Centric Brands, a leading lifestyle brand collective, announced that it has acquired select assets of Fownes Brothers & Co., Inc. (“Fownes Brothers”), including operations, assets, and intellectual property pertaining to the design, development, sourcing, production, sales, and distribution of existing product lines in the cold-weather accessories category.

Fownes Brothers, first established in 1777 as a premier leather glove manufacturer in Worcester, England and family-owned by Tom Gluckman and the Gluckman Family, is a premier importer and distributor of licensed and private label cold-weather accessories with a reputation for craftsmanship, technical expertise, and deep retail partnerships.

Centric Brands has acquired select assets of Fownes Brothers & Co, covering cold-weather accessories operations, intellectual property and sourcing.
The deal adds licences including Ugg, Timberland and Cole Haan, alongside private-label manufacturing for The North Face and Lululemon.
Andrew Gluckman joins as SVP to lead the division, strengthen category leadership and drive scalable, profitable growth.

As part of the acquisition, Centric Brands will assume key licenses including Ugg, Timberland, and Cole Haan, as well as private label manufacturing agreements with The North Face and lululemon. These additions further enhance Centric Brands’ portfolio and strengthen its leadership in the cold-weather accessories market.

Additionally, Andrew Gluckman will join the Centric Brands team as SVP, Division Head Cold-Weather, overseeing the acquired licenses and supporting the continued growth of the broader cold weather accessories division.

“We are excited to welcome Andrew and the Fownes Brothers legacy into Centric Brands,” said Jason Rabin, Chief Executive Officer at Centric Brands. “Our growth strategy is built upon developing powerful, scalable brands across key categories, and this acquisition meaningfully advances that approach. By integrating the Fownes Brothers business into our accessories platform, we are expanding our capabilities, accelerating scale, and positioning the business for sustained, profitable growth.”

“By integrating these world-class licenses and private label relationships into our portfolio—and with Gluckman’s leadership—we are well-positioned to expand our accessories business and deliver innovative, high-quality products to consumers across all retail channels,” said Jarrod Kahn, Group President, Accessories at Centric Brands. “This acquisition strengthens our ability to drive category leadership, optimize sourcing and production, and deliver differentiated product across multiple retail channels.”

“This marks a new chapter for Fownes Brothers,” said Tom Gluckman, co-founder of Fownes Brothers & Co. “Our family is proud of the legacy we have built in cold-weather accessories, and we are thrilled to bring that expertise and our valued partnerships into Centric Brands.”

This acquisition reflects Centric Brands’ strategy of expanding through strategic partnerships and acquisitions whether owned, licensed through Centric Ventures, building best-in-class offerings across key lifestyle categories.

Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)

ICE cotton futures closed higher on Monday after the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report pointed to stable demand alongside a lower production outlook. A weaker US dollar and firmer commodity markets also supported sentiment, as the softer greenback made US cotton more affordable for overseas buyers.

The most actively traded March cotton contract rose 0.50 cents, or 0.78 per cent, to settle at 64.91 cents per pound, marking its second-highest close of the past month. The December-27 contract ended one point lower, while all other contract months gained between two and 59 points.

ICE cotton futures strengthened after the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) cut US and global stocks while keeping demand steady.
A weaker dollar lifted commodity markets, helping cotton hold gains.
March contracts traded near monthly highs, though traders remain cautious as export demand and global consumption trends still lack strong visibility.

Total trading volume reached 72,016 contracts, including 53,794 contracts carried over from Friday. Average daily volume last week was 66,350 contracts, reflecting solid market participation.

The USDA kept US beginning stocks, consumption, exports and imports unchanged, but cut US cotton production by 350,000 bales to 13.92 million bales and reduced US ending stocks by 300,000 bales to 4.2 million bales.

World ending stocks fell by 1.49 million bales, with India’s ending stocks down by 1.2 million bales and Australia’s by 200,000 bales, while China’s ending stocks increased by 500,000 bales.

Market analysts described the report as “friendly”, noting that the 350,000-bale production cut was about double what had been expected and that it was also a surprise that the US export forecast was not reduced. Despite the supportive USDA data, the cotton market continued to show mixed signals, with prices struggling to build strong upward momentum.

The US dollar fell sharply after reports that the US Department of Justice had issued a grand jury subpoena on January 9 and opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over the Federal Reserve headquarters renovation project. As the dollar weakened, commodity markets surged across the board, with gold breaking through a record $4,600 per ounce, NYMEX crude oil climbing to a more than five-week high, and Brent crude closing at a near eight-week high on worries over a possible decline in Iranian exports. Broad-based strength in commodities helped cotton hold on to, and extend, its gains.

This morning, in Indian Standard Time, ICE cotton for March 2026 was settled at 65.10 cents per pound, up 0.19 cent. Cash cotton stood at 62.66 cents, up 0.50 cent, the May 2026 contract at 66.60 cents, up 0.16 cent, the July 2026 contract at 68.01 cents, up 0.15 cent, the October 2026 contract at 68.43 cents, down 0.59 cent, and the December 2026 contract at 69.33 cents, up 0.06 cent. A few contracts remained at their previous closing levels, with no trading recorded so far today.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)