IKKS Paris to open two London stores

French fashion and lifestyle brand IKKS Paris is opening two stores in London, the first at 3 Carnaby Street in mid-May and the second at 109 Kings Road in June.

Having tested the water with a pop-up store on South Molton Street in June 2016, the new stores mark the brand’s first permanent retail footprints in the UK, though the brand was founded in Paris in 1987 by Gérard Le Goff and has 800 stores worldwide.

The 2,610 sq ft Carnaby Street flagship store spans two floors, and will carry a full collection of womenswear, menswear, and kidswear. The 1,300 sq ft Kings Road store will just house the womenswear and junior lines.

Ludovic Manzon, IKKS Paris CEO, commented: “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.

“This will allow us to showcase our full brand collections and to create an exciting space for our customers to immerse themselves into IKKS Paris. 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.”

Samantha Bain-Mollison, Retail Director at London landlord Shaftesbury, added: “The brand will sit 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.”

The new stores have been designed to “ensure customers have a premium experience”, including a lounge area, and they will offer complimentary coffee. They will host regular in-store style sessions, activations, talks and personalisation.

The stores will also have UK exclusives, and will include a showcase of the brand’s hero ‘Free the Sea’ sustainable collection, which is made with Sequal yarn which uses recycled plastic waste from the sea. The capsule collection runs across women’s, men’s and kids and includes iconic French Breton stripe pieces.

The brand is also known for its signature leather pieces, including biker jackets, bags and combat boots. IKKS Paris’ ‘1440’ handbags, so named as there are 1,440 minutes in a day, will be available in-store in a range of colour and size options.

Menswear, which offers both tailored and sportswear looks, retails at between £45-£595, womenswear retails at £45-£740 and kidswear, available for ages three months to 14 years-old, is priced between £15-£139.