VINCE HOLDING CORP. - Annual Report: 2015 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015

Commission File Number: 001-36212

VINCE HOLDING CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

500 5^th Avenue—20th Floor

New York, New York 10110

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

(212) 515-2600

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation of S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes   ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Common Stock held by non-affiliates as of August 2, 2014, the last day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, was approximately $553.1 million based on a closing price per share of $33.16 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on August 1, 2014. As of March 20, 2015, there were 36,748,245 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding.

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the registrant’s 2015 annual meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this annual report on Form 10-K.

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE

On November 27, 2013, Vince Holding Corp. (“VHC” or the “Company”), previously known as Apparel Holding Corp., closed an initial public offering (“IPO”) of its common stock and completed a series of restructuring transactions (the “Restructuring Transactions”) through which (i) Kellwood Holding, LLC acquired the non-Vince businesses, which include Kellwood Company, LLC (“Kellwood Company” or “Kellwood”), from the Company and (ii) the Company continues to own and operate the Vince business, which includes Vince, LLC.

Prior to the IPO and the Restructuring Transactions, VHC was a diversified apparel company operating a broad portfolio of fashion brands, which included the Vince business. As a result of the IPO and Restructuring Transactions, the non-Vince businesses were separated from the Vince business, and the stockholders immediately prior to the consummation of the Restructuring Transactions (the “Pre-IPO Stockholders”) (through their ownership of Kellwood Holding, LLC) retained the full ownership and control of the non-Vince businesses. The Vince business is now the sole operating business of Vince Holding Corp. Historical financial information for the non-Vince businesses has been presented as a component of discontinued operations, until the businesses were separated on November 27, 2013, in this annual report on Form 10-K and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included herein.

DISCLOSURES REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report on Form 10-K, and certain information incorporated by reference herein, contains forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “plan,” “target,” “project,” “forecast,” “envision” and other similar phrases. Although we believe the assumptions and expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these assumptions and expectations may not prove to be correct and we may not achieve the financial results or benefits anticipated. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of actual results. Our actual results may differ materially from those suggested in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control, including, without limitation: our ability to remain competitive in the areas of merchandise quality, price, breadth of selection, and customer service; our ability to anticipate and/or react to changes in customer demand and attract new customers; changes in consumer confidence and spending; our ability to maintain projected profit margins; unusual, unpredictable and/or severe weather conditions; the execution and management of our retail store growth, including the availability and cost of acceptable real estate locations for new store openings; the execution and management of our international expansion, including our ability to promote our brand and merchandise outside the U.S. and find suitable partners in certain geographies, our ability to expand our product offerings into new product categories including the ability find suitable licensing partners; our ability to successfully implement our marketing initiatives; our ability to protect our trademarks in the U.S. and internationally; our ability to maintain the security of electronic and other confidential information; serious disruptions and catastrophic events; changes in global economies and credit and financial markets; competition; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; commodity, raw material and other cost increases; compliance with laws, regulations and orders; changes in laws and regulations; outcomes of litigation and proceedings and the availability of insurance, indemnification and other third-party coverage of any losses suffered in connection therewith; tax matters and other factors as set forth from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including those described in this annual report on Form 10-K under “Item 1A—Risk Factors.” We intend these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this annual report on Form 10-K and do not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available.

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Part I

For purposes of this annual report on Form 10-K, “Vince,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our,” refer to Vince Holding Corp. (“VHC”) and its wholly owned subsidiaries, including Vince Intermediate Holding, LLC and Vince, LLC. References to “Kellwood” refer, as applicable, to Kellwood Holding, LLC and its consolidated subsidiaries (including Kellwood Company, LLC) or the operations of the non-Vince businesses after giving effect to the Restructuring Transactions.

Overview

Vince is a leading contemporary fashion brand best known for modern effortless style and everyday luxury essentials. Founded in 2002, the brand now offers a wide range of women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, women’s and men’s footwear, and handbags. Vince products are sold in prestige distribution worldwide, including over 2,400 distribution points across 45 countries. Vince has generated strong sales momentum over the last decade. We believe that we will achieve continued success by expanding our product assortment distributed through premier wholesale partners in the U.S. and select international markets, as well as in our own branded retail locations and on our e-commerce platform. We have a small number of wholesale partners who account for a significant portion of our net sales. Net sales to the full-price, off-price and e-commerce operations of our three largest wholesale partners were 49% of our total revenue for fiscal 2014 and 46% of our total revenue for fiscal 2013. These partners include Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, each accounting for more than 10% of our total revenue for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013. We design our products in the U.S. and source the vast majority of our products from contract manufacturers outside the U.S., primarily in Asia and South America.

We serve our customers through a variety of channels that reinforce the Vince brand image. Our diversified channel strategy allows us to introduce our products to customers through multiple distribution points that are reported in two segments: wholesale and direct-to-consumer. Our wholesale segment is comprised of sales to premier department stores and specialty stores in the U.S. and in select international markets, with U.S. wholesale representing 67% of our fiscal 2014 sales and the total wholesale segment representing 76% of our fiscal 2014 sales. We believe that our success in the U.S. wholesale channel and our strong relationships with premier wholesale partners provide opportunities for continued growth. These growth initiatives include creating enhanced product assortments and brand extensions through both in-house development activities and licensing arrangements, as well as continuing the build-out of branded shop-in-shops in select wholesale partner locations. We also believe international wholesale, which represented 9% of net sales for fiscal 2014 compared to 8% in fiscal 2013, presents a significant growth opportunity as we strengthen our presence in existing geographies and introduce Vince in new markets globally. Our wholesale segment also includes our licensing business related to our licensing arrangements for our women’s and men’s footwear and children’s apparel line.

Our direct-to-consumer segment includes our retail and outlet stores and our e-commerce business. In 2008, we initiated a direct-to-consumer strategy with the opening of our first retail store. During fiscal year 2014, we opened nine new stores consisting of six full-price retail stores and three outlet locations. As of January 31, 2015, we operated 37 stores, consisting of 28 full-price retail stores and nine outlet locations. Based on a combination of third-party analyses and internal projections, we believe that the U.S. market can currently support at least 100 free-standing Vince store locations. The direct-to-consumer segment also includes our e-commerce website, www.vince.com, which was launched in 2008 and re-launched with enhancements to the website during fiscal 2014. The direct-to-consumer segment accounted for 24% of fiscal 2014 net sales compared to 21% of net sales in the prior year. We expect sales from this channel to continue to grow as we drive productivity in existing stores, open new stores and continue to make improvements in our e-commerce business.

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Vince operates on a fiscal calendar widely used by the retail industry that results in a given fiscal year consisting of a 52 or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to January 31 of the following year.

Each of fiscal years 2014 and 2013 consisted of a 52-week period and fiscal year 2012 consisted of a 53-week period.

Vince Holding Corp., previously named Apparel Holding Corp., was incorporated in Delaware in February 2008 in connection with the acquisition of Kellwood Company by affiliates of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (“Sun Capital”). In September 2012, Kellwood Company formed Vince, LLC and all assets constituting the Vince business were contributed to Vince, LLC at such time (the “Vince Transfer”). On November 27, 2013, Apparel Holding Corp. was renamed Vince Holding Corp. in connection with the consummation of the IPO. Certain restructuring transactions were completed in connection with the consummation of the IPO. These transactions, among other things, included Kellwood Holding, LLC acquiring the non-Vince businesses, which include Kellwood Company, LLC, from the Company; and the Company continues to own and operate the Vince business, which includes Vince, LLC. The restructuring transactions separated the Vince and non-Vince businesses on November 27, 2013. Any and all debt obligations outstanding at the time of the restructuring transactions either remained with Kellwood Holding, LLC and its subsidiaries (i.e. the non-Vince businesses) and/or were discharged, repurchased or refinanced in connection with the consummation of the IPO. Historical financial information for the non-Vince businesses has been presented as a component of discontinued operations, until the businesses were separated on November 27, 2013, in this annual report on Form 10-K and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included herein. Our principal executive office is located at 500 Fifth Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10110 and our telephone number is (212) 515-2600. Our corporate website address is www.vince.com.

Brand and Products

Vince is a leading contemporary fashion brand best known for modern effortless style and every luxury essentials. The Vince brand was founded in 2002 with a collection of stylish women’s knits and cashmere sweaters that rapidly attracted a loyal customer base drawn to the casual sophistication and luxurious feel of our products. Over the last decade, Vince has generated strong sales momentum and has successfully grown to include a men’s collection in 2007, denim, leather and outerwear lines in 2010 and a women’s handbag line in 2014. In addition, through licensing partnerships, we launched women’s footwear in 2012, men’s footwear in 2014 and children’s apparel in 2014. The Vince brand is synonymous with a clean, timeless aesthetic, sophisticated design and superior quality. We believe these attributes have generated strong customer loyalty and have enabled us to hold a distinctive position among contemporary fashion brands. We also believe that we will achieve continued success by expanding our product assortment and distributing this expanded product assortment through our premier wholesale partners in the U.S. and select international markets, as well as through our growing number of branded retail locations and on our e-commerce platform.

Since our inception in 2002, we have offered contemporary apparel with a focus on clean and authentic design and superior quality. We believe that our differentiated design aesthetic and strong attention to detail and fit allow us to maintain premium pricing, and that the combination of quality and value positions Vince as an everyday luxury brand that encourages repeat purchases among our customers.

Over 88% of Vince’s sales were comprised of women’s products in fiscal 2014, with particular strength in sweaters, dresses, pants and outerwear. The women’s line under the Vince brand includes seasonal collections of

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luxurious cashmere sweaters and silk blouses, leather and suede leggings and jackets, dresses, denim, pants, tanks and t-shirts, handbags and a growing assortment of outerwear. The men’s collection under the Vince brand includes t-shirts, knit and woven tops, sweaters, denim, pants, blazers, outerwear and stylish leather jackets.

We have identified additional brand extension opportunities, including elevating our men’s collection, expanding outerwear, women’s pants and dresses, and implementing a replenishment program for core items. In addition, through our licensing arrangements, we also offer women’s and men’s footwear and children’s apparel. We continue to evaluate other brand extension opportunities through both in-house development activities as well as through potential licensing arrangements with third parties.

Design and Merchandising

Our product design and merchandising efforts are led by our President and Chief Creative Officer and a team of designers and merchandisers. Our design team is focused on developing an elevated collection of Vince apparel and accessories that build upon the brand’s product heritage of modern, effortless style and everyday luxury essentials. The current design vision is to create a cohesive and compelling product assortment with sophisticated head-to-toe looks for multiple wear occasions. Our design efforts are supported by well-established product development and production teams and processes that enable us to bring new products to market quickly. We are looking to further build our merchant capabilities and believe continued collaboration between design and merchandising will ensure we respond to consumer preferences and market trends with new innovative product offerings while maintaining our core fashion foundation.

Business Segments

We serve our customers through a variety of channels that reinforce the Vince brand image. Our diversified channel strategy allows us to introduce our products to customers through multiple distribution points that are reported in two segments: wholesale and direct-to-consumer.

Wholesale Segment

Our wholesale segment is comprised of sales to premier department stores and specialty stores in the U.S. and in select international markets, with U.S. wholesale representing 67% and international wholesale representing 9% of our net sales for fiscal 2014. Our products are currently sold in 45 countries. As of January 31, 2015, our products were sold to consumers at approximately 2,400 doors through our wholesale partners. In addition, we also have shop-in-shops which are operated by our domestic and international wholesale partners where we sell the merchandise to the partners on a wholesale basis, recognizing revenue upon shipment of goods when title and risk of loss passes to the wholesale partner. The shop-in-shops are dedicated spaces within the selling floors of select domestic and international wholesale partners where Vince product is prominently displayed and sold. Vince generally provides the shop-in-shop fixtures needed to build out the spaces within the department stores operated by our wholesale partners. As of January 31, 2015, there were 42 shop-in-shops consisting of 29 shop-in-shops with our U.S. wholesale partners and 13 shop-in-shops with our international wholesale partners. We also have two international free-standing stores in Tokyo and Istanbul that

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are owned and operated through distribution arrangements whereby Vince provides the merchandise to the distribution partners for sale in the free-standing store which solely sells Vince product. Our wholesale segment also includes our licensing business related to our licensing arrangements for our women’s and men’s footwear and children’s apparel line. Under these licensing arrangements we launched women’s footwear in fiscal 2012 and in fiscal 2014 we launched men’s footwear and children’s apparel. The licensed products, including footwear and children’s apparel are sold in our own stores and by our licensee to select wholesale partners, and we earn a royalty based on net sales to the wholesale partners.

Direct-to-Consumer Segment

Our direct-to-consumer segment includes our retail and outlet stores and our e-commerce business. In 2008, we initiated a direct-to-consumer strategy with the opening of our first retail store. As of January 31, 2015, we operated 37 stores, which consisted of 28 full-price retail stores and nine outlet locations. The direct-to-consumer segment also includes our e-commerce website, www.vince.com, which was launched in 2008 and re-launched with website enhancements during fiscal 2014. The direct-to-consumer segment accounted for approximately 24% of fiscal 2014 net sales compared to 21% in the prior year. We expect sales from this channel to continue to grow as we drive productivity in existing stores, open new stores and continue to make improvements in our e-commerce business.

The following table details the number of retail stores we operated for the past three fiscal years:

Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations

We use marketing, advertising and public relations as critical tools to deliver a consistent and compelling brand message. Our marketing is focused on showcasing our product and sophisticated style, as well as building an emotional connection with the customer. The Vince brand image is developed and cultivated by dedicated creative, marketing, visual merchandising and public relations teams that, along with the Vince design team and select outside agencies, work closely to communicate a consistent brand message across various consumer touchpoints.

We engage in a wide range of marketing programs that include traditional media (direct mail, print advertising, cooperative advertising with wholesale partners and outdoor advertising), digital media (email and web) and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest) to drive traffic across channels. We believe our customers will continue to be receptive to our marketing and social media efforts, which, in management’s opinion, have presented us with a strong new marketing channel to reach existing and prospective customers. We use Facebook as the main social media hub to generate conversation about the brand through daily lifestyle posts, focusing on product launches, style tips and in-store events. Social media platforms like Instagram allow us to tell our brand story creatively by offering behind-the-scenes access to events, press reviews and the Vince showroom, as well as featuring Vince enthusiasts wearing our products. In addition, the growing number of visits to www.vince.com, which totaled 3.9 million in fiscal 2014, representing a 50% increase from fiscal 2013, provides an opportunity to grow our customer base and communicate directly with our customers.

Our public relations team conducts a wide variety of press activities to reinforce the Vince brand image and create excitement around the brand. Vince apparel, handbags and footwear have appeared in the pages of major fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, W, GQ, Esquire and Vanity Fair. Well-known trend setters in entertainment and fashion are also regularly seen wearing the Vince brand.

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Sourcing and Manufacturing

Vince does not own or operate any manufacturing facilities. We contract for the purchase of finished goods with manufacturers who are responsible for the entire manufacturing process, including the purchase of piece goods and trim. Although we do not have long-term written contracts with manufacturers, we have long-standing relationships with a diverse base of vendors which we believe to be mutually satisfactory. We work with over 30 manufacturers across five countries, with 88% of our products produced in China in fiscal 2014. For cost and control purposes, we contract with select third-party vendors in the U.S. to produce a small portion of our merchandise that includes woven pants and products manufactured with man-made fibers.

All of our garments are produced according to our specifications, and we require that all of our manufacturers adhere to strict regulatory compliance and standards of conduct. Our vendors’ factories are monitored by our production team to ensure quality control, and they are monitored by independent third-party inspectors we employ for compliance with local manufacturing standards and regulations on an annual basis. Our quality assurance staff in the U.S. and Asia also monitors our vendors’ manufacturing facilities regularly, providing technical assistance and performing in-line and final audits to ensure the highest possible quality.

Shared Services Agreement

In connection with the consummation of the IPO, Vince, LLC entered into a shared services agreement with Kellwood Company, LLC on November 27, 2013 (the “Shared Services Agreement”) pursuant to which Kellwood Company, LLC provides certain support services, including distribution, information technology and back office support. Kellwood will provide these services until we elect to terminate the provision thereof in accordance with the terms of such agreement. Some of the Kellwood systems we continue to use following the IPO include enterprise resourcing planning, or “ERP”, human resource management systems and distribution applications. In conjunction with our separation from Kellwood, we are in the process of separating our assets from those of Kellwood. We have recently commenced the development and implementation of our own ERP system and IT infrastructure, engaged with a new e-commerce platform provider and migrated the human resource recruitment system. Refer to the discussion under “Information Systems” below for further information on our ERP implementation. See also “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Kellwood provides us with certain key services for our business, some of which we are in the process of transitioning to our own systems. If Kellwood fails to perform its obligations to us during the period of transition or if we cannot successfully transition these services to our own systems, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially harmed.” In addition, see “Shared Services Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for further information.

Distribution Facilities

Pursuant to the Shared Services Agreement, Kellwood provides distribution facilities and services to us in the U.S. These services include distribution, storage and fulfillment. Kellwood will continue to provide these services to us until such time as we elect to terminate the provision of such services in accordance with the terms of the Shared Services Agreement. See “Shared Services Agreements” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding the Shared Services Agreement.

As of January 31, 2015, we operated out of three distribution centers, two located in the U.S. and one in Belgium. The primary warehouse, located in City of Industry, California, includes 75,000 square feet dedicated to fulfilling orders for our wholesale partners and retail locations. An adjacent warehouse spanning 22,000 square feet supports Vince’s e-commerce business and offers additional capacity to support our projected growth over the next several years. Our space in both of the California warehouses utilize warehouse management systems that are fully customer and vendor compliant and are completely integrated with our current ERP and accounting systems.

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The warehouse in Belgium is operated by a third-party logistics provider and supports our wholesale orders for customers located primarily in Europe. The warehouse management systems of the Belgium warehouse are integrated with our current ERP systems to provide us with near real-time visibility into our international distribution.

We believe we have sufficient capacity in our domestic and international distribution facilities to support our continued growth.

Information Systems

Kellwood has continued to provide certain information technology services to us and will continue to do so until such time as we elect to terminate provision of such services in accordance with the terms of the Shared Services Agreement. These services currently include information technology planning and administration, desktop support and help desk, our ERP system, financial applications, warehouse systems, reporting and analysis applications and our retail and e-commerce interfaces.

Our current ERP system was developed from a core system that is widely used in the apparel and fashion industry, which we have customized to suit our inventory management and order processing requirements. We have integrated Oracle Financials with our ERP system to meet our financial reporting and accounting requirements. Additionally, we use a suite of third-party hosted retail applications integrated with our ERP system that provide us with merchandising, retail inventory management, point-of-sale systems, customer relationship management and retail accounting. Our retail applications are supported through a “Software as a Service” model, which allows for new implementations to occur quickly. Our ERP and warehouse management systems are also integrated with a hosted, third-party e-commerce platform. During fiscal 2014, we commenced the development and implementation of our own ERP system and IT infrastructure, engaged with a new e-commerce platform provider and migrated the human resource recruitment system. The ERP implementation is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2015. The new ERP system is based on a system from Microsoft Dynamics AX and is cloud based. It will replace our current Oracle Financials and retail related sub systems.

See “—Shared Services Agreement,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Kellwood provides us with certain key services for our business, some of which we are in the process of transitioning to our own systems. If Kellwood fails to perform its obligations to us during the period of transition or if we cannot successfully transition these services to our own systems, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially harmed.” In addition, see “Shared Services Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on form 10-K for further information.

Seasonality

The apparel and fashion industry in which we operate is cyclical and, consequently, our revenues are affected by general economic conditions and the seasonal trends characteristic to the apparel and fashion industry. Purchases of apparel are sensitive to a number of factors that influence the level of consumer spending, including economic conditions and the level of disposable consumer income, consumer debt, interest rates, consumer confidence as well as the impact from adverse weather conditions. In addition, fluctuations in sales in any fiscal quarter are affected by the timing of seasonal wholesale shipments and other events affecting direct-to-consumer sales; as such, the financial results for any particular quarter may not be indicative of results for the fiscal year.

Competition

We face strong competition in each of the product categories and markets where we compete on the basis of style, quality, price and brand recognition. Some of our competitors have achieved significant recognition for their brand names or have substantially greater financial, marketing, distribution and other resources than us. However, we believe that we have established a sustainable advantage and distinct position in the current

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marketplace, driven by a product assortment that combines classic and fashion-forward styling, and a pricing strategy that offers customers accessible luxury. Our competitors are varied but include Theory, Helmut Lang, Rag & Bone, Joie, J Brand, James Perse and J. Crew, among others.

Employees

As of January 31, 2015, we had 498 employees, of which 272 were employed in retail stores. Except for one employee in France, who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement pursuant to French law, none of our employees are currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and we believe our employee relations are good.

Trademarks and Licensing

We own the Vince trademark for the production, marketing and distribution of our products in the U.S. and internationally. We have registered the trademark domestically and have registrations on file or pending in a number of foreign jurisdictions. We intend to continue to strategically register, both domestically and internationally, trademarks that we use today and those we develop in the future. We license the domain name for our website, www.vince.com, pursuant to a license agreement. Under this license agreement, we have an exclusive, irrevocable license to use the www.vince.com domain name without restriction at a nominal annual cost. While we may terminate such license agreement at our discretion, the agreement does not provide for termination by the licensor. We also own unregistered copyright rights in our design marks.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on our website, www.vince.com, copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically with, or otherwise furnishing it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the website, and the information contained on the website is not part of this annual report on Form 10-K.

The following risk factors should be carefully considered when evaluating our business and the forward-looking statements in this annual report on Form 10-K. See “Disclosures Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business

Intense competition in the apparel and fashion industry could reduce our sales and profitability.

As a fashion company, we face intense competition from other domestic and foreign apparel, footwear and accessories manufacturers and retailers. Competition may result in pricing pressures, reduced profit margins, lost market share or failure to grow our market share, any of which could substantially harm our business and results of operations. Competition is based on many factors including, without limitation, the following:

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Competition in the apparel and fashion industry is intense and is dominated by a number of very large brands, many of which have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, more established relationships with a broader set of suppliers, greater brand recognition and greater financial, research and development, marketing, distribution and other resources than we do. These capabilities of our competitors may allow them to better withstand downturns in the economy or apparel and fashion industry. Any increased competition, or our failure to adequately address any of these competitive factors, could result in reduced sales, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Competition, along with such other factors as consolidation within the retail industry and changes in consumer spending patterns, could also result in significant pricing pressure and cause the sales environment to be more promotional, as it was in 2014. If promotional pressure remains intense, either through actions of our competitors or through customer expectations, this may cause us to reduce our sales prices to our wholesale partners and retail consumers, which could cause our gross margins to decline if we are unable to appropriately manage inventory levels and/or otherwise offset price reductions with comparable reductions in our operating costs. If our sales prices decline and we fail to sufficiently reduce our product costs or operating expenses, our profitability may decline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

General economic conditions in the U.S. and other parts of the world, including a continued weakening of the economy and restricted credit markets, can affect consumer confidence and consumer spending patterns.

The apparel industry has historically been subject to cyclical variations, recessions in the general economy or uncertainties regarding future economic prospects that affect consumer spending habits which could negatively impact our business overall, the carrying value of our tangible and intangible assets and specifically sales, gross margins and profitability. The success of our operations depends on consumer spending. Consumer spending is impacted by a number of factors, including actual and perceived economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income (such as unemployment, wages, energy costs and consumer debt levels), business conditions, interest rates and availability of credit and tax rates in the general economy and in the international, regional and local markets in which our products are sold.

Recent global economic conditions have included significant recessionary pressures and declines in employment levels, disposable income and actual and/or perceived wealth and further declines in consumer confidence and economic growth. The recent depressed economic environment was characterized by a decline in consumer discretionary spending and has disproportionately affected retailers and sellers of consumer goods, particularly those whose goods are viewed as discretionary or luxury purchases, including fashion apparel and accessories such as ours. During such recessionary periods, we may have to increase the number of promotional sales or otherwise dispose of inventory which we have previously paid to manufacture. While we have seen occasional signs of stabilization in the North American markets during 2013 and 2014, the recent recession may have resulted in a shift in consumer spending habits that makes it unlikely that spending will return to prior levels for the foreseeable future as the promotional environment has continued and may continue going forward. Such factors as well as another shift towards recessionary conditions could adversely impact our sales volumes and overall profitability in the future.

Further, growing concerns that European countries could default on their national debt have caused instability in the European economy, which is one of the areas that we are currently targeting for international expansion. Continued economic and political volatility and declines in the value of the Euro or other foreign

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currencies could negatively impact the global economy as a whole and have a material adverse effect on the profitability and liquidity of our international operations, as well as hinder our ability to grow through expansion in the international markets. In addition, domestic and international political situations also affect consumer confidence. The threat, outbreak or escalation of terrorism, military conflicts or other hostilities around the world could lead to decreases in consumer spending.

Our business depends on a strong brand image, and if we are not able to maintain or enhance our brand, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, we may be unable to sell sufficient quantities of our merchandise, which would harm our business and cause our results of operations to suffer.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing the Vince brand is critical to maintaining and expanding our customer base. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments in areas such as visual merchandising (including working with our wholesale partners to transform select Vince displays into branded shop-in-shops), marketing and advertising, employee training and store operations. A primary component of our strategy involves expanding into other geographic markets and working with existing wholesale partners, particularly within the U.S. We anticipate that, as our business expands into new markets and further penetrates existing markets, and as the markets in which we operate become increasingly competitive, maintaining and enhancing our brand may become increasingly difficult and expensive. Certain of our competitors in the fashion industry have faced adverse publicity surrounding the quality, attributes and performance of their products. Our brand may similarly be adversely affected if our public image or reputation is tarnished by failing to maintain high standards for merchandise quality and integrity. Any negative publicity about these types of concerns may reduce demand for our merchandise. Maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on our ability to be a leader in the contemporary fashion industry and to continue to provide high quality products. If we are unable to maintain or enhance our brand image, our results of operations may suffer and our business may be harmed.

A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from a small number of large wholesale partners, and the loss of any of these wholesale partners could substantially reduce our total revenue.

We have a small number of wholesale partners who account for a significant portion of our net sales. Net sales to the full-price, off-price and e-commerce operations of our three largest wholesale partners were 49% of our total revenue for fiscal 2014. These partners include Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, each accounting for more than 10% of our total revenue for fiscal 2014. We do not have written agreements with any of our wholesale partners, and purchases generally occur on an order-by-order basis. A decision by any of our major wholesale partners, whether motivated by marketing strategy, competitive conditions, financial difficulties or otherwise, to significantly decrease the amount of merchandise purchased from us or our licensing partners, or to change their manner of doing business with us or our licensing partners, could substantially reduce our revenue and have a material adverse effect on our profitability. Furthermore, due to the concentration of our wholesale partner base, our results of operations could be adversely affected if any of these wholesale partners fails to satisfy its payment obligations to us when due. During the past several years, the retail industry has experienced a great deal of ownership change, and we expect such change will continue. In addition, store closings by our wholesale partners decrease the number of stores carrying our products, while the remaining stores may purchase a smaller amount of our products and may reduce the retail floor space designated for our brand. In the future, retailers may further consolidate, undergo restructurings or reorganizations, realign their affiliations or reposition their stores’ target markets. Any of these types of actions could decrease the number of stores that carry our products or increase the ownership concentration within the retail industry. These changes could decrease our opportunities in the market, increase our reliance on a diminishing number of large wholesale partners and decrease our negotiating strength with our wholesale partners. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

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We may not be able to successfully expand our wholesale partnership base or grow our presence with existing wholesale partners.

As part of our growth strategy, we intend to increase productivity and penetration with existing wholesale partners and form relationships with new, international wholesale partners. These initiatives may include the establishment of additional shop-in-shops within select department stores. The location of Vince displays or shop-in-shops within department stores is controlled in large part by our wholesale partners. Although the investments made by us and our wholesale partners in the development and installation of Vince displays and shop-in-shops decreases the risk that our wholesale partners will require us to move to a less desirable area of their store or reduce the space allocated to such displays and shops, they are not contractually prohibited from doing so or required to grant additional or more desirable space to us. While expanding the number of shop-in-shops is part of our growth strategy, there can be no assurances we will be able to align our wholesale partners with this strategy and continue to receive floor space from our wholesale partners to open or expand shop-in-shops.

Our ability to attract customers to our stores depends heavily on successfully locating our stores in suitable locations and any impairment of a store location, including any decrease in customer traffic, could cause our sales to be less than expected.

Our approach to identifying locations for our retail stores typically favors street and mall locations near luxury and contemporary retailers that we believe are consistent with our key customers’ demographics and shopping preferences. Sales at these stores are derived, in part, from the volume of foot traffic in these locations. Changes in areas around our existing retail locations that result in reductions in customer foot traffic or otherwise render the locations unsuitable could cause our sales to be less than expected and the related leases are generally non-cancelable. Store locations may become unsuitable due to, and our sales volume and customer traffic generally may be harmed by, among other things:

Our ability to successfully open and operate new retail stores depends on many factors, including, among others, our ability to:

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As of January 31, 2015, we had 37 stores, which consisted of 28 full-price retail stores and nine outlet locations. We plan to increase our store base over the next three to five years, including the expected openings of eight to 10 new stores in fiscal 2015. Our new stores, however, may not be immediately profitable and we may incur losses until these stores become profitable. Unavailability of desired store locations, delays in the acquisition or opening of new stores, delays or costs resulting from a decrease in commercial development due to capital restraints, difficulties in staffing and operating new store locations or a lack of customer acceptance of stores in new market areas may negatively impact our new store growth and the costs or the profitability associated with new stores. There can be no assurance that we will open the planned number of stores in fiscal 2015 or thereafter. Any failure to successfully open and operate new stores may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

As we expand our store base, we may be unable to maintain or grow comparable store sales or average sales per square foot at the same rates that we have achieved in the past, which could cause our share price to decline.

As we expand our store base, we may not be able to maintain or grow at the same rates of comparable store sales growth that we have achieved historically. In addition, we may not be able to maintain or grow our historic average sales per square foot as we move into new markets. If our future comparable store sales or average sales per square foot decline or fail to meet market expectations, the price of our common stock could decline. In addition, the aggregate results of operations through our wholesale partners and at our retail locations have fluctuated in the past and can be expected to continue to fluctuate in the future. A variety of factors affect both comparable store sales and average sales per square foot, including, among others, consumer spending patterns, fashion trends, competition, current economic conditions, pricing, inflation, the timing of the release of new merchandise and promotional events, changes in our product assortment, the success of marketing programs and weather conditions. If we misjudge the market for our products, we may incur excess inventory for some of our products and miss opportunities for other products. These factors may cause our comparable store sales results and average sales per square foot in the future to be materially lower than recent periods or our expectations, which could harm our results of operations and result in a decline in the price of our common stock.

We have grown rapidly in recent years and we have limited operating experience as a team at our current scale of operations. If we are unable to manage our operations at our current size or are unable to manage any future growth effectively, our business results and financial performance may suffer.

We have expanded our operations rapidly since our inception in 2002, and we have limited operating experience at our current size. Our business has grown significantly over the past three years, as we have grown our total net sales from $240.4 million in fiscal 2012 to $340.4 million in fiscal 2014. We have made and are making investments to support our near and longer-term growth. If our operations continue to grow over the longer term, of which there can be no assurance, we will be required to expand our sales and marketing, product development and distribution functions, to upgrade our management information systems and other processes, and to obtain more space for our expanding administrative support and other headquarters personnel. Our expansion may exceed the capacity that Kellwood is able to provide, on attractive pricing terms or at all, under the terms of the Shared Services Agreement (as more fully described below in “—Problems with our distribution system could harm our ability to meet customer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve targeted operating efficiencies”). Our continued growth could strain our existing resources, and we could experience operating difficulties, including obtaining sufficient raw materials at acceptable prices, securing manufacturing capacity to produce our products and experiencing delays in production and shipments. These difficulties would likely lead to a decrease in net revenue, income from operations and the price of our common stock.

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Kellwood provides us with certain key services for our business, some of which we are in the process of transitioning to our own systems. If Kellwood fails to perform its obligations to us during the period of transition or if we cannot successfully transition these services to our own systems, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially harmed.

Prior to the IPO and Restructuring Transactions that closed on November 27, 2013, we operated as a business unit of Kellwood, and we historically relied on the financial resources and the administrative and operational support systems of Kellwood to run our business. Some of the Kellwood systems we continue to use following the IPO and Restructuring Transactions include ERP, human resource management systems and distribution applications. In conjunction with our separation from Kellwood, we are in the process of separating our assets from those of Kellwood. We have recently commenced the development and implementation of our own ERP system and IT infrastructure, engaged with a new e-commerce platform provider and migrated the human resource recruitment system. The new systems we implement may not operate as successfully as the systems we historically used as such systems are highly customized or proprietary. Moreover, we may be unable to obtain necessary goods, technology and services to continue replacing the Kellwood systems at prices and on terms as favorable as those available to us prior to the separation, which could increase our costs and reduce our profitability. If we fail to successfully transition the systems, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We entered into a Shared Services Agreement in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions on November 27, 2013. The Shared Services Agreement governs the provisions by which Kellwood provides certain support services to us, including distribution, information technology and back office support. Kellwood will provide these services until we elect to terminate the provision thereof in accordance with the terms of such agreement or, for services which require a term as a matter of law or which are based on a third-party agreement with a set term, the related termination date specified in the schedule thereto. Upon the termination of certain services, Kellwood may no longer be in a position to provide certain other related services. Assuming we proceed with our request to terminate the original services, such related services shall also be terminated in connection with such termination. The Shared Services Agreement will terminate automatically upon the termination of all services provided thereunder, unless earlier terminated by either party in connection with the other party’s material breach upon 30 days prior notice to such defaulting party. After termination of the agreement, Kellwood will have no obligation to provide any services to us. See “Shared Services Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for a description of these services. The services provided under the Shared Services Agreement (as may be amended from time to time) may not be sufficient to meet our needs and we may not be able to replace these services at favorable costs and on favorable terms, if at all. In addition, Kellwood has experienced financial difficulty in the past. For example, in 2009, Kellwood’s independent auditors raised substantial doubt regarding Kellwood’s ability to continue as a going concern. If Kellwood encounters any issues during the transitional period which impact its ability to provide services pursuant to the Shared Services Agreement, our business could be materially harmed. Any failure or significant downtime in our own financial or administrative systems or in Kellwood’s financial or administrative systems during the transitional period and any difficulty in separating our assets from Kellwood’s assets and integrating newly acquired assets into our business could result in unexpected costs, impact our results or prevent us from paying our suppliers and employees and performing other administrative services on a timely basis and materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

System security risk issues could disrupt our internal operations or information technology services, and any such disruption could negatively impact our net sales, increase our expenses and harm our reputation.

Experienced computer programmers and hackers, and even internal users, may be able to penetrate our network security and misappropriate our confidential information or that of third parties, including our customers, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. In addition, employee error, malfeasance or other errors in the storage, use or transmission of any such information could result in a disclosure to third parties outside of our network. As a result, we could incur significant expenses addressing problems created by any such

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inadvertent disclosure or any security breaches of our network. This risk is heightened because we collect and store customer information, including credit card information, and use certain customer information for our marketing purposes. In addition, we rely on third parties for the operation of our website, www.vince.com, and for the various social media tools and websites we use as part of our marketing strategy.

Consumers are increasingly concerned over the security of personal information transmitted over the internet, consumer identity theft and user privacy, and any compromise of customer information could subject us to customer or government litigation and harm our reputation, which could adversely affect our business and growth. Moreover, we could incur significant expenses or disruptions of our operations in connection with system failures or breaches. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we procure form third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including “bugs” and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of our systems. The costs to us to eliminate or alleviate security problems, viruses and bugs, or any problems associated with the outsourced services could be significant, and the efforts to address these problems could result in interruptions, delays or cessation of service that may impede our sales, distribution or other critical functions. In addition to taking the necessary precautions ourselves, we require that third-party service providers implement reasonable security measures to protect our customers’ identity and privacy. We do not, however, control these third-party service providers and cannot guarantee that no electronic or physical computer break-ins and security breaches will occur in the future. Finally, we could incur significant costs in complying with the multitude of state, federal and foreign laws regarding the use and unauthorized disclosure of personal information, to the extent they are applicable.

Any disputes that arise between us and Kellwood with respect to our past and ongoing relationships could harm our business operations.

Disputes may arise between Kellwood and us in a number of areas relating to our past and ongoing relationships, including:

We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated party. As of January 31, 2015, affiliates of Sun Capital, who also control Kellwood, owned approximately 55% of our common stock. Additionally, Sun Cardinal, LLC, an affiliate of Sun Capital, has the ability to designate a majority of our directors.

Our limited operating experience and brand recognition in international markets may delay our expansion strategy and cause our business and growth to suffer.

We face additional risks with respect to our strategy to expand internationally, including our efforts to further expand our business in Canada, select European countries, Asia and the Middle East through arrangements with international partners. Our current operations are based largely in the U.S., with international sales representing approximately 9% of net sales for fiscal 2014. Therefore we have a limited number of customers and experience in operating outside of the U.S. We also do not have extensive experience with regulatory environments and market practices outside of the U.S. and cannot guarantee, notwithstanding our international partners’ familiarity with such environments and market practices, that we will be able to penetrate or successfully operate in any market outside of the U.S. Many of these markets have different operational

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characteristics, including employment and labor regulations, transportation, logistics, real estate (including lease terms) and local reporting or legal requirements. Furthermore, consumer demand and behavior, as well as style preferences, size and fit, and purchasing trends, may differ in these markets and, as a result, sales of our product may not be successful, or the margins on those sales may not be in line with those that we currently anticipate. In addition, in many of these markets there is significant competition to attract and retain experienced and talented employees. Failure to develop new markets outside of the U.S. or disappointing sales growth outside of the U.S. may harm our business and results of operations.

Our plans to improve and expand our product offerings may not be successful, and the implementation of these plans may divert our operational, managerial and administrative resources, which could harm our competitive position and reduce our net revenue and profitability.

In addition to our store expansion strategy, we plan to grow our business by increasing our core product offerings, which includes expanding our men’s collection and women’s bottoms, dresses and outerwear assortment. We also plan to develop and introduce select new product categories and may pursue select additional licensing opportunities such as eyewear, fragrance and fashion accessories.

The principal risks to our ability to successfully carry out our plans to improve and expand our product offerings are that:

In addition, our ability to successfully carry out our plans to improve and expand our product offerings may be affected by economic and competitive conditions, changes in consumer spending patterns and changes in consumer preferences and style trends. These plans could be abandoned, could cost more than anticipated and could divert resources from other areas of our business, any of which could impact our competitive position and reduce our net revenue and profitability.

Our current and future licensing arrangements may not be successful and may make us susceptible to the actions of third parties over whom we have limited control.

We currently have licensing agreements for women’s footwear, men’s footwear and children’s apparel. In the future, we may enter into select additional licensing arrangements for product offerings which require specialized expertise. We may also enter into select licensing agreements pursuant to which we may grant third parties the right to distribute and sell our products in certain geographic areas. Although we have taken and will continue to take steps to select potential licensing partners carefully and monitor the activities of our licensing partners (through, among other things, approval rights over product design, production quality, packaging, merchandising, marketing, distribution and advertising), such arrangements may not be successful. Our licensing partners may fail to fulfill their obligations under their license agreements or have interests that differ from or conflict with our own, such as the pricing of our products and the offering of competitive products. In addition, the risks applicable to the business of our licensing partners may be different than the risks applicable to our business, including risks associated with each such partner’s ability to:

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Any of the foregoing risks, or the inability of any of our licensing partners to successfully market our products or otherwise conduct its business, may result in loss of revenue and competitive harm to our operations in regions or product categories where we have entered into such licensing arrangements.

Our business will suffer if we fail to respond to changing customer tastes.

Customer tastes can change rapidly. We may not be able to anticipate, gauge or respond to these changes within a timely manner. We may also not be able to continue to satisfy our customers’ existing tastes and preferences. If we misjudge the market for products or product groups, or if we fail to identify and respond appropriately to changing consumer demands, we may be faced with unsold finished goods inventory, which could materially adversely affect expected operating results and decrease sales, gross margins and profitability.

If we are unable to accurately forecast customer demand for our products, our manufacturers may not be able to deliver products to meet our requirements, and this could result in delays in the shipment of products to our stores and to wholesale partners.

We stock our stores, and provide inventory to our wholesale partners, based on our or their estimates of future demand for particular products. Our inventory management and planning team determines the number of pieces of each product that we will order from our manufacturers based upon past sales of similar products, sales trend information and anticipated demand at our suggested retail prices. However, if our inventory and planning team fails to accurately forecast customer demand, we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully manage our inventory at a level appropriate for future customer demand.

Factors that could affect our inventory management and planning team’s ability to accurately forecast customer demand for our products include:

Because of our rapid growth, we have occasionally placed insufficient levels of desirable product with our wholesale partners and in our retail locations such that we were unable to fully satisfy customer demand at those locations. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to match supply with demand in all cases in the future, whether as a result of our inability to produce sufficient levels of desirable product or our failure to forecast demand accurately. As a result of these inabilities or failures, we may encounter difficulties in filling customer orders or in liquidating excess inventory at discount prices and may experience significant write-offs. Additionally, if we over-produce a product based on an aggressive forecast of demand, retailers may not be able to sell the product and cancel future orders or require give backs. These outcomes could have a material adverse effect on brand image and adversely impact sales, gross margins and profitability.

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Our senior management team has limited experience working together as a group, and may not be able to manage our business effectively.

Our CEO, Jill Granoff, and CFO, Lisa Klinger, joined the company in 2012. Many of the other members of our senior management team, including our President and Chief Creative Officer, Karin Gregersen, have been with us less than 2 years. As a result, our senior management team has limited experience working together as a group. This lack of shared experience could negatively impact our senior management team’s ability to quickly and efficiently respond to problems and effectively manage our business. If our management team is not able to work together as a group, our results of operations may suffer and our business may be harmed.

If we lose key personnel, or are unable to attract, assimilate and retain new employees, we may not be able to successfully operate or grow our business.

Our continued success is dependent on the ability to attract, assimilate, retain and motivate qualified management, designers, administrative talent and sales associates to support existing operations and future growth. Competition for qualified talent in the apparel and fashion industry is intense, and we compete for these individuals with other companies that in many cases have greater financial and other resources. The loss of the services of any members of senior management or the inability to attract and retain other qualified executives could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we will need to continue to attract, assimilate, retain and motivate highly talented employees with a range of other skills and experience, especially at the store management levels. Although we have hired and trained new store managers and experienced sales associates at several of our retail locations, competition for employees in our industry is intense and we may from time to time experience difficulty in retaining our associates or attracting the additional talent necessary to support the growth of our business. These problems could be exacerbated as we embark on our strategy of opening new retail stores over the next several years. We will also need to attract, assimilate and retain other professionals across a range of disciplines, including design, production, sourcing and international business, as we develop new product categories and continue to expand our international presence. Furthermore, we will need to continue to recruit employees to provide, or enter into consulting or outsourcing arrangements with respect to the provision of, services provided by Kellwood under the Shared Services Agreement when Kellwood no longer provides such services thereunder. If we are unable to attract, assimilate and retain additional employees with the necessary skills, we may not be able to grow or successfully operate our business.

Our competitive position could suffer if our intellectual property rights are not protected.

We believe that our trademarks and designs are of great value. From time to time, third parties have challenged, and may in the future try to challenge, our ownership of our intellectual property. In some cases, third parties with similar trademarks or other intellectual property may have pre-existing and potentially conflicting trademark registrations. We rely on cooperation from third parties with similar trademarks to be able to register our trademarks in jurisdictions in which such third parties have already registered their trademarks. We are susceptible to others imitating our products and infringing our intellectual property rights. Imitation or counterfeiting of our products or infringement of our intellectual property rights could diminish the value of our brands or otherwise adversely affect our revenues. The actions we have taken to establish and protect our trademarks and other intellectual property rights may not be adequate to prevent imitation of our products by others or to prevent others from seeking to invalidate our trademarks or block sales of our products as a violation of the trademarks and intellectual property rights of others. In addition, others may assert rights in, or ownership of, our trademarks and other intellectual property rights or in similar marks or marks that we license and/or market and we may not be able to successfully resolve these conflicts to our satisfaction. We may need to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Successful infringement claims against us could result in significant monetary liability or prevent us from selling some of our products. In addition, resolution of claims may require us to redesign our products, license rights from third parties or cease using those rights altogether. Any of these events could harm our business and cause our results of operations, liquidity and financial condition to suffer.

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We license our website domain name from a third-party. Pursuant to the license agreement (the “Domain License Agreement”), our license to use www.vince.com will expire in 2018 and will automatically renew for successive one year periods, subject to our right to terminate the arrangement with or without cause; provided, that we must pay the applicable early termination fee and provide 30 days prior notice in connection with a termination without cause. The licensor has no termination rights under the Domain License Agreement. Any failure by the licensor to perform its obligations under the License Agreement could adversely affect our brand and make it more difficult for users to find our website.

Problems with our distribution system could harm our ability to meet customer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve targeted operating efficiencies.

In the U.S., we rely on a distribution facility operated by Kellwood in City of Industry, California. Our ability to meet the needs of our wholesale partners and our own retail stores depends on the proper operation of this distribution facility. Kellwood will continue to provide distribution services, until we elect to terminate such services, as part of the Shared Services Agreement. We also have a warehouse in Belgium operated by a third-party logistics provider to support our wholesale orders for customers located primarily in Europe. There can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into other contracts for an alternate or replacement distribution centers on acceptable terms or at all. Such an event could disrupt our operations. In addition, because substantially all of our products are distributed from one location, our operations could also be interrupted by labor difficulties, or by floods, fires, earthquakes or other natural disasters near such facility. For example, a majority of our ocean shipments go through the ports in Los Angeles, which were recently subject to significant processing delays due to labor issues involving the port workers. We maintain business interruption insurance and are a beneficiary under similar Kellwood insurance policies related to Kellwood assets or services we utilize under the Shared Services Agreement. These policies, however, may not adequately protect us from the adverse effects that could result from significant disruptions to our distribution system. If we encounter problems with our distribution system, our ability to meet customer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve targeted operating efficiencies could be harmed. Any of the foregoing factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

The extent of our foreign sourcing may adversely affect our business.

Our products are primarily produced by, and purchased or procured from, independent manufacturing contractors located outside of the U.S., with approximately 96% of our total revenue for fiscal 2014 attributable to manufacturing contractors located outside of the U.S. These manufacturing contractors are located mainly in countries in Asia and South America, with approximately 88% of our purchases for fiscal 2014 attributable to manufacturing contractors located in China. A manufacturing contractor’s failure to ship products to us in a timely manner or to meet the required quality standards could cause us to miss the delivery date requirements of our customers for those items. The failure to make timely deliveries may cause customers to cancel orders, refuse to accept deliveries or demand reduced prices, any of which could have a material adverse effect on us. As a result of the magnitude of our foreign sourcing, our business is subject to the following risks:

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If these risks limit or prevent us from manufacturing products in any significant international market, prevent us from acquiring products from foreign suppliers, or significantly increase the cost of our products, our operations could be seriously disrupted until alternative suppliers are found or alternative markets are developed, which could negatively impact our business.

We do not have written agreements with any of our third-party manufacturing contractors. As a result, any single manufacturing contractor could unilaterally terminate its relationship with us at any time. One of our manufacturers in China, with whom we have worked for over five years, accounted for the production of approximately 16% of our finished products during fiscal 2014. Supply disruptions from this manufacturer (or any of our other manufacturers) could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer demands, if we are unable to source suitable replacement materials at acceptable prices or at all. Our inability to promptly replace manufacturing contractors that terminate their relationships with us or cease to provide high quality products in a timely and cost-efficient manner could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials could cause delays and increase costs and cause our operating results and financial condition to suffer.

Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of the fabrics or other raw materials, particularly cotton, silk, leather and synthetics used in our manufactured apparel, could have a material adverse effect on cost of sales or our ability to meet customer demands. The prices of fabrics depend largely on the market prices of the raw materials used to produce them. The price and availability of the raw materials and, in turn, the fabrics used in our apparel may fluctuate significantly, depending on many factors, including crop yields, weather patterns, labor costs and changes in oil prices. We may not be able to create suitable design solutions that utilize raw materials with attractive prices or, alternatively, to pass higher raw materials prices and related transportation costs on to our customers. We are not always successful in our efforts to protect our business from the volatility of the market price of raw materials, and our business can be materially affected by dramatic movements in prices of raw materials. The ultimate effect of this change on our earnings cannot be quantified, as the effect of movements in raw materials prices on industry selling prices are uncertain, but any significant increase in these prices could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our reliance on independent manufacturers could cause delays or quality issues which could damage customer relationships.

We use independent manufacturers to assemble or produce all of our products, whether inside or outside the U.S. We are dependent on the ability of these independent manufacturers to adequately finance the production of goods ordered and maintain sufficient manufacturing capacity. The use of independent manufacturers to produce finished goods and the resulting lack of direct control could subject us to difficulty in obtaining timely delivery of products of acceptable quality. We generally do not have long-term contracts with any independent

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manufacturers. Alternative manufacturers, if available, may not be able to provide us with products or services of a comparable quality, at an acceptable price or on a timely basis. Identifying a suitable supplier is an involved process that requires us to become satisfied with their quality control, responsiveness and service, financial stability and labor and other ethical practices. There can be no assurance that there will not be a disruption in the supply of our products from independent manufacturers or, in the event of a disruption, that we would be able to substitute suitable alternative manufacturers in a timely manner. The failure of any independent manufacturer to perform or the loss of any independent manufacturer could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If our independent manufacturers fail to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations, our brand image could be harmed due to negative publicity.

We have established and currently maintain operating guidelines which promote ethical business practices such as fair wage practices, compliance with child labor laws and other local laws. While we monitor compliance with those guidelines, we do not control our independent manufacturers or their business practices. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee their compliance with our guidelines. A lack of demonstrated compliance could lead us to seek alternative suppliers, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery of our products, product shortages or other disruptions of our operations.

Violation of labor or other laws by our independent manufacturers or the divergence of an independent manufacturer’s labor or other practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the U.S. or other markets in which we do business could also attract negative publicity for us and our brand. From time to time, our audit results have revealed a lack of compliance in certain respects, including with respect to local labor, safety and environmental laws. Other fashion companies have faced criticism after highly-publicized incidents or compliance issues have occurred or been exposed at factories producing their products. To the extent our manufacturers do not bring their operations into compliance with such laws or resolve material issues identified in any of our audit results, we may face similar criticism and negative publicity. This could diminish the value of our brand image and reduce demand for our merchandise. In addition, other fashion companies have encountered organized boycotts of their products in such situations. If we, or other companies in our industry, encounter similar problems in the future, it could harm our brand image, stock price and results of operations.

Monitoring compliance by independent manufacturers is complicated by the fact that expectations of ethical business practices continually evolve, may be substantially more demanding than applicable legal requirements and are driven in part by legal developments and by diverse groups active in publicizing and organizing public responses to perceived ethical shortcomings. Accordingly, we cannot predict how such expectations might develop in the future and cannot be certain that our guidelines would satisfy all parties who are active in monitoring and publicizing perceived shortcomings in labor and other business practices worldwide.

Our operating results are subject to seasonal and quarterly variations in our net revenue and income from operations, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal variations in our net revenue and income from operations. Seasonal variations in our net revenue are primarily related to increased sales of our products during our fiscal third and fourth quarters, reflecting our historical strength in sales during the fall and holiday seasons. Historically, seasonable variations in our income from operations have been driven principally by increased net revenue in such fiscal quarters.

Our rapid growth may have overshadowed whatever seasonal or cyclical factors might have influenced our business to date. In addition, as our revenue mix evolves over time to include more sales from additional retail stores, we may see an increase in the percentage of sales occurring during the fourth quarter. Such seasonal or cyclical variations in our business may harm our results of operations in the future, if we do not plan inventory appropriately, if customer shopping patterns fluctuate during such seasonal periods or if bad weather during the fourth quarter constrains shopping activity.

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Any future seasonal or quarterly fluctuations in our results of operations may not match the expectations of market analysts and investors to assess the longer-term profitability and strength of our business at any particular point, which could lead to increased volatility in our stock price. Increased volatility could cause our stock price to suffer in comparison to less volatile investments.

We are subject to risks associated with leasing retail and office space, are generally subject to long-term non-cancelable leases and are required to make substantial lease payments under our operating leases, and any failure to make these lease payments when due would likely harm our business, profitability and results of operations.

We do not own any of our stores, or our offices including our New York and Los Angeles offices, or our showroom space in Paris but instead lease all of such space under operating leases. Our leases generally have initial terms of 10 years, and generally can be extended only for one additional 5-year term. All of our leases require a fixed annual rent, and most require the payment of additional rent if store sales exceed a negotiated amount. Most of our leases are “net” leases, which require us to pay all of the cost of insurance, taxes, maintenance and utilities, and we generally cannot cancel these leases at our option. Additionally, certain of our leases allow the lessor to terminate the lease if we do not achieve a specified gross sales threshold. We have experienced circumstances in the past where landlords have attempted to invoke these contractual provisions. Although we believe we will achieve the required threshold to continue those leases, we cannot assure you that we will do so. Any loss of our store locations due to underperformance may harm our results of operations, stock price and reputation.

Payments under these leases account for a significant portion of our selling, general and administrative expenses. For example, as of January 31, 2015, we were a party to operating leases associated with our retail stores and our office and showroom spaces requiring future minimum lease payments of $15.6 million in the aggregate through fiscal 2015 and approximately $134.5 million thereafter. We expect that any new retail stores we open will also be leased by us under operating leases, which will further increase our operating lease expenses and require significant capital expenditures. Our substantial operating lease obligations could have significant negative consequences, including, among others:

We depend on cash flow from operations to pay our lease expenses and to fulfill our other cash needs. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operating activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available to us from borrowings under our credit facilities or from other sources, we may not be able to service our operating lease expenses, grow our business, respond to competitive challenges or fund our other liquidity and capital needs, which would harm our business.

In addition, additional sites that we lease are likely to be subject to similar long-term non-cancelable leases. If an existing or future store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term if we cannot negotiate a mutually acceptable termination payment. In addition, as our leases expire, we may fail to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could cause us to close stores in desirable locations or incur costs in relocating our office space. Of our existing leases, no existing retail leases expire in fiscal 2015. If we are unable to enter into new leases or renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us or be released from our obligations under leases for stores that we close, our business, profitability and results of operations may be harmed.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may materially increase our costs and/or make it harder for us to compete as an employer.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act imposed new mandates on employers, requiring employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide “credible” health insurance to employees or pay a financial penalty. Given our current health plan design, and assuming the law is implemented without significant changes, these mandates could materially increase our costs. Moreover, if we choose to opt out of offering health insurance to our employees, we may become less attractive as an employer and it may be harder for us to compete for qualified employees.

Changes in laws, including employment laws and laws related to our merchandise, could make conducting our business more expensive or otherwise change the way we do business.

We are subject to numerous regulations, including labor and employment, customs, truth-in-advertising, consumer protection, and zoning and occupancy laws and ordinances that regulate retailers generally or govern the importation, promotion and sale of merchandise and the operation of stores and warehouse facilities. If these regulations were to change or were violated by our management, employees, vendors, independent manufacturers or partners, the costs of certain goods could increase, or we could experience delays in shipments of our products, be subject to fines or penalties, or suffer reputational harm, which could reduce demand for our merchandise and hurt our business and results of operations.

In addition to increased regulatory compliance requirements, changes in laws could make ordinary conduct of business more expensive or require us to change the way we do business. For example, changes in federal and state minimum wage laws could raise the wage requirements for certain of our employees at our retail locations, which would increase our selling costs and may cause us to reexamine our wage structure for such employees. Other laws related to employee benefits and treatment of employees, including laws related to limitations on employee hours, supervisory status, leaves of absence, mandated health benefits, overtime pay, unemployment tax rates and citizenship requirements, could negatively impact us, by increasing compensation and benefits costs which would in turn reduce our profitability.

Moreover, changes in product safety or other consumer protection laws could lead to increased costs to us for certain merchandise, or additional labor costs associated with readying merchandise for sale. It is often difficult for us to plan and prepare for potential changes to applicable laws and future actions or payments related to such changes could be material to us.

Our operations are restricted by our new credit facilities entered into on November 27, 2013.

We entered into a revolving credit facility and a term loan facility in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions closed on November 27, 2013. Our new facilities contain significant restrictive covenants. These covenants may impair our financing and operational flexibility and make it difficult for us to react to market conditions and satisfy our ongoing capital needs and unanticipated cash requirements. Specifically, such covenants will likely restrict our ability and, if applicable, the ability of our subsidiaries to, among other things:

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Our ability to comply with the covenants and other terms of our debt obligations will depend on our future operating performance. If we fail to comply with such covenants and terms, we would be required to obtain waivers from our lenders to maintain compliance with our debt obligations. If we are unable to obtain any necessary waivers and the debt is accelerated, a material adverse effect on our financial condition and future operating performance would likely result. The terms of our debt obligations may restrict or delay our ability to fulfill our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. In accordance with the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement, delayed or unpaid amounts thereunder would accrue interest at a default rate of one-year LIBOR plus 200 basis points until paid. Our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could result in a failure to comply with covenants or financial ratios required by our debt financing agreements and could result in an event of default under such a debt financing. See “Tax Receivable Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for further information.

We are required to pay to the Pre-IPO Stockholders 85% of certain tax benefits, and could be required to make substantial cash payments in which our stockholders will not participate.

We entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement with the Pre-IPO Stockholders in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions which closed on November 27, 2013. Under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we will be obligated to pay to the Pre-IPO Stockholders an amount equal to 85% of the cash savings in federal, state and local income tax realized by us by virtue of our future use of the federal, state and local net operating losses (“NOLs”) held by us as of November 27, 2013, together with section 197 intangible deductions (collectively, the “Pre-IPO Tax Benefits”). “Section 197 intangible deductions” means amortization deductions with respect to certain amortizable intangible assets which are held by us and our subsidiaries immediately after November 27, 2013. Cash tax savings generally will be computed by comparing our actual federal, state and local income tax liability to the amount of such taxes that we would have been required to pay had such Pre-IPO Tax Benefits not been available to us. While payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement will depend upon a number of factors, including the amount and timing of taxable income we generate in the future and any future limitations that may be imposed on our ability to use the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits, the payments could be substantial. Assuming the federal, state and local corporate income tax rates presently in effect, no material change in applicable tax law and no limitation on our ability to use the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, as amended (the “Code”), the estimated cash benefit of the full use of these Pre-IPO Tax Benefits would be approximately $202 million, of which 85%, or approximately $172 million, is potentially payable to the Pre-IPO Stockholders under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. The Tax Receivable Agreement accordingly could require us to make substantial cash payments.

Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) to challenge any tax benefits arising under the Tax Receivable Agreement, the affiliates of Sun Capital will not reimburse us for any payments previously made if such benefits subsequently were disallowed, although the amount of any tax savings subsequently disallowed will reduce any future payment otherwise owed to the Pre-IPO Stockholders. For example, if our determinations regarding the applicability (or lack thereof) and amount of any limitations on the NOLs under Section 382 of the Code were to be successfully challenged by the IRS after payments relating to such NOLs had been made to the Pre-IPO Stockholders, we would not be reimbursed by the Pre-IPO Stockholders and our recovery would be limited to the extent of future payments (if any) otherwise remaining under the Tax Receivable Agreement. As a result, in such circumstances we could make payments to the Pre-IPO Stockholders under the Tax Receivable Agreement in excess of our actual cash

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tax savings. Furthermore, while we will generally only make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement after we have recognized a cash flow benefit from the utilization of the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits (other than upon a change of control or other acceleration event), the payments required under the agreement could require us to use a substantial portion of our cash from operations for those purposes.

At the effective date of the Tax Receivable Agreement, the liability recognized was accounted for in our financial statements as a reduction of additional paid-in capital. Subsequent changes in the Tax Receivable Agreement liability will be recorded through earnings in operating expenses. Even if the NOLs are available to us, the Tax Receivable Agreement will operate to transfer 85% of the benefit to the Pre-IPO Stockholders. Additionally, the payments we make to the Pre-IPO Stockholders under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not expected to give rise to any incidental tax benefits to us, such as deductions or an adjustment to the basis of our assets.

Federal and state laws impose substantial restrictions on the utilization of NOL carry-forwards in the event of an “ownership change,” as defined in Section 382 of the Code. Under the rules, such an ownership change is generally any change in ownership of more than 50 percent of a company’s stock within a rolling three-year period, as calculated in accordance with the rules. The rules generally operate by focusing on changes in ownership among stockholders considered by the rules as owning directly or indirectly 5% or more of the stock of the company and any change in ownership arising from new issuances of stock by the company.

While we have performed an analysis under Section 382 of the Code that indicates the IPO and Restructuring Transactions would not constitute an ownership change, such technical guidelines are complex and subject to significant judgment and interpretation. With the IPO and Restructuring Transactions and other transactions that have occurred over the past three years, we may trigger or have already triggered an “ownership change” limitation. We may also experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in stock ownership. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use the pre-change NOL carry-forwards (after giving effect to payments to be made to the Pre-IPO Stockholders under the Tax Receivable Agreement) to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, our analysis to date under Section 382 of the Code indicates that the IPO Restructuring Transactions have not triggered an “ownership change” limitation.

If we did not enter into the Tax Receivable Agreement, we would be entitled to realize the full economic benefit of the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits, to the extent allowed by federal, state and local law, including Section 382 of the Code. Subject to exceptions, the Tax Receivable Agreement is designed with the objective of causing our annual cash costs attributable to federal state and local income taxes (without regard to our continuing 15% interest in the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits) to be the same as we would have paid had we not had the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits available to offset our federal, state and local taxable income. As a result, we will not be entitled to the economic benefit of the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits that would have been available if the Tax Receivable Agreement were not in effect (except to the extent of our continuing 15% interest in the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits).

In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the Pre-IPO stockholders may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits.

Upon the election of an affiliate of Sun Capital to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement pursuant to a change in control (as defined in the Tax Receivable Agreement) or upon our election to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement early, all of our payment and other obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be accelerated and will become due and payable. Additionally, the Tax Receivable Agreement provides that in the event that we breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement by operation of law as a result of the rejection of the Tax Receivable Agreement in a case commenced under Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) then all of our payment and other obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be accelerated and will become due and payable.

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In the case of any such acceleration, we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to 85% of the present value of the tax savings represented by any portion of the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits for which payment under the Tax Receivable Agreement has not already been made, which upfront payment may be made years in advance of the actual realization of such future benefits. Such payments could be substantial and could exceed our actual cash tax savings from the Pre-IPO Tax Benefits. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. There can be no assurance that we will have sufficient cash available or that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.

If we were to elect to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement, based on a discount rate equal to monthly LIBOR plus 200 basis points, we estimate that we would be required to pay approximately $159 million in the aggregate under the Tax Receivable Agreement.

We could incur significant costs in complying with environmental, health and safety laws or as a result of satisfying any liability or obligation imposed under such laws.

Our operations are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. We could be held liable for the costs to address contamination of any real property ever owned, operated or used as a disposal site. In addition, in the event that Kellwood becomes financially incapable of addressing the environmental liability incurred prior to the structural reorganization separating Kellwood from Vince that occurred on November 27, 2013, a third party may file suit and attempt to allege that Kellwood and Vince engaged in a fraudulent transfer by arguing that the purpose of the separation of the non-Vince assets from Vince Holding Corp. was to insulate our assets from the environmental liability. For example, pursuant to a Consent Decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the State of Missouri, a non-Vince subsidiary, which was separated from us in the Restructuring Transactions, is conducting a cleanup of contamination at the site of a plant in New Haven, Missouri, which occurred between 1973 and 1985. Kellwood has posted a letter of credit in the amount of $5.9 million as a performance guarantee for the estimated cost of the required remediation work. If, despite the financial assurance provided by Kellwood as required by the EPA, Kellwood became financially unable to address this remediation, and if the corporate separateness of Vince is disregarded or if a fraudulent transfer is found to have occurred, we could be liable for the full amount of the remediation. If this were to occur or if we were to become liable for other environmental liabilities or obligations, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We will continue to incur significant expenses as a result of being a public company, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

We will continue to incur significant legal, accounting, insurance, share-based compensation and other expenses as a result of being a public company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as related rules implemented by the SEC and the securities regulators and by the NYSE, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect that compliance with these laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act once we are no longer an emerging growth company, will substantially increase our expenses, including our legal and accounting costs, and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these laws, rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or to incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers. To assist in the recruitment of qualified directors, officers and other members of senior management and to help align their interests with those of our stockholders, we have made and intend to continue to make equity grants under our current management equity incentive plan (the “Vince 2013 Incentive Plan”). As a result of the foregoing, we expect an increase in legal, accounting, insurance, share-based compensation and certain other expenses in the future, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

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Risks Related to Our Structure and Ownership

We are a “controlled company,” controlled by investment funds advised by affiliates of Sun Capital, whose interests in our business may be different from yours.

Affiliates of Sun Capital owned approximately 55% of our outstanding common stock as of March 20, 2015. As such, affiliates of Sun Capital will, for the foreseeable future, have significant influence over our reporting and corporate management and affairs, and will be able to control virtually all matters requiring stockholder approval. For so long as affiliates of Sun Capital own 30% or more of our outstanding shares of common stock, Sun Cardinal, LLC, an affiliate of Sun Capital, will have the right to designate a majority of our board of directors. For so long as affiliates of Sun Capital have the right to designate a majority of our board of directors, the directors designated by affiliates of Sun Capital are expected to constitute a majority of each committee of our board of directors, other than the Audit Committee, and the chairman of each of the committees, other than the Audit Committee, is expected to be a director serving on such committee who is designated by affiliates of Sun Capital, provided that, at such time as we are not a “controlled company” under the NYSE corporate governance standards, our committee membership will comply with all applicable requirements of those standards and a majority of our board of directors will be “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the NYSE (subject to applicable phase-in rules).

As a “controlled company,” the rules of the NYSE exempt us from the obligation to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that a majority of our board of directors consists of “independent directors,” as defined under such rules, and that we have nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees that are each composed entirely of independent directors. These exemptions do not modify the requirement for a fully independent audit committee, which we have. Similarly, once we are no longer a “controlled company,” we must comply with the independent board committee requirements as they relate to the nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees, which are permitted to be phased-in as follows: (1) one independent committee member on the date we cease to be a “controlled company” (2) a majority of independent committee members within 90 days of such date; and (3) all independent committee members within one year of such date. Additionally, we will have 12 months from the date we cease to be a “controlled company” to have a majority of independent directors on our board of directors.

Affiliates of Sun Capital control actions to be taken by us, our board of directors and our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and approval of significant corporate transactions, including mergers and sales of substantially all of our assets. The directors designated by affiliates of Sun Capital have the authority, subject to the terms of our indebtedness and the rules and regulations of the NYSE, to issue additional stock, implement stock repurchase programs, declare dividends and make other decisions. The NYSE independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet the independence standard are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply against Sun Capital or its affiliates, or any of our directors who are associates of, or affiliated with, Sun Capital, in a manner that would prohibit them from investing in competing businesses or doing business with our partners or customers. It is possible that the interests of Sun Capital and its affiliates may in some circumstances conflict with our interests and the interests of our other stockholders, including you. For example, Sun Capital may have different tax positions from other stockholders which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when we should dispose of assets, whether and when we should incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, especially in light of the existence of the Tax Receivable Agreement, and whether and when we should terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement and accelerate our obligations thereunder. In addition, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration tax or other considerations of Sun Capital and its affiliates even where no similar benefit would accrue to us. See “Tax Receivable Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for additional information.

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We are a holding company and we are dependent upon distributions from our subsidiaries to pay dividends, taxes and other expenses.

Vince Holding Corp. is a holding company with no material assets other than its ownership of membership interests in Vince Intermediate Holding, LLC, a holding company that has no material assets other than its interest in Vince, LLC. Neither Vince Holding Corp. nor Vince Intermediate Holding, LLC have any independent means of generating revenue. To the extent that we need funds, for a cash dividend to holders of our common stock or otherwise, and Vince Intermediate Holding, LLC or Vince, LLC is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition.

We file consolidated income tax returns on behalf of Vince Holding Corp. and Vince Intermediate Holding, LLC. Most of our future tax obligations will likely be attributed to the operations of Vince, LLC. Accordingly, most of the payments against the Tax Receivable Agreement will be attributed to the operations of Vince, LLC. We intend to cause Vince, LLC to pay distributions or make funds available to us in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and any payments due to certain of our stockholders under the Tax Receivable Agreement. If, as a consequence of these various limitations and restrictions, we do not have sufficient funds to pay tax or other liabilities, we may have to borrow funds and thus our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest at a default rate of one-year LIBOR plus 500 basis points until paid. See “Tax Receivable Agreement” under Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form 10-K for more information regarding the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement.

Anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws could delay and discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider to be favorable.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our Company more difficult without the approval of our board of directors. These provisions include:

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also contains a provision that provides us with protections similar to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), and prevents us from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group who acquires at least 15% of our voting stock for a period of three years from the date such person became an interested stockholder, unless board or stockholder approval is obtained prior to acquisition. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that both Sun Capital and its affiliates and any persons to whom a Sun Capital affiliate sells its common stock will be deemed to have been approved by our board of directors.

These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions under Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change of control of our Company, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the sole and exclusive forum for any of the following: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We are an “emerging growth company” and have elected to comply with reduced public company reporting requirements, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined by the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we have chosen to take advantage of certain exemptions from various public company reporting requirements. These exemptions include, but are not limited to, (i) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports, proxy statements and registration statements, and (iii) exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years after the first sale of our common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), which such fifth anniversary will occur in 2018. However, if certain events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, including if we become a “large accelerated filer,” our annual gross revenues exceed $1.0 billion or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period, we would cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period. We will become a large accelerated filer the year after we have an aggregate worldwide market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of $700 million or more. We have taken advantage of certain of the reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this annual report on Form 10-K and may elect to take advantage of other reduced burdens in future filings. As a result, the information we provide to holders of our common stock may be different than you might receive from other public reporting companies in

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which you hold equity interests. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choice we make to reduce disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the price for our common stock may be more volatile.

As an emerging growth company we are not required to comply with the rules of the SEC implementing Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and therefore our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting until the year following the year we cease to be an emerging growth company. We are required, however, to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Section 302 and 404 other than 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These rules require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report as and when required by Section 404 or we are required to restate our financial statements, we may fail to meet our public reporting obligations and investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative impact on the trading price of our stock.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. However, we have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

None.

We do not own any real estate. Our 33,009 square-foot principal executive and administrative offices are located at 500 Fifth Avenue, 19th and 20th Floors, New York, New York 10110 and are leased under an agreement expiring in April 2025. In July 2014, we signed a lease for a 28,541 square-foot design studio located at 900 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, California leased under an agreement expiring in July 2020. We moved into the new design studio space in February 2015 after the expiration in January 2015 of our previous 17,640 square-foot design studio at 5410 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. In December 2014, we signed a lease for a 4,209 square-foot showroom space in Paris, France which opened in March 2015, and is leased under an agreement expiring in December 2020.

As of January 31, 2015, we leased approximately 81,374 gross square feet related to our 37 retail stores. Our leases generally have initial terms of 10 years and cannot be extended or can be extended for one additional 5-year term. Our leases require a fixed annual rent, and most require the payment of additional rent if store sales exceed a negotiated amount. Most of our leases are “net” leases, which require us to pay all of the cost of insurance, taxes, maintenance and utilities. Although we generally cannot cancel these leases at our option, certain of our leases allow us, and in some cases, the lessor, to terminate the lease if we do not achieve a specified gross sales threshold.

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The following store list shows the location, opening date, type and size of our retail locations as of January 31, 2015:

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We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims, which arise in the ordinary course of our business. Although the outcome of these and other claims cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not believe that the ultimate resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operation.

Not applicable.

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Part II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Information

Our common stock has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “VNCE” since November 22, 2013. Prior to that time there was no public market for our stock. The following table sets forth the high and low sale prices of our common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange:

Record Holders

As of March 20, 2015 there were 3 record holders of our common stock.

Dividends

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, because we are a holding company, our ability to pay dividends depends on our receipt of cash distributions from our subsidiaries. The terms of our indebtedness substantially restrict the ability to pay dividends. See “Current Existing Credit Facilities and Debt (Post IPO and Restructuring Transactions)” under “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” of this annual report on Form 10-K for a description of the related restrictions.

Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions contained in current and future financing instruments and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant.

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Performance Graph

The following graph shows a monthly comparison of the cumulative total return on a $100 investment in the Company’s common stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the Standard & Poor’s Retail Select Industry Index. The cumulative total return for the Vince Holding Corp. common stock assumes an initial investment of $100 in the common stock of the Company on November 22, 2013, which was the Company’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its IPO. The cumulative total returns for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the Standard & Poor’s Retail Select Industry Index assume an initial investment of $100 on October 31, 2013. The comparison also assumes the reinvestment of any dividends. The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

This performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.

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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

We did not repurchase any shares of common stock during the three months ended January 31, 2015.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

We did not sell any unregistered securities during fiscal year 2014.

The selected historical consolidated financial data set forth below for each of the years in the four-year period ended January 31, 2015 and as of January 31, 2015 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements.

The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any future period. The information should be read in conjunction with “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this annual report on Form 10-K and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included herein.

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A store is included in the comparable store sales calculation after it has completed at least 12 full fiscal months of operations. Non-comparable store sales include new stores which have not completed at least 12 full fiscal months of operations and sales from closed stores. In the event that we relocate, or change square footage of an existing store, we would treat that store as a non-comparable store until it has completed at least 12 full fiscal months of operation following the relocation or square footage adjustment. For 53-week fiscal years, we do not adjust comparable store sales to exclude the additional week.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

This discussion summarizes our consolidated operating results, financial condition and liquidity during each of the years in the three-year period ended January 31, 2015. Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to January 31. Fiscal years 2014, 2013 and 2012 ended on January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013, respectively. Fiscal years 2014 and 2013 consisted of 52 weeks and fiscal year 2012 consisted of 53 weeks. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.

On November 27, 2013, Vince Holding Corp. completed the IPO and the Restructuring Transactions. As a result, the non-Vince businesses were separated from the Vince business. The Vince business is now the sole operating business of Vince Holding Corp. Historical financial information for the non-Vince businesses has been included as discontinued operations until the businesses were separated on November 27, 2013.

This discussion contains forward-looking statements involving risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our results to differ materially from expectations. Factors that might cause such differences include those described under “Item 1A—Risk Factors,” “Disclosures Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.

Executive Overview

Vince is a leading contemporary fashion brand best known for modern effortless style and everyday luxury essentials. Founded in 2002, the brand now offers a wide range of women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, women’s and men’s footwear, and handbags. Vince products are sold in prestige distribution worldwide, including over 2,400 distribution points across 45 countries. Vince has generated strong sales momentum over the last decade. We believe that we will achieve continued success by expanding our product assortment distributed through premier wholesale partners in the U.S. and select international markets, as well as in our own branded retail locations and on our e-commerce platform.

As of January 31, 2015, we sold our products at 2,394 doors through our wholesale partners in the U.S. and international markets and we operated 37 retail stores, including 28 full price stores and nine outlet stores, throughout the United States.

The following is a summary of fiscal 2014 highlights:

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We serve our customers through a variety of channels that reinforce the Vince brand image. Our diversified channel strategy allows us to introduce our products to customers through multiple distribution points that are reported in two segments: wholesale and direct-to-consumer.

The following is a summary of our wholesale and direct-to-consumer net sales for fiscal years 2014, 2013 and 2012:

We have expanded our operations rapidly since our inception in 2002, and we have limited operating experience at our current size. Our growth in net sales has also led to increased selling, general and administrative expenses. We have made and are making investments to support our near and longer-term growth. If our operations continue to grow over the longer term, of which there can be no assurance, we will be required to expand our sales and marketing, product development and distribution functions, to upgrade our management information systems and other processes, and to obtain more space for our expanding administrative support and other headquarters personnel.

While we believe our growth strategy offers significant opportunities, it also presents risks and challenges, including among others, the risks that we may not be able to hire and train qualified associates, that our new product offerings and expanded sales channels may not maintain or enhance our brand image and that our distribution facilities and information systems may not be adequate to support our growth plans. For a more complete discussions of risks facing our business see “Item 1A—Risk Factors” of this annual report on Form 10-K.

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Results of Operations

Fiscal 2014 Compared to Fiscal 2013

The following table presents, for the periods indicated, our operating results as a percentage of net sales as well as earnings per share data:

Net Sales for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 were $340.4 million, increasing $52.2 million, or 18.1% versus $288.2 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. The increase in sales compared to the prior year is due to an increase in volume across both of our business segments. The following is a summary of our net sales by segment for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 and the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014:

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Net sales from our wholesale segment increased $30.3 million, or 13.2%, to $259.4 million in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 from $229.1 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 driven by strong performance in both our domestic and international markets. The expansion of our wholesale business contributed to the sales increase as our wholesale door counts increased by a net 94 wholesale doors and we opened 21 additional shop-in-shops that are operated by our domestic and international partners. Additionally, there are two international free-standing stores which are operated by our distribution partners, one in Tokyo that opened in the fall of 2013, and one in Istanbul that opened in the spring of 2014.

Net sales from our direct-to-consumer segment increased $21.9 million, or 37.1%, to $81.0 million in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 from $59.1 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. This sales growth was due to (i) comparable retail store sales growth of 7.8% which was driven primarily by increased transactions and contributed $3.3 million, (ii) opening nine new stores as compared to the end of the prior fiscal year (bringing our total retail store count to 37 as of January 31, 2015, compared to 28 as of February 1, 2014) inclusive of non-comparable sales growth contributing $15.3 million, and (iii) e-commerce sales growth contributing $3.3 million.

Gross Profit/Gross Margin rate increased 280 basis points to 49.0% for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 compared to 46.2% for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. The total gross margin rate increase was driven primarily by the following factors:

Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 were $96.6 million, increasing $12.9 million, or 15.4%, versus $83.7 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. The increase in SG&A expenses compared to the prior year period were primarily due to:

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The following is a summary of our operating income by segment for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 and the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014:

Operating income from our wholesale segment increased $18.8 million, or 23.0%, to $100.6 million in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 from $81.8 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. This increase was driven primarily from the sales volume increase of $30.3 million and gross margin rate improvement noted above as well as the impact of wholesale segment operating expenses which were lower as a percentage of net sales versus the prior fiscal year.

Operating income from our direct-to-consumer segment increased $4.1 million, or 39.5% to $14.6 million in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 from $10.4 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. The increase resulted primarily from the sales volume increase of $21.9 million and gross margin rate improvement noted above which more than offset the additional operating expenses incurred, primarily as a result of opening new stores, during the period to support the sales growth.

Interest expense for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 was $9.7 million, decreasing $8.3 million, or 46.2%, versus $18.0 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. Interest expense decreased as we had lower average debt balances period over period. The decrease in overall debt balances was primarily due to certain affiliates of Sun Capital contributing certain outstanding indebtedness to the Company in June 2013, thus eliminating interest expense on approximately $407.5 million in debt at that time. On November 27, 2013, in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions, we entered into a $175.0 million Term Loan Facility and a $50.0 million Revolving Credit Facility. Interest expense for fiscal 2014 relates to interest charges under these facilities.

Other expense, net, was $0.8 million for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 compared to $0.7 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014.

Provision for income taxes for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 was $24.0 million as compared to $7.3 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. Our effective tax rate on pretax income for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 and the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 was 40.2% and 23.7%, respectively. The rate for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 differed from the U.S. statutory rate of 35.0% primarily due to state taxes. The rate for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 differed from the U.S. statutory rate of 35.0% primarily due to changes in our valuation allowance offset in part by state taxes and nondeductible interest.

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Net loss from discontinued operations

The separation of the non-Vince businesses was completed on November 27, 2013. Net loss from discontinued operations was $50.8 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014.

Net income (loss)

Net income was $35.7 million for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015, increasing $63.1 million from a net loss of $(27.4) million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. The increase in net income was primarily due to increased income from operations of $20.9 million, reduced interest expense of $8.3 million and a lower net loss from discontinued operations of $50.8 million, partially offset by the increase in income taxes of $16.7 million.

Results of Operations

Fiscal 2013 Compared to Fiscal 2012

The following table presents, for the periods indicated, our operating results as a percentage of net sales as well as earnings per share data:

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Net Sales for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 were $288.2 million, increasing $47.8 million, or 19.9%, versus $240.4 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. The increase in sales compared to the prior year is due to an increase in volume across both of our business segments. The following is a summary of our net sales by segment for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 and the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013:

Net sales from our wholesale segment increased $26.0 million, or 12.8%, to $229.1 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 from $203.1 million in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. We increased volume with many of our premier wholesale partners through increased sales productivity in existing doors, including our first women’s shop-in-shop at Saks Fifth Avenue, opened in September 2012, and the opening of 20 additional shop-in-shops with our domestic and international partners. Additionally, there is one international free-standing store in Tokyo that is operated by one of our distribution partners that opened in the fall of 2013.

Net sales from our direct-to-consumer segment increased $21.8 million, or 58.6%, to $59.1 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 from $37.2 million in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. This sales growth was due to (i) comparable retail store sales growth of 20.6% contributing $5.5 million, (ii) opening six net new stores as compared to the prior year (bringing our total retail store count to 28 as of February 1, 2014, compared to 22 as of February 2, 2013) inclusive of non-comparable sales growth contributing $12.7 million, and (iii) e-commerce sales growth contributing $3.5 million.

Gross Profit/Gross Margin rate increased 120 basis points to 46.2% for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 compared to 45.0% for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. The total margin rate increase was driven by a higher percentage of our sales coming from the direct-to-consumer segment, in which we generally recognize higher margins, and an increased percentage of full-price to off-price sales in our wholesale segment. The margin rate was unfavorably impacted during the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 by increased inventory reserves, and increased margin assistance provided to our wholesale partners.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 were $83.7 million, increasing $16.4 million, or 24.4%, versus $67.3 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. The increase in SG&A expenses compared to the prior year period was primarily due to:

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The following is a summary of our operating income by segment for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 and the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013:

Operating income from our wholesale segment increased $8.9 million, or 12.2%, to $81.8 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 from $72.9 million in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. This increase was driven primarily from the sales volume increase of $26.0 million and a decrease in operating expenses as a percentage of wholesale sales, partially offset by a reduction in the gross margin rate primarily due to charges associated with recording additional inventory reserves. The decrease in operating expenses as a percentage of net wholesale sales resulted as our net wholesale sales grew at a rate greater than our expenses during fiscal 2013.

Operating income from our direct-to-consumer segment increased $6.0 million, or 133.7% to $10.4 million in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 from $4.5 million in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. The increase resulted primarily from the sales volume increase of $21.8 million which more than offset the additional operating expenses incurred during the period to support the sales growth.

Interest expense for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 was $18.0 million, decreasing $50.7 million, or 73.8%, versus $68.7 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. Interest expense decreased as we had lower average debt balances period over period. The decrease in overall debt balances was primarily due to certain affiliates of Sun Capital contributing certain outstanding indebtedness to the Company in June 2013, thus eliminating interest expense on approximately $407.5 million in debt at that time. On November 27, 2013, in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions, we entered into the Term Loan Facility and the Revolving Credit Facility.

Other expense, net, was $0.7 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 as compared to $0.8 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013.

Provision for income taxes for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 was $7.3 million, increasing $6.1 million versus $1.2 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. Our effective tax rate on pretax income for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 and the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013 was 23.7% and (4.1%), respectively. The rates for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014 and the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013 differed from the U.S. statutory rate of 35.0% primarily due to state taxes, nondeductible interest and changes in our valuation allowances.

Net loss from discontinued operations

The separation of the non-Vince businesses was completed on November 27, 2013. Net loss from discontinued operations was $50.8 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014, decreasing $27.2 million, or 34.9%, from a net loss of $78.0 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013.

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Net loss

Net loss was $27.4 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014, decreasing $80.3 million, or 74.5%, from a net loss of $107.7 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. The reduction in our net loss was primarily due to increased income from operations of $8.4 million, reduced interest expense of $50.7 million and a lower net loss from discontinued operations of $27.2 million, partially offset by the increase in income taxes of $6.1 million.

Discontinued Operations

On November 27, 2013, in connection with the IPO and Restructuring Transactions, we separated the Vince and non-Vince businesses whereby the non-Vince businesses are now owned by Kellwood Holding, LLC, which is controlled by affiliates of Sun Capital. As the Company and Kellwood Holding, LLC were under the common control of affiliates of Sun Capital, this separation transaction resulted in a $73.1 million adjustment to additional paid-in capital on our Consolidated Balance Sheet at February 1, 2014.

As a result of the separation with the non-Vince businesses, the financial results for the non-Vince businesses, through the separation on November 27, 2013, are now included in results from discontinued operations. The non-Vince businesses continue to operate as a stand-alone company. Due to differences in the basis of presentation for discontinued operations and the basis of presentation as a stand-alone company, the financial results of the non-Vince businesses included within discontinued operations of the Company may not be indicative of actual financial results of the non-Vince businesses as a stand-alone company.

In connection with the Restructuring Transactions, the Company issued a promissory note (the “Kellwood Note Receivable”) to Kellwood Company, LLC, in the amount of $341.5 million. Following the completion of the IPO and the Company’s entry into the Term Loan Facility and the Revolving Credit Facility, the Company used proceeds from the IPO and borrowings under the Term Loan Facility to repay the Kellwood Note Receivable, which proceeds, in turn, were primarily used by Kellwood to repay, discharge or repurchase indebtedness of Kellwood Company, LLC. As a result, neither Vince Holding Corp. nor any of its consolidated subsidiaries have any obligations with respect to the Wells Fargo Facility, the Cerberus Term Loan, the Sun Term Loan Agreements, any 12.875% Notes or any 7.625% Notes, which are each described below under “Financing Activities”.

The separation of the non-Vince businesses was completed on November 27, 2013. Accordingly, there are no results from discontinued operations reflected on the Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015. The results of the non-Vince businesses included in discontinued operations for the fiscal years ended February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013 are summarized in the following table below (in thousands, except effective tax rates).

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Net loss from discontinued operations—Fiscal 2013 Compared to Fiscal 2012

The separation of the non-Vince businesses was completed on November 27, 2013. Net loss from discontinued operations was $50.8 million for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014, decreasing $27.2 million, or 34.9%, from a net loss of $78.0 million for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013. Results for fiscal 2013 include two fewer months compared to fiscal 2012 and were positively impacted by income tax benefit of $11.6 million. This tax benefit was generated primarily as a result of the release of valuation allowance related to the allocation of a disallowed tax loss on the sale of a trademark to intangibles with indefinite lives, resulting in fewer deferred tax liabilities that cannot be offset against deferred tax assets for valuation allowance purposes.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Vince Holding Corp.’s sources of liquidity are our cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and borrowings available under the Revolving Credit Facility. Our primary cash needs are capital expenditures for new stores and related leasehold improvements, for our new offices and showroom spaces, meeting our debt service requirements, paying amounts due per the Tax Receivable Agreement, and funding working capital requirements. The most significant components of our working capital are cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, inventories, accounts payable and other current liabilities. See “—Outlook” below.

On November 27, 2013, in connection with the consummation of the IPO and Restructuring Transactions, all previously outstanding debt obligations either remained with Kellwood (i.e. the non-Vince businesses) or were discharged, repurchased or refinanced. In connection with the consummation of these transactions, Vince Holding Corp. entered into the Term Loan Facility and Revolving Credit Facility, which are discussed further below.

Operating Activities