Dolls Kill, Inc.

What does Dolls Kill own?

The company owns the Dolls Kill brand, its private-label lines including Club Exx, Current Mood, Poster Grl, Widow, and Sugar Thrillz, its e-commerce platform, and a small store fleet. It curates rather than owns third-party marketplace brands.

Is Dolls Kill publicly traded?

No. Dolls Kill, Inc. is privately held by its founders and venture investors. It has never filed for an initial public offering and has no stock listing.

Who founded Dolls Kill?

Bobby Farahi and Shaudi "Shoddy" Lynn founded the company in San Francisco in 2011. Farahi, who previously sold his company Multivision, is CEO. Lynn, a former DJ, is chief creative officer.

Where is Dolls Kill headquartered?

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a fulfillment operation in Southern California and stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

How many brands does Dolls Kill own?

The company operates one master brand with several private-label lines, principally Club Exx, Current Mood, Poster Grl, Widow, and Sugar Thrillz. It also sells third-party alternative brands it does not own.

Who owns Dolls Kill?

Co-founders Bobby Farahi and Shoddy Lynn are the largest shareholders and control the company. Venture capital firms Maveron and Sequoia Capital hold minority stakes from more than $60 million in funding.

How much revenue does Dolls Kill make?

The private company does not disclose revenue. Database estimates put annual sales near $50 million, while press accounts have cited figures above $150 million. The company has reported being profitable for much of its history.

Bobby Farahi and Shoddy Lynn founded the company in San Francisco in 2011. Farahi brought business infrastructure experience from Multivision, the broadcast monitoring company he founded and sold to Bacon's Information in 2005. Lynn, a DJ performing as Shoddy Lynn, had been selling clothing on eBay and understood the festival and club audience from touring.

The store launched selling eccentric accessories including the fox tail keychains that became an early signature, then expanded into full apparel within its first two years. Its persona merchandising and subculture focus attracted a loyal customer base underserved by mainstream retail, and revenue grew fast enough to draw venture attention.

A Series A round in 2014 brought institutional capital from Maveron, the firm co-founded by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. Sequoia Capital led subsequent rounds, and total disclosed funding passed $60 million. The company opened a large Southern California distribution center, launched physical stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and built private-label lines including Club Exx, Current Mood, Poster Grl, Widow, and Sugar Thrillz.

June 2020 brought the company's worst crisis. During the Black Lives Matter protests, Lynn posted an Instagram photo of police outside the Los Angeles store captioned "Direct Action in its glory," triggering boycott calls and condemnation from artists including SZA and Rico Nasty. The company apologized, pledged $1 million to buy from Black-owned designers, and donated $100,000 to the NAACP, but the reputational damage persisted in some customer segments.

The company continued expanding private labels and collaborations through the 2020s, added a resale vertical, and in October 2025 won a Seventh Circuit appellate ruling reopening its claim for disgorged profits against Amazon sellers copying its Teddy Deady backpack design. A 2024 lawsuit in San Francisco alleged misleading limited-time discount marketing, an unresolved matter as of late 2026.

The June 2020 Instagram post remains the defining controversy. Co-founder Shoddy Lynn's photo of police at the Los Angeles store, captioned in a way many read as mocking the Black Lives Matter protests, produced sustained boycott calls and resurfaced earlier incidents including a shirt described with the phrase "Dead girls can't say no" and a Native American-style headdress product. The company's apology and $1 million pledge to Black-owned brands partially addressed the backlash.

In April 2024 a consumer lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleged misleading limited-time discount marketing practices. The case concerns pricing presentation rather than product safety and remains pending as of late 2026.

The company's offensive posture on intellectual property is also documented: it has pursued copyright actions against counterfeit sellers, winning a Seventh Circuit ruling in October 2025 that remanded the damages question in its favor. Product designs referencing trademarked characters have drawn occasional cease-and-desist coverage, handled through settlements.