NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2026--
Centric Brands LLC, a leading global lifestyle brand collective, and Claire’s, a category-defining retailer for teens and tweens at the intersection of jewelry, fashion accessories, and piercing experiences, in partnership with Ames Watson, today announced an exclusive licensing agreement to expand the Claire’s brand into new categories and more than 7,000 additional retail touch points across North America. The partnership represents a key milestone in Ames Watson’s strategy to scale Claire’s beyond its core retail footprint of 900+ owned locations and build a more diversified, multi-channel growth platform.
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Centric Brands will scale Claire's presence across major retail partners including Walmart, Kohl's, and CVS – spanning more than 7,000 retail locations across the United States and Canada. Centric Brands will partner with Claire's to develop an exclusive collection of trend-driven assortments across multiple categories, including Cosmetics, Jewelry, Hair Accessories, Stationery, Bags, and Novelty Items. Additionally, Centric Brands will spearhead expansion into additional retailers and categories across Apparel, Accessories, Home, and Sleepwear.
It opens the door for Centric Brands and Claire's to leverage Centric’s relationships with entertainment studios and other IP holders, bringing co-branded licensed products to shop-in-shop and wholesale channels.
"This partnership marks an important step in Claire’s evolution into a true multi-channel brand platform,” says Lawrence Berger, Co-founder and Partner at Ames Watson. “By expanding our presence beyond our own stores, we’re able to meet consumers wherever they shop, while continuing to invest in the in-store experiences that define the brand, like ear piercing."
“We are proud to partner with Ames Watson and Claire's on this exclusive licensing agreement, which reflects Centric Brands' ability to scale beloved brands across multiple retail channels and categories," said Alex Fogelson, EVP, Division Head at Centric Brands. "We have cherished our long-standing relationship with Claire’s, and we are thrilled to be taking our collaboration to the next level. This partnership will provide more opportunities for consumers to connect with the beloved Claire’s brand across even more retail touchpoints."
The partnership reflects a shared commitment between Centric Brands and Ames Watson to scale Claire's as a multi-channel brand through expanded distribution, strategic licensing partnerships, and consistent brand storytelling across every consumer touchpoint.
About Centric Brands LLC
Centric Brands LLC is a leading global lifestyle brand collective that has unparalleled expertise in product design, development and sourcing, retail and digital commerce, marketing, and brand building. Centric designs, sources, markets, and sells high-quality products in the kids, men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, beauty, and entertainment categories. The Company’s portfolio includes licenses for more than 100 iconic brands, including Calvin Klein®, Tommy Hilfiger®, Nautica®, GAP®, Faherty®, and Under Armour® in the kid’s category; Buffalo®, Hervé Léger®, Joe’s Jeans® and Off-White® in the men’s and women’s apparel category; All Saints®, Coach®, Frye®, Hunter®, Kate Spade®, Michael Kors®, UGG®, and Vince® in the accessories category; and in the Sports & Entertainment category, Disney®, GAME 7®, Marvel®, Messi®, Nickelodeon®, and Warner Brothers® among many others. The Company also owns and operates Avirex®, Fiorelli®, Hudson®, Robert Graham®, Taste Beauty®, and Vingino® and operates joint venture brands; Eastside Golf®, Favorite Daughter®, Jennifer Fisher®, John Elliott®, and Palm Tree Crew®. The Company’s products are sold globally through leading mass-market retailers, specialty and department stores, and online. The Company is headquartered in New York City, with U.S. offices in Los Angeles and Greensboro, and international offices in London, Holland, Montreal, Milan, Toronto, and including 15 sourcing locations throughout Asia. Centric Brands social impact efforts are centered around our commitment to serve and uplift the communities where we live and do business. Through our collective volunteerism and contributions, we are dedicated to making a caring and lasting impact on the world around us.
For more information about Centric Brands, please visit www.centricbrands.com.
About Claire’s
Claire's is a fashion brand with a mission to become an inspiring playground for modern girlhood. With more than 60 years of cultural relevance and over 131 million ears pierced to-date, Claire's is the leading destination for first piercings and the core memories unlocked with these experiences. Today, the brand connects with Claire's girls through trending products, immersive in-store experiences and a strong point of view on what's next - creating a space where individuality shines and memories are made. For more information and to find a store near you, visit claires.com.
About Ames Watson
Founded by Lawrence Berger and Tom Ripley in 2018, Ames Watson is a privately held holding company based in Columbia, Md., which purchases, transforms and partners with companies to create long-term value. Ames Watson has an annual revenue of over $2 billion. Brands owned or invested in by Ames Watson include Claire’s, Lids, LidsU, Champion, South Moon Under, Mitchell & Ness, Ebbets Field, Zygo, Hungry, and Margaux.
Centric Brands and Claire's Announce Strategic Licensing Partnership
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo will open three treatment centers for the Ebola virus in the eastern Ituri province following an outbreak of a variant that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines, as the World Health Organization sent a team of experts and supplies to help combat the spread of the disease.
“We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients,” Samuel Roger Kamba, the Congolese health minister, said during a visit to Bunia, Ituri's capital and largest city, on Sunday. "But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities.”
The WHO declared the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in Congo and two in neighboring Uganda. Although the outbreak is centered in Congo's Ituri, cases have been reported in the capital, Kinshasa, and in Goma, the largest city in the country’s east.
The international health organization warned Monday that the virus is affecting people in conflict-affected areas in Congo, posing an additional risk to health workers.
CBS News reported on Sunday that at least six Americans have been exposed to the Ebola virus in Congo, citing anonymous sources in international aid organizations. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify this information.
U.S. health officials said Sunday the risk to Americans was low, but did not directly answer questions about whether any Americans may have been exposed to the Ebola virus in Africa.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued travel advisories on Friday, urging Americans traveling in Congo and Uganda to avoid people who have symptoms like fever, muscle pain and rash. The CDC also said it is “putting in appropriate measures for identifying individuals with any symptoms” at ports of entry.
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no authorized vaccines or treatments. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda since 1976, this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
The U.S. CDC says the Bundibugyo virus causes fever, headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and unexplained bleeding or bruising.
Dr. Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola outbreak responses in Congo, said treatments for viral infections like Ebola are often directed at symptoms.
He said Congo has extensive experience managing Ebola outbreaks, but response efforts could be complicated by the unusual strain.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa wrote Sunday on X that a team of 35 experts from the WHO arrived in Bunia, along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the first cases were reported in Mongwalu health zone, a high-traffic mining area in Ituri.
Ituri is in a remote eastern part of Congo, with poor road networks, and is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nation’s capital, Kinshasa. Eastern Congo has been grappling with a humanitarian crisis even before the new outbreak was confirmed.
The agency said there’s also a risk of further spread due to intense population movement and attacks by armed groups that have killed dozens and displaced thousands in parts of Ituri in the past year.
“The outbreak is currently occurring in provinces marred by crisis, including insecurity, presence of armed actors or de facto authorities with large displacement, weak health systems and insufficient availability of services,” the WHO said on Monday. It added that since January 2025, there have been 44 attacks on health care facilities in Congo and 742 incidents affecting humanitarian workers.
The WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. By the agency's standards, it shows the event is serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a coordinated international response.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, told Sky News on Sunday that he is in “panic mode” due to a lack of medicines and vaccines as deaths rise, but that some candidate treatments were anticipated in the coming weeks.
Rwanda closed its land border with Congo on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said on social media. AP reporters tried to cross the border on Sunday and Monday morning, but were informed it was closed except for holders of international flight tickets. Rwandan authorities have not replied to a request for comment.
The East African Community, a regional bloc that includes Congo, said Monday that the new Ebola outbreak underscores the importance of regional solidarity and preparedness. Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the bloc's deputy secretary-general, said that given the high level of movement of people and goods across the region, coordinated preparedness and rapid information sharing are essential to preventing cross-border transmission.
He added in a statement that the bloc is committed to helping its members strengthen surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control and other efforts, particularly in border areas.
A woman wearing a protective mask sells fruit from a roadside stall in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
People wash their hands at the entrance to a hospital in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/ Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
A general view is seen of Bunia where ebola outbreaks have been confirmed in Ituri province, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/ Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
A woman wearing a protective mask stands in the corridor of a hospital in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/ Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
