Curious Disappearance of Mayoral Candidate’s Fashion Brand, LVL XIII
(APN) ATLANTA — Antonio Brown, a candidate for Mayor of the City of Atlanta and an Atlanta City Councilman, has run for office on his record as a successful entrepreneur, as the founder of shoe and fashion brand, LVL XIII (pronounced “Level Thirteen”).
“From the ground up, he built LVL XIII (Level 13), a men’s fashion brand that broke barriers launching into Bloomingdales and Nordstrom nationwide”, Brown’s Mayoral campaign’s website states.
LVL XIII has boasted of a partnership between Brown and pop singer Jason DeRulo, and of shiny silver sneakers and other wares available in Nordstrom and Bloomingdales department stores.
Brown’s Mayoral campaign website neglects to mention, however, that LVL XIII no longer appears to be in operation.
Trying to pin down the brand’s corporate structure is a lot like trying to pin down the location of a quantum particle.
If Brown’s business experience is a selling point of his Mayoral campaign, then the brand’s lack of longevity and apparent inability to timely complete routine paperwork with the States of Georgia and New York, are relevant.
Today, the LVL XIII website is no longer in operation (the domain name is available for bids through sedo.com).
LVL XIII goods are no longer available on either the Nordstrom or Bloomingdales department store websites.
When Brown first ran in 2019, there were still some LVL XIII garments available online.
As recently as the summer of 2020, one t-shirt was still available on Bloomingdales.com.
But today, nothing is available online, suggesting the brand wound down over the last two years.
LVL XIII Brands, Inc., is a New York corporation founded in 2012.
In 2014, LVL XIII Brands, Inc. sued renowned international luxury fashion designer Louis Vuitton for copyright infringement, later losing to Louis Vuitton.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/complaint-and-jury-demand-lvl-xiii-brand-11357/
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2014cv04869/429007/174/
The corporation was dissolved by the State of New York but then paid to be reinstated in 2017.
The corporation does not appear to have filed paperwork with the State of New York since 2017, but for some reason is still listed as “active.”
There also are two New York LLC’s. Both, LVL XIII Apparel, LLC; and LVL XIII Footwear, LLC, were created in 2016 and do not appear to have filed paperwork with the State of New York since 2016.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, there are six entities with the name LVL XIII and associated with Brown; and each of them have been either terminated or administratively dissolved.
LVL XIII Apparel, LLC, a foreign (out of state) LLC, was revoked in 2019.
LVL XIII Brands, Inc, a foreign (out of state) LLC, was revoked in 2019.
“LVL XIII BRANDS, INC.”, a foreign (out of state) LLC (somehow with Inc. in the title while being an LLC), was revoked in 2016.
LVL XIII Entertainment Group, LLC, a Georgia LLC, was revoked in 2019.
LVL XIII Footwear LLC was revoked in 2019.
And LVL XIII MOTORS LLC, a Georgia LLC, was revoked in 2019.
Other candidates for Mayor of Atlanta include Council President Felicia A. Moore, Post 3-at-large Councilman Andre Dickens, former Mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed, and attorney Sharon Gay.
(END / Copyright Atlanta Progressive News / 2021)