Exhibit 99.1

Contact:

Steven H. Benrubi

(949) 699-3947

THE WET SEAL, INC. ANNOUNCES

FOURTH QUARTER AND FISCAL 2011 RESULTS

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA, March 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Wet Seal, Inc. (Nasdaq:WTSLA), a leading specialty retailer to young women, announced results for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year ended January 28, 2012, and introduced guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

For the fourth quarter:

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Susan McGalla, the Company’s chief executive officer, commented, “While sales were challenged during the fourth quarter, we drove merchandise margin improvement through a disciplined promotional strategy and diligent inventory control. At Wet Seal, denim and other elements of our bottoms business remained strong. Our tops business and other categories did not meet expectations, especially in the post-holiday period. At Arden B, we maintained tight inventory controls as we identify ways to improve our merchandise offering.”

Ms. McGalla continued, “While our first quarter business is off to a disappointing start, we are aggressively course correcting our tops business to improve our top line sales trends at Wet Seal. We are in the process of adding more fashion and party looks to complement the strength in our jeans, bottoms, and casual sides of our business. At Arden B, among other things, we are focused on near-term opportunities in the bottoms category that, combined with our tops assortment, are beginning to provide more compelling outfitting solutions for our customer.

Ms. McGalla concluded, “We also continue to make progress on strategic initiatives, including establishing more cohesive merchandise assortments and consistent brand messaging, and a heightened focus on customer obsession, which we believe will better position the Company for long term sales and profitability growth.”

For the full year:

Store Openings and Closings

The Company opened nine and closed one Wet Seal store during the fourth quarter. At January 28, 2012, the Company operated 558 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, including 472 Wet Seal stores and 86 Arden B stores.

Capital Expenditures and Depreciation

During 2011, the Company incurred capital expenditures of $26.5 million, of which $23.2 million was for construction of new stores and remodels of existing stores. The Company recognized tenant improvement allowances of $4.7 million, associated primarily with new store construction, resulting in net capital expenditures for the year of $21.8 million.

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Depreciation in the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2011 totaled $4.9 million and $19.4 million, respectively.

Income Taxes

The Company incurred a provision for income taxes of $1.1 million for the quarter, for an effective income tax rate of approximately 49%, bringing its effective rate for the fiscal year to 39.8%.

Due to its expected utilization of federal and state net operating loss (“NOL”) carry forwards during fiscal 2011, the Company anticipates cash payment for income taxes for the year will only be 4.9% of pre-tax income, representing the portion of federal and state alternative minimum taxes that cannot be offset by NOLs. The difference between the effective income tax rate and the anticipated cash payment for income taxes is recorded as a non-cash provision for deferred incomes taxes.

First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Guidance

For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, earnings are estimated in the range of $0.02 to $0.04 per diluted share.

The guidance is based on the following major assumptions:

For all of fiscal 2012, the Company expects 25 to 30 net store openings at Wet Seal and no net store openings at Arden B. The Company forecasts fiscal 2012 net capital expenditures will be between $33 million and $36 million, of which between $27 million and $28 million will be for construction of new stores or remodeling of existing stores upon lease renewals and/or store relocations.

Earnings Conference Call Details

The Company will host a conference call and question and answer session at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time today. To participate in the conference call, please dial (888) 352-6793 and provide ID number 2595244. A broadcast of the call will also be available on the Company’s website, www.wetsealinc.com. A replay of the call will be available through March 29, 2012. To access the replay, please call (888) 203-1112 or (719) 457-0820 and provide the ID number above.

About The Wet Seal, Inc.

Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, The Wet Seal, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items. As of February 25, 2012, the Company operated a total of 552 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, including 468 Wet Seal stores and 84 Arden B stores. The Company’s products can also be purchased online at www.wetseal.com or www.ardenb.com. For more Company information, visit www.wetsealinc.com.

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Safe Harbor

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: This news release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the Company’s estimated fiscal 2012 first quarter guidance and full year store growth and capital spending plans, and the anticipated impact of current strategic initiatives on the Company’s long term sales and profitability growth, as well as the intent, belief, plans or expectations of the Company or its management. All forward-looking statements made by the Company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors beyond the Company’s control. Accordingly, the Company’s future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This news release contains results reflecting partial year data and non-fiscal data that may not be indicative of results for similar future periods or for the full year. The Company will not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.

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Exhibit A

The Wet Seal, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(000’s Omitted)

(Unaudited)

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Exhibit A (Continued)

The Wet Seal, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(000’s Omitted, Except Share Data)

(Unaudited)

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Exhibit A (Continued)

The Wet Seal, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(000’s Omitted)

(Unaudited)

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Exhibit B

Segment Reporting (Unaudited)

The Company operates exclusively in the retail apparel industry in which it sells fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessories items, primarily through mall-based chains of retail stores, to female consumers with a young, active lifestyle. The Company has identified two operating segments (“Wet Seal” and “Arden B”) as defined under applicable accounting standards. E-commerce operations for Wet Seal and Arden B are included in their respective operating segments. Information for the 13 and 52 weeks ended January 28, 2012, and January 29, 2011, for the two reportable segments is set forth below (in thousands, except store counts and sales per square foot):

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Exhibit B (Continued)

The “Corporate” column is presented solely to allow for reconciliation of store contribution amounts to consolidated operating income, interest income or expense, net, and income before provision for income taxes. Wet Seal and Arden B segment results include net sales, cost of sales, asset impairment and other direct store and field management expenses, with no allocation of corporate overhead or interest income and expense.

Wet Seal operating segment results for Q4 2011 and Q4 2010 includes $1.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively, of asset impairment charges. Wet Seal operating segment results for fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 includes $2.6 million and $3.6 million, respectively, of asset impairment charges.

Arden B operating segment results for Q4 2011 and Q4 2010 includes $0.9 million and less than $0.1 million, respectively, of asset impairment charges. Arden B operating segment results for fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 includes $1.9 million and $0.6 million, respectively, of asset impairment charges.

Corporate expenses for fiscal 2010 includes non-cash interest expense of $2.1 million as a result of accelerated write-off of remaining unamortized debt discount and deferred financing costs upon conversion of Notes and $0.7 million of interest expense for a conversion inducement associated with conversions of Notes and Preferred Stock. Additionally, corporate expenses for Q4 2010 and fiscal 2010 include $0.9 million and $1.6 million, respectively, comprised of transition agreement fees for the Company’s former chief executive officer and professional fees for hiring the Company’s new chief executive officer.

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Exhibit C

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Most Directly Comparable Financial Measures

Included within this press release are references to operating income, net income and earnings per diluted share excluding the effect of certain charges, which are measures not in compliance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or “non-GAAP financial measures.” The following is a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the applicable GAAP financial measures for the 13 and 52 week periods ended January 28, 2012, and January 29, 2011 (in millions, except for earnings per diluted share):

During fiscal 2010, the Company incurred significant professional and other fees to recruit a new chief executive officer and to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership during a several-month period after the former CEO’s contract had expired but a new CEO had not yet been identified. Given the unique nature and substantial amount of these charges, the Company believes presentation of historical financial information excluding these charges to be beneficial to its investors.

From time to time, the Company determines the carrying values of certain of its long-lived assets are not supported by their anticipated future cash flows and, as a result, must record non-cash charges to impair these assets. The timing and magnitude of these charges can be sporadic, thus significantly affecting the reported financial results of the fiscal period in which they are recorded. Given the unique nature and sporadic timing of these charges, the Company consistently presents these charges as a separate line item within its statements of operations and, similarly, believes the presentation of its historical financial information excluding these non-cash charges to be beneficial to its investors.

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The complexity and volatility of the accounting and financial reporting for the Company’s Notes was a major focus of the Company’s management and investors. To help investors better understand the complexity of the accounting for the Notes, the Company provided significant disclosure in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2011. Management occasionally presents certain historic financial information that excludes charges for the ratable write-off of unamortized debt discounts, deferred financing costs and accrued interest when Notes are converted. Given the unique nature of these charges and their volatility, management believes that presenting financial information without these charges helps investors better understand the Company’s current operating performance. Management believes the magnitude of the charges when conversions occur can impact investors’ understanding of the Company’s business results in such periods. Explicit disclosure of these impacts provides meaningful information to investors.

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