Andie, the direct-to-consumer swimwear brand, has acquired California-based essentials label, Richer Poorer. The deal marks Andie’s first acquisition and is a major step toward the company’s desire to become a multibrand, multicategory lifestyle business.
Andie, which was founded in 2017 by chief executive officer Melanie Travis, has developed a business of high-quality one-piece suits designed for all body types. Last year, Travis began exploring category expansion into seasonless, everyday apparel that aligned with the brand’s coastal chic aesthetic, and she learned that Richer Poorer, a brand that she had admired, might be open to being sold.
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“When I saw that possibility, it immediately clicked,” Travis said. “I’ve been a longtime fan and customer, and the brand had everything we were envisioning — elevated basics, comfort, wearability and a loyal customer base. It felt like a natural extension of Andie.”
Richer Poorer was founded in 2010 by Iva Pawling and Timothy Morse and became known for its effortless wardrobe stapes. In 2023, the brand was acquired by mall chain Francesca’s. Two years later, Francesca’s was ready to part ways, and Andie stepped up.
With this acquisition, Richer Poorer will now be folded into Andie’s high-performing e-commerce operations, enabling the brand to better leverage data to drive customer acquisition, optimize inventory and accelerate growth.
The price of the acquisition wasn’t disclosed.
Travis emphasized that Richer Poorer will continue to operate as a stand-alone brand, with its identity and product focus intact. “Customers won’t see big changes — we love the brand and the product, and that’s why we bought it. But we’re going to bring fresh energy through a sharper merchandising lens, a best-in-class site experience, fewer stock-outs, and faster fulfillment. What customers love about Richer Poorer will remain, just supported by a stronger operational backbone,” Travis said.
Melanie Travis
As part of the integration, each brand will begin to feature select products from the other on their respective websites. “This isn’t about restructuring — it’s about scaling,” Travis said. “We’ve spent eight years building a lean, powerful operation at Andie. Now we get to apply that model to more than just swim. It’s the next chapter, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Travis said.
Asked what she sees as the synergy between the two brands, Travis said, “Both brands believe in comfort without compromise. Elevated, easy pieces that fit seamlessly into your life — and make you feel good while wearing them.”
She said that what she liked about the Richer Poorer product was that “the quality and design are incredibly thoughtful.
“Their cropped T is one of my go-to staples — it’s perfectly cut, soft and effortlessly cool. Their fleece is also a personal favorite. It’s elevated enough to wear out, and cozy enough to live in. The whole line hits that sweet spot of comfort and wearability that we value at Andie,” Travis said.
While Andie is based in Brooklyn, and Richer Poorer is a California-born brand, they plan to integrate fully with cross-functional teams supporting both brands across coasts. Travis noted that Richer Poorer’s former owner and parent company are no longer involved. “We’ve retained key team members, including the brand director and production manager to ensure continuity in product quality and brand identity,” Travis said.
She noted that Richer Poorer’s pricing, from $40 for T-shirts to $125 for sweaters, “aligns closely with Andie’s, making it a seamless fit our customer.”
Women’s sizes for Richer Poorer range from XS to XL and men’s goes from S to XXL, with several unisex styles. “The brand has offered extended sizing selectively in the past, and we’re excited to expand that even further,” said Travis. She also noted that Andie has focused on women’s, but Richer Poorer does both men’s and women’s “which allows us to thoughtfully enter the men’s category with a brand that’s already established in that space.”
This acquisition reflects a broader trend in the direct-to-consumer space, where consolidation has become a strategic path to scale as brands face rising acquisition costs, fierce competition for consumer attention and mounting pressure for profitability.
“This marks the next phase of growth for Andie. We’ve spent the past eight years building a lean, high-performing business in swimwear — profitable, digitally native and customer-obsessed. Now, we’re taking that proven model and applying it to new categories, starting with Richer Poorer. It’s about scaling smart, staying true to our core values of comfort and confidence and meeting our customer in more moments of her life. This acquisition also lays the foundation for a broader multibrand platform — a vision we’re incredibly excited to build toward,” Travis said.
