United Legwear & Apparel Co. (ULAC) is expanding its owned brands from one to three with the acquisition of the TicTacToe and Pro Player brands. No financial terms have been disclosed.
The New York City-based company, which designs, manufactures, markets and distributes legwear, bodywear, apparel and accessories, has a joint venture partnership with Puma North America and is a licensee of brands such as Hurley, Skechers, Champion, Fortnite, Weatherproof, Naturalizer and Franco Sarto. ULAC also owns and operates the Fun Socks brand. The company says it manufactures 39 million pairs of socks and 5 million units of underwear per month.
With TicTacToe, a brand of infant, toddler and children’s legwear, accessories and apparel, ULAC aims to offer a top-quality wholly owned brand to its retail partners. TicTacToe has been operating for 30 years, offering merchandise such as infant socks, booties, grip-bottom socks, knee-socks, tights, school uniform legwear, and athletic legwear.
In recent years, ULAC has designed and manufactured two- and three-piece toddler apparel sets and has plans to continue this program under a licensed model. The company is developing a global licensing program for TicTacToe across all categories in the kids’ market, from layette, infant and toddler sets to baby blankets, underwear, toys and more.
ULAC acquired the Pro Player brand from Perry Ellis International Inc., but prior to the acquisition, ULAC served as a brand investor and licensee.
Pro Player sells officially licensed team gear, particularly jackets, across all “big four” American sports leagues, but with ULAC’s investment, the brand expanded its men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel and accessories categories into a more performance-driven direction for the “everyday athlete.” The investment was able to support Pro Player’s highly visible marketing campaigns via signage in the home fields and arenas of the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros and New York Islanders.
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ULAC is developing a global licensing program for Pro Player across all categories in men’s, women’s and children’s sport and lifestyle apparel, accessories and hard goods, such as small exercise and sport equipment.
ULAC’s owned and licensed brands are sold across retail verticals, whether in the mass market, department stores, specialty apparel stores, footwear, e-commerce only, off-price and warehouse clubs.
The long list of ULAC’s partners includes Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Amazon, Revolve, Zappos, Saks Fifth Avenue, Urban Outfitters, Finish Line, Foot Locker, Buckle, DSW, Famous Footwear and Costco.
In 2018, ULAC launched its first a wholly owned and originally created brand, Fun Socks. The brand initially launched with a collection of over 150 women’s and men’s sock styles that are available in over 90 points of global distribution and a direct e-commerce presence, but the website has since closed. With Fun Socks, ULAC donates a new pair of socks for every pair of socks sold.
Fun Socks still operates one store in Manhattan that it opened in May 2018, featuring a full range of men’s and women’s sock styles priced at $10 to $12. Another store, which was located in Venice, Calif., closed down during the Covid-19 pandemic and never reopened.
Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the brand recently got publicity for its collaboration with I am a voter., a nonprofit and nonpartisan public awareness to increase voter turnout during election years. In an Instagram post, Halle Berry wore the socks, which were branded with the organization’s name stitched across a black top strap with semi-sheer fabric beneath.
ULAC has experimented with different ways to expand both its own business and the networks of potential partner brands. In February 2020, ULAC entered into a licensing and shared services agreement with Tall Order, a New York-based men’s socks company that specializes in extended sizes, to improve product and broaden its distribution network. Under the deal, Tall Order continued developing its direct-to-consumer business via tallorder.com and ULAC took on wholesale sales.
As a global entity, ULAC has headquarters in New York City with offices in New Jersey, California, Canada, and Hong Kong, and operates two state-of-the-art fulfillment centers located in New Jersey and California.