Dive Brief:

• DTC apparel company Entireworld is closing, according to an announcement on its website.

• In an Instagram post on Wednesday, founder and Creative Director Scott Sternberg wrote that the company was about to close on an "acquisition deal that — after years of unsuccessful fundraising — would have finally given us a shot at realizing the financial potential of the brand." The deal did not go through, "giving us no choice" but to shut things down, he wrote.

• The company is conducting a final sale and expects more products to go online over the next two weeks as it liquidates.

Dive Insight:

"Why would I even want to start a clothing brand right now?" Sternberg asked in a 2018 video announcing the launch of his new company, Entireworld. "I mean, aren't there enough brands out there, enough clothes?"

Those questions were at the forefront of reasons Sternberg said Entireworld's operations are closing, namely the need for a financial influx needed to "compete with the countless brands out there." A necessary infusion of cash seems to be what stopped the momentum the company picked up over the past few years.

Because Entireworld provided the right product at the right time. Sternberg, who also founded Band of Outsiders, offered elevated basics for shoppers during the height of the pandemic when people were reaching for sweatsuits, and other cozy apparel while stuck at home.

And sales went well. On March 15, 2020 — when it was clear that the world was about to change — Sternberg sent out a vulnerable message to his company's email subscribers where he asked questions like "Am I sick already? Can I leave my house? What do I tell my employees?" By the end of the day the company had sold over 1,000 sweatsuits, and by the end of March the company's sales were up 662% year over year, according to The New York Times.

That sent the company on a trajectory to become an apparel success story at a time when clothing sales were highly uncertain. But, keeping things going is "complex to maintain once you've built them" and Sternberg said the failure of the acquisition deal left the company's factories adrift and gave the brand no choice but to close.

"It's not all a sob story," Sternberg said. "Despite this nuclear apocalypse of an ending, I'm so proud of the Entireworld team and extended family and the world we built together over the last few years."