DIM

Dim Brands International launched the Dim Move sportswear line in September 2024, the first major category extension under Regent LP ownership and a strategic response to the post-Paris Olympics surge in French consumer sports engagement. The 60-product collection spans men’s and women’s apparel plus accessories, positioned around comfort and freedom-of-movement rather than performance competition. DBI (the rebranded Hanes Europe Innerwear) has been controlled by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Regent LP since Q1 2022, when HanesBrands sold the European innerwear business for a symbolic €1 to refocus on its US core operations. Regent LP’s broader portfolio includes La Senza, Escada, and Club Monaco alongside DBI.

Dim was founded in 1953 in France by Bernard Giberstein as Bas Dimanche, a small Autun-based hosiery company that pioneered affordable elegant stockings before rebranding to Dim and expanding into the broader innerwear category over subsequent decades. The brand passed through Sara Lee Corporation ownership before Sun Capital Partners acquired DBApparel in 2006, followed by HanesBrands’ acquisition for €400 million in 2014. Under Regent LP, DBI operates a five-brand portfolio across Europe: Dim (France, the flagship), Nur Die (Germany), Lovable (Italy), Abanderado (Spain), and Bellinda (Czech Republic), plus continued French distribution of HanesBrands-owned Playtex under license. CEO François Riston (continuing from the HanesBrands era) and Vice President Jean-Raphaël Hétier lead the operational structure, with manufacturing concentrated at the Autun, France factory employing approximately 650 people.

Dim Brands International reported approximately €500 million in 2023 revenue across the portfolio, with the Dim brand specifically generating half of group sales, and employs approximately 3,000 people across 10 European countries. Dim holds market leadership positions in France: number one in men’s underwear (16.4% market share), number one in hosiery (23.9% share), and number two in women’s underwear (11% share); the brand ranks third in Spanish and German underwear, hosiery, and socks markets. Distribution is dominated by mass retail partnerships (approximately 70% of revenue) including French hypermarkets (Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan, Intermarché), supermarkets, and department stores, supplemented by selective directly run branded retail (a smaller footprint) and growing e-commerce. For mall operators, Dim is not a primary mall tenant counterparty: the brand reaches consumers predominantly through grocery and department store wholesale rather than directly run mall retail, with limited branded-store openings handled through the Rueil-Malmaison headquarters commercial team.