Kookaï, the now-Australian-owned womenswear label, is coming back to the UK market physically for the first time in over a decade.
Kookai
Retail Week reported that the brand has been working with property agents and is talking to landlords about its plan to begin its return by opening a store in Central London.
The publication cited a person with knowledge of the plans and said the store should begin trading early next year.
It also said the medium-term plan is for a cautious rollout with a few stores in very carefully selected locations.
Kookaï has had an up and down history since it was founded 42 years ago in France and arrived in the UK in 1990. It became part of the Vivarte Group in 1996 and was a popular label during that decade and into the early years of this century, known for its sexy interpretations of current trends.
It opened multiple stores in Britain but after facing tough times, it wound down its UK business in 2013.
Yet it has continued to thrive in Australia and New Zealand with more than 50 stores there, as well as eight — plus a webstore — in Europe. The webstore also trades in the UK.
It’s an interesting time for the label to make a UK comeback given the tough market at present. But there’s no denying that it retains strong name recognition and awareness via the webstore so may have an advantage even though it will be launching from a standing start on the physical stores front.
