Dolls Kill

Dolls Kill was co-founded in 2011 by Shoddy Lynn, a former DJ who went by the stage name DJ Shoddy Lynn,[6] and her husband Bobby Farahi.[4] Previously, Farahi was the founder and CEO of Multivision Inc., a broadcast monitoring service that was sold to Bacons Information in 2005.[7][8] After Farahi sold his first company, the couple started Dolls Kill and it has reportedly been profitable since its launch.[9] Lynn originally entered the e-commerce business by selling clothing on eBay.[9][10] Later, Dolls Kill was launched as an online marketplace for eccentric accessories such as colorful fox tails before expanding its business to a full clothing and accessories online store.[11] The idea for the company stemmed from Lynn's experiences as a DJ while traveling to music festivals on tour.[9]

In 2014, Dolls Kill secured $5 million in a Series A round of funding from Maveron,[10] a Seattle-based venture capital firm who has also invested in companies such as Shutterfly, eBay, zulily and Pinkberry.[12] After the funding round, Betsy McLaughlin, former CEO of Hot Topic, joined the company's board of directors.[9] Dolls Kill was the fastest growing private company in the San Francisco Bay Area based on revenue percent growth in 2014.[13]

In the summer of 2017 Dolls Kill opened its first pop-up shop in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury.[14]

In 2018, the brand licensed and re-launched the Delia's brand with a 1990s-throwback theme.[5][15] In December of that year the brand raised $18 million in a funding round.[16]

In 2020, Lynn shared a photo of a line of police officers in front of a Dolls Kill store in Los Angeles with the caption "Direct Action in its glory", along with the Black Lives Matter hashtag, on her Instagram page.[17] This prompted backlash from some internet users, including celebrities SZA and Rico Nasty, and calls for a boycott of Dolls Kill.[17][18] The company's Instagram page shared three black squares captioned with "We stand in solidarity", and then announced that they had "fucked up" by not showing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement more quickly.[19] They also pledged $1 million to purchase products from black-owned fashion brands and designers for their site.[18][19] As a result of the controversy, fashion brands Broken Promises and Killstar terminated their partnerships with Dolls Kill.[20]

Dolls Kill is an e-commerce apparel website that uses social media marketing to promote its brand and clothing.[21] Similar to companies such as Hot Topic, Nasty Gal, Wanelo, or ModCloth, Dolls Kill operates various accounts on social media platforms showcasing its products and collections.[22] The company also uses social media to turn customers into brand ambassadors. When users share images of themselves on platforms such as Instagram wearing the site's apparel, Dolls Kill will in turn feature the photo on the site with links to the product's purchase page.[23][24]

Dolls Kill offers clothing products, such as tops, bottoms, dresses, swimwear, outerwear, and lingerie. The company also provides accessories, including bags and belts, beauty, hats and jewelry. In addition, it offers shoes, tights, and socks.[25] Registration is not required to shop on the Dolls Kill website, but users can create accounts to save billing and shipping information. The site is shut down for six hours before Black Friday.[24]