Rock and Republic Women's Fashion Brand

Rock & Republic is an American jeans brand founded by Michael Ball in 2002. Ball is a cyclist who gained design experience by creating his cycling team's uniforms. That founding record - a cyclist designing team uniforms, then founding a premium jeans brand in 2002 - explains the brand's angle: denim built around fit and the body in motion, presented with glamour. The brand describes the result in its own words: the Rock & Republic brand is a full lifestyle collection rooted in premium denim, known for its glamorous, edgy styles and quality craftsmanship, and coveted for its fit, distinctive design and quality craftsmanship.

The line of jeans and casual wear called VB Rocks was designed by singer Victoria Beckham - the profile's one collaboration record, and a telling one for a young premium denim label: a celebrity-designed capsule inside the main line. For a women's shopper, the positioning is precise: this is premium denim first - jeans as the root product - with casual wear and a wider lifestyle collection built around it, sold on fit, distinctive design and craftsmanship. No official brand website is listed for this brand.

Chapter 11 in 2010 and the VF Corporation Negotiations

On April 1, 2010, Rock & Republic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. By December 2010, the company had entered into negotiations with VF Corporation to sell the trademark and intellectual property. That dated sequence is the turning point of this brand's story: the independent premium jeans label of 2002 became, in 2010, a trademark and intellectual property asset to be sold. The VF Corporation profile on Apparel Search is among this page's links.

On April 28, 2011, VF Corporation announced it had signed a long-term licensing deal with Kohl's Corporation to carry a budget version of the Rock & Republic brand. In 2012, Kohl's Corporation received exclusive rights to sell all Rock & Republic brand products. The Kohl's Corporation profile is likewise linked from this page. For a shopper, these two facts explain the two eras of the label she may meet: the premium denim of the brand's independent years, and the budget version licensed through Kohl's from 2011 and exclusive to Kohl's from 2012 - same name, different price level and make, distinguished by era and seller.

A Historical Profile: Premium Denim, Then a Licensed Name

Consistent with this directory's rule, a brand whose record includes a bankruptcy and a sale of its trademark stays in the directory as a historical profile, with the record stated plainly - it is not deleted, and its history is not softened. The record here is unusually complete for one page: founded by Michael Ball in 2002; a jeans and casual wear line, VB Rocks, designed by Victoria Beckham; Chapter 11 on April 1, 2010; negotiations with VF Corporation by December 2010; VF's licensing deal with Kohl's announced April 28, 2011; and Kohl's exclusive rights in 2012.

Shopped with that record in mind, a women's buyer checks era before price: independent-era Rock & Republic jeans are the premium denim the brand was coveted for - fit, distinctive design and quality craftsmanship - while later Kohl's-era product is the budget version the licensing deal describes. Labels, seller and construction tell the two apart, and the dates above tell the buyer which she is looking at. That is all this page claims: a glamorous, edgy premium denim brand, rooted in jeans, whose name continued under license after 2011 - that is the brand's story.

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