Lipsy London, also known as Lipsy, is a British women’s fashion brand that also operates retail stores.
The company was founded in London in 1990 and was acquired by Next PLC (LSE: NXT) in 2008.[1] It now employs over 450 people and operates 22 retail stores in the UK and the Ireland.[2]
The Lipsy line is also sold through concessions in high street multiples, including Selfridges, House of Fraser and overseas department stores Robinsons in Singapore and Bloomingdales in the USA. The company has wholesale distributors in Sweden, Greece, Germany, France, Italy and South Africa.
Lipsy's headquarters are based in London in Berners Street in the London borough of the City of Westminster, near Oxford Street.
Contents |
Lipsy opened its first retail store in Brent Cross Shopping Centre, London, in October 2008 and in 2009 opened a further 12 stores. The company currently operates a total of 22 retail stores in the UK and Ireland [3] with further stores planned to open in 2010 in Kingston, Derby, Merryhill, Glasgow-Silverburn and Leeds.
Lipsy branded items are also sold in UK-based international retail chains Topshop, Selfridges and House of Fraser as well as through online and mail-order retailers including Asos.com, Next.co.uk, 3Suisses.fr, otto.de, oli.co.uk and very.co.uk.
In April 2010 Lipsy launched in the USA [4] in the South Coast Plaza, Bergen County and Bridgewater Bloomingdale's department stores. In August 2010 Lipsy opened in a further nine Bloomingdales stores.
In October 2010 Lipsy launched in Robinson department store, Singapore.[5]
In April 2010, Lipsy launched a fashion range co-designed by British singer-songwriter Pixie Lott.[6] The first Pixie Collection comprised two ranges: Pixie Festival and Pixie Party. Pixie Lott's second collection for Lipsy was launched in September 2010 [7] and consisted of a new range, Pixie Rocks, and an updated Pixie Party collection.
In June 2010, Kimberly Wyatt, a former member of American pop group the Pussycat Dolls, was featured as the face of Lipsy watches[8] in the company's marketing campaign.
Lipsy is well-known for its association with celebrity fashion.
British celebrities who have been photographed wearing Lipsy items or with Lipsy shopping bags include Pixie Lott,[9] Katie Price,[10] Sarah Harding,[11] Alexandra Burke,[12] Mollie King,[13] Lily Allen [14] and Michelle Keegan.[15]
American Lipsy fans include celebrities Paris Hilton,[16] Lady GaGa,[17] Jessica Lowndes,[18] Kourtney Kardashian,[19] Taylor Swift [20] and Kimberly Wyatt.[21]
The Lipsy official website [22] was launched in 2006, allowing customers to buy online. The website was given a design overhaul in 2009 and in 2010 a video catwalk function was added.[23] In 2010 www.lipsy.co.uk also began stocking items by other fashion brands,[24] including Miss Sixty, Motel Rocks and Religion.
Following an extensive rebrand, the Lipsy logo changed from the smeared lipstick image, which had become iconic in the 1990s, to the interlinked L and heart icon in January 2007.
Lipsy has a fashion and celebrities blog [25] on www.lipsy.co.uk, as well as a Facebook page [26] and a Twitter account.[27] In August 2010, Lipsy launched a competition on Facebook to find the face of its first ever fragrance. The competition attracted over 300,000 voters. The winner was given a modelling contract and other prizes.
Lipsy launched the first issue of its branded magazine in April 2010.[28] The second issue was released in September 2010.[29] The magazine is available to view as an interactive digital copy on the Lipsy website.