Here's What Went Down With The Style Club After Shark Tank

Hilary Novelle Simon (nee Hahn) is the woman behind The Style Club, a fashion brand you may remember from "Shark Tank." "The Style Club is an all-inclusive place where it's simply enough to be yourself," Novelle Simon told Forbes in 2018. "This is fashion for the social media generation. We're used to sharing our thoughts, emotions and choices. The Style Club is all about expressing yourself, how that helps our consumers answer questions about what's important to them and spreading positive messages to others."

The idea was born when a young Novelle Simon, then a singer and dancer, toured with musicians including Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, and NSYNC. She created her own costumes on the road, which sparked her love of fashion design. Later, she founded The Style Club, which took off quickly. It launched collections with familiar faces including Sophie Tweed Simmons and Genevieve Hannelius, and counted the likes of Justin Bieber and Vanessa Hudgens (who also wore fashion from fellow "Shark Tank" brand SpiritHoods) amongst its customers. But Novelle Simon knew she needed investment to take things to the next level. "I wasn't having any luck going to venture capitalists," she told BizJournal in 2018. "And I thought, 'Well, I'll go on 'Shark Tank' and give it a shot."

Hilary Novelle Simon appeared on "Shark Tank" Season 8 in 2016. The entrepreneur explained she built her brand with a focus on social media (a novel idea at the time) and wanted to expand her online community. Novelle Simon asked for $500,000 in exchange for 20% equity, having valued The Style Club at $2.5 million. The hopeful entrepreneur surprised Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec by bringing in "mannequins," who turned out to be real people, for her pitch.

The business' numbers impressed the group, with Novelle Simon sharing that The Style Club had brought in $400,000 in about four months. But things took a turn when she revealed her exclusive deal with Urban Outfitters. O'Leary, despite investing in clothing brand Frill Clothing the year prior, didn't appreciate the deal and wouldn't give any cash. Corcoran wasn't willing to invest either and told Novelle Simon she didn't think there was room for her on the team. Herjavec followed and said Novelle Simon didn't share enough about the business for him to part with such a large sum.

But not all the Sharks were on the same page. John offered $500,000 for 33.3% of the company. Cuban also proposed giving Novelle Simon the money as an 8% credit, plus 22% equity. After considering her options, Novelle Simon shook hands with Cuban and left the tank with the $500,000 investment she wanted.

After "Shark Tank," The Style Club saw a lot of success. It gained more social media followers, expanded its product range, and reached deals with big businesses, including Walmart, Forever 21, Nordstrom, and Macy's. "We're tripling our orders from retailers. It's all pretty exciting and overwhelming," Novelle Simon told Columbia Magazine in 2017. The brand's graphic T-shirts were also seen on the likes of Noah Cyrus.

But The Style Club was also embroiled in controversy. Though Novelle Simon claimed on "Shark Tank" that the company had only been around for a year, that wasn't strictly true, according to StartEngine CEO and co-founder Howard Marks. In 2016, he took to LinkedIn to allege he had invested in an almost identical company, The Style Club LA, back in 2012. Marks wasn't told the company had ceased trading, replaced with The Style Club Global, he said. "It is shocking to think ["Shark Tank"] would deliberately accept a company that has stolen the assets of another company of the same name," he wrote. In a second LinkedIn post from 2019, Marks shared plans to take legal action.

Novelle Simon spoke publicly about the business change, describing the move as a "relaunch" to WWD in 2015. "As we tested the market and our audience, we found everyone's really seeking that exclusivity. With this relaunch we wanted to pare down the site. We realized there was a lot of complexity with the [original] site," she said.

Following the controversy, The Style Club joined the ranks of "Shark Tank" businesses like Jeska, which landed a deal but still went under. It's not clear if the threat of legal action played a part in its demise, but the company closed its doors seemingly without warning.

Hilary Novelle Simon's LinkedIn states The Style Club shut down in December 2022, though its final Instagram and Facebook posts (which gave no indication the company was closing) were published in April 2021. The company's website has been shut down and its clothing is no longer available direct or from other retailers. However, Novelle Simon still lists the company's Instagram in her bio.

Around the time of The Style Club's demise, Novelle Simon was very busy in her personal life. The entrepreneur welcomed a daughter in May 2021 and had a second wedding with her husband four months later following a smaller ceremony in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Hilary Novelle Simon didn't let the end of The Style Club keep her out of the business world. She bounced back and co-founded Have A Nice Day in April 2022, an app designed to help younger people give back through acts of kindness and volunteer work. The company also allows non-profits to register for help and get the word out about fundraisers. The business underwent a round of seed funding in 2022 and has up to 10 employees, according to Crunchbase.

Have A Nice Day was inspired by motherhood, Novelle Simon shared on Instagram in April 2024, as she got the idea shortly after she gave birth. "When Gia was born, her early health struggles reminded me of the importance of kindness," she wrote. "...[Gia] got really sick her first few days and we had to rush her back to the hospital. In our darkest moments, the kindness of strangers [and] volunteers became our lifeline." Novelle Simon added, "Soon after we got home, Have A Nice Day was born — a social giving app inspired by the timeless wisdom of Mr. Rogers. In a world consumed by chaos and needless noise, it serves as a place of positivity." We can't wait to see what this tenacious entrepreneur does with it next.