EXHIBIT 31.1



CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350, AS ADOPTED
PURSUANT TO

SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES OXLEY ACT OF 2002



I, Robert W. D’Loren certify that:



1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, of Xcel Brands, Inc. (the “Company”).



2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly
report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this quarterly report;



3. Based on my knowledge, the financial
statements, and other financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;



4. The registrant's other certifying officer
and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e)
and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:



a) Designed such disclosure controls and
procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
during the period in which this report is being prepared;



b) Designed such internal control
over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;



c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and



d) Disclosed in this report any change
in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter
that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting;
and



5. The registrants' other certifying officer
and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):



a) All significant deficiencies and material
weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and



b) Any fraud, whether or not material,
that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.



|August 14, 2012 | By: | /s/ Robert W. D’Loren                      
|--------------- | --- | -------------------------------------------
|                |     | Name: Robert W. D’Loren                    
|                |     | Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer