Kandui Holdings LLC, established by the founding family of the Hurley surfwear brand, has acquired the outstanding assets and intellectual property of footwear brand Simple from KTSimple LLC.

The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, was conducted through Kandui’s new operating entity Simple Shoes LLC, which will continue all ongoing operations with plans to “enhance and evolve the Simple brand over time”, a statement announcing the transaction said.

Founded in the early 1990s by Eric Meyer, Simple enjoyed growth throughout the early 2000s until the brand went dormant in 2011. In 2015, the Simple trademarks were acquired by industry veteran Denis Ryan who has since revived the brand, running a primarily direct-to-consumer business at simpleshoes.com for the last two years.

Ryan, who also owns ICB, Int’l, a footwear design and development group, will work with the Simple team as both a partner and an owner in Simple Shoes LLC. 

“Simple always had a cool vibe – consumer-focused, no-nonsense, anti-hype way of approaching things. They were way ahead of their time in terms of innovation and sustainable manufacturing practices and prioritised making the right decisions for the benefit of the planet at a time when the masses didn’t necessarily care about lofty concepts like sustainability,” said Jeff Hurley, Kandui co-founder and CEO.

Fellow Kandui co-founder, Bob Hurley, added: “Aside from being a great brand name, Simple always had a clear and differentiated point of view. Simple’s reason for being feels more relevant in today’s mixed up world than ever before.”

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Kandui is working to create a network of brands and services and aims to build long-term brand value for acquired brands, start-ups and other partnerships using its “core competencies in innovation, design, sales, marketing, and operations”, the statement added.