RISK FACTORS

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

We have divided the risk factors set forth in this section into the following four categories: (i) Risks Related to Vince; (ii) Risks Related to the Restructuring Transactions; (iii) Risks Related to AHC; and (iv) Risks Related to this Offering and Our Common Stock. The risks set forth in the “Risks Related to AHC” section of this “Risk Factors” section relate to risks related to the Apparel Holding Corp. business (which includes the Vince and non-Vince businesses). Although Apparel Holding Corp. is the legal issuer of the shares offered in this offering, an investment in our common stock is an investment in the Vince business and does not constitute an investment in the non-Vince businesses.

Risks Related to Vince

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. These conditions have led and could lead to continued declines in consumer spending over the foreseeable future and 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. The current depressed economic environment has been 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 such as ours. While we have seen occasional signs of stabilization in the North American markets during 2012 and 2013, a shift towards continued recessionary conditions could adversely impact our sales volumes and overall profitability in the future. Further, the European debt crisis resulting from growing concerns that European countries could default on their national debt, has caused instability in the European economy, which is one of the areas that we are currently targeting for international expansion. Continued economic volatility and declines in the value of the Euro or other foreign currencies could negatively impact the global economy as a whole. Such a condition may have a material adverse impact on the profitability and liquidity of our international operations, as well as hinder our ability to grow through expansion in the international markets.

Economic conditions have also led to a highly promotional environment and strong discounting pressure from both our wholesale partners and retail customers, which have had a negative impact on our revenues and profitability. This promotional environment may continue even after economic growth

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returns, as we expect consumer spending trends are likely to remain at historically depressed levels for the foreseeable future. The domestic and international political situation also affects consumer confidence. The threat, outbreak or escalation of terrorism, military conflicts or other hostilities around the world could lead to further decreases in consumer spending.

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

As an apparel 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:

Competition in the apparel 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 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. These factors 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.

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,

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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 apparel 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 apparel 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 four largest wholesale partners were 61% of our total revenue for fiscal 2012 and 63% of our total revenue for the first six months of fiscal 2013. These partners, each of which accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue for fiscal 2012, include Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s. Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus each accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue for the first six months of fiscal 2013 and collectively represented 55.7% of our total revenue in such period. 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 customers 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. For example, Saks Fifth Avenue, one of our top four customers, recently agreed to be acquired by a third party. We cannot guarantee that our relationship with Saks Fifth Avenue will not be impacted by this ownership change and any strategic changes Saks Fifth Avenue may implement as a result. 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.

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

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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. As of October 5, 2013, we had seven shop-in-shops with our U.S. wholesale partners and eight shop-in-shops with our international wholesale partners. 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:

As of October 5, 2013, we had 27 stores, which consist of 21 full-price retail stores and six outlet locations. We plan to double our store base over the next three to five years, including opening a net total of six new stores in fiscal 2013. Our new stores, however, may not be immediately profitable and

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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 2013 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 more than doubled over the past two years, as we have grown our total net sales from $111.5 million in fiscal 2010 to $240.4 million in fiscal 2012 and from $90.5 million for the first six months of fiscal 2012 to $114.7 million for the first six months of fiscal 2013. 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. Kellwood will continue to provide services to us after this offering under the Shared Services Agreement. 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. If Kellwood fails to perform its obligations to us or if we do not find appropriate replacement services, we may be unable to perform these services or implement substitute arrangements on a timely and cost-effective basis on terms favorable to us.

As a business unit of Kellwood, we have 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 are using include enterprise resource planning (“ERP”), human resource management systems and distribution applications. Many of these systems are complex and either highly customized or proprietary. In conjunction with our separation from Kellwood, we are in the process of separating our assets from those of Kellwood and either creating our own financial, administrative, operational and other support systems or contracting with third parties to replace Kellwood’s systems that will not be provided to us under the terms of the Shared Services Agreement as discussed below. In order to successfully implement our own systems and operate as a stand-alone business, we must be able to attract and retain a number of highly skilled employees. We must also obtain goods, technology and services without the benefit of Kellwood’s purchasing power. As an entity separate from Kellwood, we may be unable to obtain such goods, technology and services 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.

We will enter into the Shared Services Agreement in connection with the consummation of the IPO Restructuring Transactions. The Shared Services Agreement will govern the provision by Kellwood of 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 “Other Information Related to this Offering—Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions of AHC—Shared Services Agreement” 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 could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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

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through arrangements with international partners. Our current operations are based largely in the U.S., with international sales representing approximately 8% of net sales for fiscal 2012 and 10.3% of net sales for the first six months of fiscal 2013. 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 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, denim, outerwear, women’s bottoms and dresses assortment. We also plan to develop and introduce select new product categories and pursue select additional licensing opportunities such as intimates/loungewear, men’s footwear 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.

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 entered into a licensing agreement when we launched women’s footwear in 2012 and signed a licensing agreement in 2013 for the launch of children’s apparel in 2014. We also anticipate launching men’s footwear in 2014 through a licensing partner. In the future, we may enter into select additional licensing

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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:

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:

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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 .

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 new President and Chief Creative Officer, Karin Gregersen, have been with us less than one year. 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.

Loss of key personnel could disrupt our operations.

Our continued success is dependent on the ability to attract, 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 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.

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

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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.

We license our website domain name from a third-party. Pursuant to the license agreement (the “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 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, as described in “Other Information Related to this Offering—Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions of AHC—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 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. We maintain business interruption insurance and are a beneficiary under similar Kellwood insurance policies related to Kellwood assets or services we will continue to 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 94% of our total revenue for fiscal 2012 and 93% of our total revenue for the first six months of fiscal 2013 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 70% and 21% of our purchases for fiscal 2012 and approximately 73% and 21% of our purchases for the first six months of fiscal 2013, attributable to manufacturing contractors located in China and Peru, respectively. A manufacturing

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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:

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. Two of our manufacturers in China, one of which we have worked with since our inception in 2002 and the other with whom we have worked for over five years, accounted for the production of approximately 25% and 23.5% of our finished products during fiscal 2012 and the first six months of fiscal 2013, respectively. Supply disruptions from these manufacturers (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.

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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, 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 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 apparel 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

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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 apparel 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.

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 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, but instead lease all of our retail stores 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.

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Payments under these leases account for a significant portion of our SG&A expenses. For example, as of October 5, 2013, we were a party to operating leases associated with our retail stores requiring future minimum lease payments of $6.8 million in the aggregate through fiscal 2013 and approximately $55.2 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 new 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. Of our existing leases, one retail lease expires in fiscal 2013 and no existing retail leases expire in fiscal 2014. 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.

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, including a requirement effective January 1, 2014 (which has temporarily been extended to January 1, 2015 due to a recent executive order) that employers with 50 or more full-time employees 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.

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,

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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 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 impeded 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.

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.

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

To be successful in continuing to grow our business, we will need to continue to attract, assimilate, retain and motivate highly talented employees with a range of skills and experience, especially at the store management levels. Although we have recently 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 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 recruit employees to provide, or enter into consulting or outsourcing arrangements with respect to the provision of, services to be 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 operations will be restricted by our new credit facilities.

We intend to enter into a new revolving credit facility and a new term loan facility in connection with the consummation of this offering. We expect that our new credit facilities will 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: