Gordon Brothers of Boston announced the sale of its rights outside the Americas for Bench, the streetwear brand with British origins, to Wraith, an affiliate of Apparel Brands Limited of Manchester that is currently one of Bench’s primary European licensees. The purchase price has not been disclosed. Founded in 2017, Apparel Brands says it has experienced enormous growth in recent years. The company is also a long-time European licensee with several other leading brands including Kangol, Slazenger and Farah. It holds exclusive U.K. licenses with Von Dutch and Dunlop. It has showrooms throughout Europe. Gordon Brothers, an investment firm based in Boston, took over Bench and related intellectual property assets in July 2018, after Bench applied for insolvency. It secured several new partners in categories as diverse as casualwear, handbags, gym equipment and workwear. Most critically, the brand’s positioning was overhauled to highlight the gritty Manchester skate culture of the 1990s. Curiously, the brand was founded in Manchester in 1989 by a company called Americana International, which sold it in 2014 to a German company. It was run for many years by Peter McGuigan, a former top executive of Reebok and former shareholder of Umbro International who subsequently retired.

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