2020 Plan administrator. The exercise price for stock options will be determined by the 2020 Plan administrator in its discretion, but non-qualified stock options and incentive stock options may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of one share of our company’s common stock on the date when the stock option is granted. Additionally, in the case of incentive stock options granted to a holder of more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our stock on the date of grant, the exercise price may not be less than 110% of the fair market value of one share of common stock on the date the stock option is granted. Stock options must be exercised within a period fixed by the 2020 Plan administrator that may not exceed ten years from the date of grant, except that in the case of incentive stock options granted to a holder of more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our stock on the date of grant, the exercise period may not exceed five years. At the 2020 Plan administrator’s discretion, payment for shares of common stock on the exercise of stock options may be made in cash, shares of our common stock held by the participant or in any other form of consideration acceptable to the 2020 Plan administrator (including one or more forms of “cashless” or “net” exercise).
Stock Appreciation Rights
The 2020 Plan administrator may grant to a participant an award of SARs, which entitles the participant to receive, upon its exercise, a payment equal to (i) the excess of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the exercise date over the SAR exercise price, times (ii) the number of shares of common stock with respect to which the SAR is exercised. The exercise price for a SAR will be determined by the 2020 Plan administrator in its discretion; provided, however, that in no event shall the exercise price be less than the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant.
Restricted Shares and Restricted Units
The 2020 Plan administrator may award to a participant shares of common stock subject to specified restrictions (“restricted shares”). Restricted shares are subject to forfeiture if the participant does not meet certain conditions such as continued employment over a specified forfeiture period and/or the attainment of specified performance targets over the forfeiture period. The 2020 Plan administrator also may award to a participant Units representing the right to receive shares of common stock in the future subject to the achievement of one or more goals relating to the completion of service by the participant and/or the achievement of performance or other objectives (“restricted Units”). The terms and conditions of restricted share and restricted Unit awards are determined by the 2020 Plan administrator.
Performance Awards
The 2020 Plan administrator may grant performance awards to participants under such terms and conditions as the 2020 Plan administrator deems appropriate. A performance award entitles a participant to receive a payment from us, the amount of which is based upon the attainment of predetermined performance targets over a specified award period. Performance awards may be paid in cash, shares of common stock or a combination thereof, as determined by the 2020 Plan administrator.
Other Stock-Based Awards
The 2020 Plan administrator may grant equity-based or equity-related awards, referred to as “other stock- based awards,” other than options, SARs, restricted shares, restricted Units, or performance awards. The terms and conditions of each other stock-based award will be determined by the 2020 Plan administrator. Payment under any other stock-based awards will be made in common stock or cash, as determined by the 2020 Plan administrator.
Cash-Based Awards
The 2020 Plan administrator may grant cash-based incentive compensation awards, which would include performance-based annual cash incentive compensation to be paid to covered employees. The terms and conditions of each cash-based award will be determined by the 2020 Plan administrator.
 
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2013 Stock Plan
Eligibility and Administration
Our employees, outside directors and consultants are eligible to receive nonstatutory options or the direct award or sale of shares under our 2013 Stock Plan, while only our employees are eligible to receive grants of ISOs under our 2013 Stock Plan. A person who owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our outstanding stock, of the outstanding common stock of our parent or subsidiary, is not eligible for the grant of an ISO unless the exercise prices is at least 110% of the fair market value of a share on the grant date and such ISO is not exercisable after five years from the grant date. The 2013 Stock Plan may be administered by a committee of the board of directors, and if no committee is appointed, then the board of directors. The board of directors has the authority to make all determinations and interpretations under, prescribe all forms for use with, and adopt rules for the administration of, the 2013 Stock Plan, subject to its express terms and conditions.
Shares Available and Termination
In the event that shares previously issued under the 2013 Stock Plan are reacquired, such shares will be added to the available shares for issuance under the 2013 Stock Plan. In the event that shares that would have otherwise been issuable under the 2013 Stock Plan were withheld in payment of the purchase price, exercise price, or withholding taxes, such shares will remain available for issuance under the 2013 Stock Plan. In the event that an outstand option or other right is cancelled or expired, the shares allocable to the unexcised portion of the option or other right will be added to the number of shares available under the 2013 Stock Plan.
The 2013 Stock Plan will terminate automatically 10 years after the later of (i) the date when the board of directors adopted the 2013 Stock Plan or (ii) the date when the board of directors approved the most recent increase in the number of shares reserved under the 2013 Stock Plan that was also approved by our stockholders.
Awards
The 2013 Stock Plan provides for the grant of shares of common stock and options, including ISO intended to qualify under Code Section 422 and nonstatutory options which are not intended to qualify. All awards under the 2013 Stock plan will be det forth in award agreements, which will detail the terms and conditions of the awards, including any applicable vesting and payment terms and post-termination exercise limitations.
As of March 31, 2022, there were options to purchase 1,163,103 shares of our common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $2.82 per share.
Related Person Transactions — Digital Brands Group, Inc.
On May 18, 2021, the effective date of the IPO, we granted stock options to acquire up to an aggregate of 2,672,000 shares to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer at a per share exercise price equal to the initial public offering price of the shares.
Related Person Transactions
DBG uses Banctek Solutions, a registered independent sales organization (ISO) of FirstData as its back- end payment processor. Trevor Pettennude is majority owner of Banctek Solutions. We started to use Banctek Solutions services prior to Mr. Pettennude’s involvements with DBG. Total expenses for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $14,000 and $25,000 respectively, and included in sales and marketing in the consolidated statements of operations.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, due to related parties includes advances from the former officer, Mark Lynn, who also serves as a director, totaling $104,568 and $194,568 respectively, and accrued salary and expense reimbursements of $126,706 and $246,885 respectively, to current officers. Upon closing of the IPO, 25,080 shares of common stock were issued to directors as conversion of balances owed.
 
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The current CEO, Hil Davis, previously advanced funds to the Company for working capital. These prior advances were converted to a note payable totaling $115,000. Upon closing of the IPO, 127,278 shares of common stock were issued to the CEO as conversion of the outstanding note payable and related accrued interest, accrued compensation and other consideration. As of a result of the transaction, the Company recorded an additional $233,184 in stock compensation expense, which is included in general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.
A portion of the net proceeds of the IPO were used to pay salary and expenses to Laura Dowling, our Chief Marketing Officer, and Mark Lynn, a director. In addition, each of Mark Lynn, John “Hil” Davis, and Trevor Pettennude converted certain amounts owed to them into shares of common stock at the effective date of the IPO at a 30% discount to the IPO price as part of the debt conversion.
As of December 31, 2021, H&J had an outstanding note payable of $299,489 owned by the H&J Seller. The note matures on July 10, 2022 and bears interest at 12% per annum.
At the time of the Stateside acquisition, Moise Emquies was a member of the Board of Directors of the Company. The Stateside acquisition was unanimously approved by all of the members of the Company’s Board of Directors (other than Moise Emquies who recused himself).
On August 30, 2021, we entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (the “MIPA”) with Moise Emquies pursuant to which we acquired all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of MOSBEST, LLC, a California limited liability company (“Stateside” and such transaction, the “Stateside Acquisition”). Pursuant to the MIPA, the seller, as the holder of all of the outstanding membership interests of Stateside, exchanged all of such membership interests for $5.0 million in cash and a number of shares of our common stock equal to $5.0 million, or 1,101,538 shares (the “Shares”), which number of Shares was calculated in accordance with the terms of the MIPA. Of such amount, $375,000 in cash and a number of Shares equal to $375,000, or 82,615 shares (calculated in accordance with the terms of the MIPA), is held in escrow to secure any working capital adjustments and indemnification claims.
The Stateside Acquisition closed on August 30, 2021. Upon closing of the Stateside Acquisition and the other transactions contemplated by the MIPA, Stateside became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions
Our board of directors intends to adopt a written related person policy to set forth the policies and procedures for the review and approval or ratification of related person transactions. This policy will cover any transaction, arrangement or relationship, or any series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships in which we are to be a participant, the amount involved exceeds $100,000 and a related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest, including purchases of goods or services by or from the related person or entities in which the related person has a material interest, indebtedness, guarantees of indebtedness and employment by us of a related person.
Director Independence
Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of each director. Based on information provided by each director concerning his or her background, employment and affiliations, our board of directors has determined that Trevor Pettennude, Jameeka Aaron, and Huong “Lucy” Doan, do not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is “independent” as that term is defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non- employee director has with our company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence.
 
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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS
The table below sets forth information regarding the projected beneficial ownership of our common stock immediately after the closing of this offering by the following individuals or groups:
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each person or entity who is known by us to own beneficially more than 5% of our outstanding stock;
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•
each of our executive officers;
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each of our directors and director nominees; and
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all of our directors, director nominees and executive officers as a group.
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Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and generally includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities in question. Except as otherwise indicated, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of our common stock held by them.
Shares of common stock issuable pursuant to a stock option, warrant or convertible note that is currently exercisable or convertible, or is exercisable or convertible within 60 days after the date of determination of ownership, are deemed to be outstanding and beneficially owned for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of the holder of the stock option, warrant or convertible note but are not treated as outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.
The applicable percentage ownership “Before the Offering” in the following table is based on 13,001,690 shares of our common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2021. The applicable percentage ownership “After the Offering” in the following table (i) includes the 36,000,000 shares of our common stock issued in this offering, and (ii) assumes that the underwriters’ over-allotment option will not be exercised. Excludes as of such date:
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Outstanding warrants to acquire up to 3,580,116 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $2.50 and $8.28 expiring between October 2021 and October 2030;
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Outstanding stock options to acquire up to 3,895,103 shares of our common stock at exercise prices between $0.94 and $4.15 expiring between June 2024 and May 2031;
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Up to 4.8 million shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of approximately $9.5 million of convertible notes;
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Up to 5.83 million shares of common stock issuable further to a $17.5 million equity line of credit; and
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568,000 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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Unless otherwise indicated, the address for each officer, director and director nominee in the following table is c/o Digital Brands Group, Inc., 1400 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 787
Name of Beneficial Owner
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Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
Before
Offering
​ ​
Percentage of
Shares
Outstanding
Before
Offering
​ ​
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
After
Offering
​ ​
Percentage of
Shares
Outstanding
After
Offering
​