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Dune London’s CEO talks bags, sports, and global growth

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A thriving bags business has been the focus for many fashion apparel and particularly footwear labels in recent years. But today, that business needs to do more than thrive, it needs to be one of the key drivers of company growth.

Nigel Darwin – Photo: Sandra Halliday

We’ve seen that happening at Kurt Geiger where the footwear brand that also sells bags is in some ways now a bags brand that also sells shoes!

At Dune London, meanwhile, that’s not the case yet, but the affordable, fashion-focused footwear brand’s bags business is strong, growing and is a key focus for the label.

We spoke to CEO Nigel Darwin about how Dune is ramping up its bags business as well as about how it’s faring in sports and its global plans.

FashionNetwork.com: You’re known as a footwear brand but as your campaigns and stores demonstrate, bags are clearly a growing category for you.

Nigel Darwin: The third big growth platform for us [apart from the UK and international businesses] is the category piece. We already have a big business in ladies’ footwear, men’s footwear, and then there’s bags. For a long time we’ve had a bags business, but we’ve always been a footwear brand with some bags. Where we are now is absolutely focusing on bags. It’s a category that works all year round, that works very powerfully for a brand from a storytelling perspective, so it’s not surprising that brands go in that direction.

FNW: What sort of work are you doing around growing that accessories business?

ND: Everything! We’ve looked at the assortment and we’ve really elevated it in terms of the materials were using, the design, we’re much more thoughtful, I believe, about styles and style families. We used to have a little bit more of an item focus with too many different bags. We’re much more coherent now about how the brand works across both footwear and bags [via] a select number of a very curated group of families. 

FNW: We’ve seen how for some companies the bags category can actually grow to be bigger than footwear. How big is the bags business for you at present?

ND: It varies from market to market. Somewhere like the Middle East it can be over 40%, but for us overall it’s around 20%-25%. We certainly see a lot of opportunities for growth in all of our categories but bags can really be a big business for us. We’re seeing good take up here in our home market in our stores and with our partners, but also in global markets we’re seeing a lot of interest. It can be easier to tell your brand story with bags.

 

FNW: Clearly the UK is your core market, do you feel you’re at saturation point there?

ND: These are very exciting times, we’ve got a lot of exciting growth aspirations both in the UK and globally. In our home market [it’s] really about bringing together our stores a digital presence, both those that we do ourselves and those of our partners and making the most of all of those channels.

We’ve got about 50 standalone stores in the UK, [plus concessions] and we’re with Next, with John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, so a broad distribution. But we think we’ve got a lot to do still to reach the core customer base within the UK, whether they’re shopping online and whether they’re shopping in stores. So a big UK piece.

Dune London's Westfield White City store
Dune London’s Westfield White City store

FNW: I assume the opportunity outside the UK is much bigger though?

ND: There’s a big global piece for us with two areas of focus. We’ve got a large business already in the Middle East that we’ve had for 10+ years. We’ve got around 50 stores and a digital presence there and we see a lot more growth opportunity there.

The US is a much more recent adventure for us. [We entered it] a couple of years ago and we work with partners to really grow our brand presence and our distribution. 

We have other international markets as well, but the US and the Middle East are where we really see the ‘scale’ opportunity.

In the US, we’re working with Nordstrom and Dillards in particular, but also other partners that we’re adding, to understand their customers. We’re increasingly clear and confident about our brand and how that translates through both on the footwear and the bags side. We’re confident in that DNA, but when you meet new customer bases with new partners you want to learn from them. They know their customers far better than we do

FNW: How big is the US business for you at the moment and do you see potential in Europe too?

ND:  Today [our US business is] very small because we’ve only been there two years but we see there’s potential for it to grow quite dramatically. 

We have some strong European markets already, a strong presence in Ireland and in the Netherlands. But we do have a lot of markets where we don’t have very much of a presence other than through digital partners like Zalando and others. It’s absolutely an opportunity, I think, very much building on the digital partnerships that we’ve got, seeing where demand really spikes and deciding where we want to put more resource, more effort, before we put stores on the ground. 

I can imagine a point where we might have stores in Europe, absolutely, but I think it’s important to sequence these things well, and these days when you’re working with digital partners that can go an awfully long way in [telling you] where those hotspots are. As we all know, stores are a costly investment these days and you need the demand to be there before you spend. 

FNW: You’ve just unveiled your SS25 campaign that’s all about travel and London, is your marketing approach specific to individual markets or more global?

ND: Almost all the marketing activity we do is with a global hat on rather than just a UK or US one. Whether we’re working with influencers, with celebrities, or just telling our story, we’re always trying to find a hook that will work globally, as recently with Bella Hadid, which will work here and in the US and Middle East.

But in the Middle East for Ramadan, we will do a separate shoot working with our partner, making sure that’s very focused on their markets there. 

FNW: Given your US ambitions, are tariff threats an issue for you at the moment?

ND: Clearly there’s uncertainty but we’re in the fortunate position that we have a market that’s currently relatively small in the US. I’m sure by the time we’re at scale there we’ll have found ways of mitigating the uncertainty as all brands are doing at the moment! 

The SS25 campaign
The SS25 campaign

FNW: And talking of potential problems, what about the weather, are you vulnerable to that? 

ND: I wouldn’t use the word vulnerable but we sell a lot of sandals in summer and we sell a lot of boots in winter! So the timing of those things absolutely impacts us. Very consciously over the last couple of years what we’ve been trying to do is make ourselves less susceptible to the vagaries of the weather. But part of what I was saying about bags is that there’s a big standalone opportunity for them and they’re much less of a seasonal category for us.

FNW: Is your growing sports business part of that process of protecting yourself from seasonal issues?

ND: We used to have a 5%-6% sports business but we’ve seen that the category has grown dramatically. It’s not such a seasonal product, it’s a bit more year-round. It’s well into double-digits now. We see that continuing to grow for us and if you’re going to stores at certain times of year, it may be that 20% of the store is about sports, all of it with a Dune touch. We’re not a sports brand but we can do sports in a very Dune way. 

FNW: It seems to be something to which the consumer is responding positively. What sort of vibe are you getting from shoppers at present?

ND: We’ve had a reasonably consistent vibe from the consumer for the last two or three years. People have got money to spend and when people fall in love with a product, they will spend. However almost everyone at every level is cautious on their spending and so the product they fall in love with has got to be [special] — either something new or something right of the moment, or that speaks to them through colour or materials. If you’re trying to sell a product that’s very similar to what they may have seen last year that’s a hard sell!

Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



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Michael Kors launches Amazon storefront

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Michael Kors announced on Tuesday the launch of its Amazon storefront, expanding its digital retail presence in the U.S.

Michael Kors launches Amazon storefront. – Michael Kors

The move marks the first time that Michael Kors handbags, ready-to-wear, and accessories will be available directly from the brand through Amazon.

The new storefront immerses shoppers in the brand’s signature jet-set lifestyle, through campaign videos and imagery that transport fans to exotic destinations. An ‘About Us’ page highlights the brand’s history, while behind-the-scenes content and notes from designer Michael Kors add an exclusive touch to the shopping experience.

The Michael Kors Amazon store features dedicated sections for women’s ready-to-wear, handbags, men’s clothing and accessories, footwear, sunglasses, and watches.

To celebrate the launch, designer Michael Kors and actor-musician Suki Waterhouse, who stars in the brand’s newly released Spring 2025 campaign, will host a private dinner for influencers and press at Aman New York.

Michael Kors equally operates digital flagships across North America, Europe and Asia, offering customers a seamless omni-channel experience.

Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



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Forever 21 to close stores in bid to mimic online rivals’ model

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By

Bloomberg

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March 18, 2025

If you can’t beat them join them. That’s the strategy behind saving the Forever 21 name as the last remaining stores are shuttered and the brand pursues a model that is similar to its online competitors.

Forever 21

US Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath gave the company temporary permission on Tuesday to start going-out-of business sales at all of its 354 stores while managers try to find a last-second rescuer for part of the 41-year-old clothing chain.

Forever 21 has “had advanced discussions with third parties” about rescuing part of the chain, company attorney Andrew L. Magaziner said during the court hearing. The situation “remains fluid.”

Since the 1980s, Forever 21 stores have attracted droves of young women by selling low-cost, trendy clothing. But the company was undone by the rising cost of inventory and wages and competition from online retailers, like Temu and Shein that can skirt import duties and tariffs by shipping goods directly to consumers, the company said in court papers.

It’s the company’s second bankruptcy and the latest brick-and-mortar store to fold in a wave of closures over the past decade or so. The pace of failures picked up during the pandemic as malls closed, and buyers turned to online sellers during lockdown.

Should it fail to find a partner to rescue some of its stores, Forever 21 would rely on shipping goods directly from overseas factories to consumers and to other retail outlets, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. Authentic Brands Group LLC, the apparel and lifestyle label empire which owns the Forever 21 name and other intellectual property, has successfully tested the factory-to-retailer model outside the US, the person said.

Last year just 11% of Forever 21’s sales were online, according to court papers. The company also plans to sell Forever 21 apparel in partner stores, including in JCPenney where such an arrangement is already underway. 

Currently, Forever 21 uses a traditional structure in which designers and other vendors in the US acquire merchandise from overseas factories, mainly in China, Korea and Hong Kong, according to court records. That material is then sent to Forever 21 stores and warehouses, which requires the company to pay duties and tariffs, the records show.

Authentic Brands will continue to own the IP and may license the brand to other operators, according to a statement Sunday. Forever 21’s locations outside of the US are operated by other licensees and aren’t included in the bankruptcy.

The company plans to finish shutting its stores by the end of April, Magaziner said in court on Tuesday. If a buyer appears for some of the stores, the company would adjust its strategy, he told Walrath. 

A joint venture of Hilco, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC, and SB360 Capital Partners is working on the liquidation.

The court also approved a request to use secured lenders’ cash to fund the bankruptcy cases and payrolls. The company entered the Chapter 11 with about $47.2 million bank cash, according to a budget disclosed in the court papers.

It’s the clothing brand’s second stint with bankruptcy. Its first in 2019 was rife with fighting, left creditors little recovery and resulted in the closing of hundreds of locations it had during its heyday.

A group of buyers — including Simon Property Group Inc., Brookfield Corp. and Authentic Brands — teamed up to buy Forever 21 out of bankruptcy through a venture called Sparc Group. That group partnered with Shein in 2023 as Forever 21 attempted to solve some of its operational issues.

A few months ago, US retail group JCPenney acquired Sparc, forming Catalyst Brands. The deal saw its previous shareholders maintain minority stakes in the company. At the time of the merger, Catalyst said it was exploring strategic options for the operations of Forever 21.



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Russia’s Alrosa diamond producer says it has paused production at less profitable mines

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By

Reuters

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March 18, 2025

Russian diamond producer Alrosa announced on Tuesday that it had decided to temporarily suspend operations at its less profitable deposits.

Reuters

The suspension will affect deposits with an annual production of less than 1 million carats, it said.
The company said it still planned to produce 29 million carats of diamonds in 2025.

In November 2024, Alrosa said that it might suspend some production in 2025 and reduce staff.

© Thomson Reuters 2025 All rights reserved.



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