Charles & Keith partners with Bleckmann to drive international expansion

Singapore-based fashion brand Charles & Keith has selected logistics expert Bleckmann to support its expansion in the UK.

Founded in 1996, Charles & Keith is a women's fashion label specialising in footwear, handbags and accessories.

With over 700 stores across the APAC region, the brand has also recently experienced "significant" growth in the UK and Europe, with "strong" direct-to-consumer sales and several B2B partnerships.

The brand was previously fulfilling the majority of orders for the UK and EU from its Singapore warehouse, but said the long lead times involved were "proving to be a barrier to growth".

To address this, Bleckmann has provided an end-to-end logistics solution under its new partnership with Charles & Keith. This includes freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, last-mile distribution, and returns management.

Operating from one of Bleckmann’s fulfilment centres in Swindon, Charles & Keith now offers next-day and express delivery to its UK customers, as well as reduced delivery times in continental Europe.

Roisin Henry, Senior Regional Manager at Charles & Keith, said: "Bleckmann was the ideal choice due to the scale of its operations, in-depth knowledge of our target markets, impressive existing client list and excellent transportation network."

Looking ahead, the brand is also exploring an expansion to one of Bleckmann’s European sites in 2024, enabling next-day delivery to customers across the continent.

Other projects in the pipeline include the implementation of RFID tags on products for tracking and authentication, and the potential launch of a re-commerce offering, courtesy of Bleckmann’s Renewal Workshop.

Leon Pepper, Sales Business Development Manager at Bleckmann, said: "Bleckmann is well known for offering fast-growing fashion brands a high degree of flexibility to support their expansion ambitions,

"We do everything we can to ensure that our clients can deliver a consistently excellent level of customer service by providing both the scalability and the customisation they need."