Wet Seal

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

The Wet Seal story began in Newport Beach, California, in 1962, when Lorne Huycke opened a beachwear shop called Lorne’s. The small California chain eventually graduated from surf-adjacent basics to mall-ready apparel and accessories for young women. In 1990, it took the name Wet Seal and entered its big, glossy retail era.

Based for much of that era in Foothill Ranch, California, Wet Seal became a familiar stop on the fluorescent mall circuit: trend-led tops, denim, dresses, accessories, and the urgent feeling that this weekend’s look could not wait until next weekend. The company also operated from Irvine at different points in its corporate history.

Expansion arrived with the 1995 acquisition of 237 Contempo Casuals stores from Neiman Marcus Group, nearly tripling Wet Seal’s store count. Wet Seal later launched Arden B. in 1998, adding a more contemporary fashion concept to its portfolio. By February 2014, it operated 532 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico—an impressive amount of square footage for a brand built on quick-turn fashion energy.

Our Wet Seal collection celebrates the mall-pop optimism, dressing-room brinkmanship, and California-born fast-fashion spirit of a retailer whose physical-store run ended in 2017. The brand portfolio was acquired by Gordon Brothers that March, but the old Wet Seal mood remains: glossy, loud, and fully prepared for a food-court photo op.