What Happened to the Arielle Charnas-Founded Company Something Navy?

Influencer Arielle Charnas launched a fashion brand, at the height of the 2020 pandemic. Something Navy was originally her own lifestyle blog but became a fashion company as her brand evolved. Despite the difficult financial landscape of 2020, she was able to kick-start her business and create something meaningful and popular.

Yet over the past few years, the brand has quietly dwindled to nothing. Rumors fly readily about what happened and why the brand went under, but what really happened? Here's what happened, as far as we know.

In 2020, Something Navy launched in July, according to Business Insider. The brand was originally slated for a March 2020 launch, but the timing of the pandemic pushed it back. In the first round of raising money, the company earned an impressive $17.5 million to launch. This came on the heels of a collaboration between Arielle and Nordstrom, so she had already proven her mettle in the fashion world.

After the first year, the company earned around $32 million in revenue and was valued at an impressive $100 million. Yet as quickly as it started, things began to fall apart. By 2023, the company had begun to struggle to keep sales up. They were falling behind on payments to suppliers, and employees were leaving in droves.

In June of 2023, Something Navy's CEO Matt Scanlan left the company, and they contracted their holdings to stop the hemorrhage of money. Delaying customer orders and stopping production on the 2024 clothing line, the Something Navy brand was quickly devolving into a collapsing company.

In December 2023, it was announced that IHL Group was planning to buy and revive Something Navy. But in January 2024, they had pulled the plug. PageSix reported that they cited poor business practices for their reasoning. IHL said in an email, "In light of the backtracking and flip-flopping that we have encountered over the course of this deal, we have decided to not proceed with Something Navy.”

IHL was only going to pay $1 for the sale, but they would have taken on over $7.5 million in debt, making it an extraordinary deal. Since then, it has been rumored that Arielle was shopping around for a better deal which may have offended IHL. Although it's a nearly insulting amount to purchase a once-successful company for, it's unlikely Arielle would be able to find a deal better than one that includes assuming nearly $8 million in debt.

Rumors have also flown that Arielle's husband, Brandon Charnas, announced earlier this year as the subject of a Department of Justice probe on possible insider trading, may have stolen money from Something Navy. However, for now, any connection between Brandon and Something Navy's downfall remains rumor and speculation.

But there's as much uncertainty and speculation about what happened to Something Navy as there is solid fact. Unfortunately, until Arielle comes out and tells the full story, people will continue to fuel the rumor mill and wonder why the once-promising company suddenly went under.

In May 2024, Arielle launched a Substack and addressed some rumors, but didn't clear much up as she wrote, "I’m here today because my focus is not to rebuild a clothing brand but to go back to my grassroots. To go back to where I started to remember why I started. Because that was and is the only time I feel happy doing what I ‘do.’”

She added that the Something Navy fashion brand "was eventually run into the ground" by Matt Scanlan, although she did not name him directly. She concluded, "I’m left alone to pick up the pieces of this special brand I’ve built over the last 15 years because of the mistakes I’ve made and the people I’ve let into my world." Unfortunately, this did nothing to dispel rumors or explain plans for the brand's future. So for now, fans continue to wait for clarity.