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Published
Jun 14, 2022
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IKKS Paris debuts in Carnaby with more London stores to follow

Published
Jun 14, 2022

The first of a trio of stores, marking the UK and London entry for French fashion brand IKKS Paris, has officially opened on Carnaby Street. This will be quickly followed by a King’s Road, Chelsea, store opening at the end of June and an as-yet-to-be-confirmed store earmarked to open in Marylebone.


IKKS CEOLudovic Manzonwith Carnaby opening party DJ Laura Whitmore. Imge: Tim Griffiths - DR


Bringing “Parisian attitude and a sense of free spirit to London”,  the initial 2,610 sq ft Carnaby store spans two floors. The ground floor features a full collection of womenswear and menswear, while kidswear, an important category for the brand, is given the complete basement area. The second 1,300 sq ft store will open on the King’s Road carrying the womenswear and junior lines.

The mid-priced brand would have been “well-established” in London by now had it not been for the pandemic. IKKS Paris had tested the market with a pop-up store in the capital three years ago with “great success”, but plans had to be shelved in 2019 due to Covid-19, a spokeswoman told Fashion Network.

But now it aims to “embolden urban free spirits around the world to rock their lives through creative, responsible, 365-day Parisian easy chic fashion”. The collection includes four pillars: Urban Rock, Urban Cargo, Urban Military and Urban Mobility.

The new stores have been designed to ensure customers have a “premium experience", including a lounge area and complimentary coffee, as well as regular in-store brand activations including style sessions, talks and personalisation.

Presenting its SS22 collection in full, the stores will also hold UK exclusives, and will include a showcase of its hero ‘Free the Sea’ collection, a sustainable range made using Seaqual yarn produced by the Seaqual initiative, which uses recycled plastic waste from the sea with proceeds going to The SeaCleaners NGO. The capsule collection runs across women’s, men’s and kids and includes French Breton stripe pieces.
 
Ludovic Manzon, IKKS Paris CEO, said: “Carnaby Street is a perfect location to launch our first standalone store in London, as it’s not only an iconic shopping destination, it’s also where we know our target customers are shopping.”
 
He added: “We are pleased with the response to our recent new standalone store openings in China and Madrid. This gave us the confidence to expand to additional markets in which we were seeing existing demand for IKKS Paris. 
 
The London store openings are set against a backdrop of “strong growth” over the past 35 years (the brand was established in  and continued global reach through the brands online store and the recent inclusion in the first metaverse fashion week where IKKS opened a virtual flagship.
 
Samantha Bain-Mollison, Retail Director at Carnaby Street landlord Shaftesbury added: “The brand sits perfectly within the existing retail portfolio of exciting fashion concepts on Carnaby Street that offer customers a point of difference and a premium shopping experience. IKKS Paris has unveiled the full general store concept for the first time in this permanent flagship location.”
 

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