Karen Millen Ltd
 | |
| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder |
Karen Millen Kevin Stanford |
| Headquarters | Witney, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
Key people |
Derek Lovelock (Executive Chairman) Gemma Metheringham (Joint Managing Director) Steve Price (Joint Managing Director) |
| Products |
Clothing accessories shoes |
Karen Millen is a British women's clothing retailer, specialising in tailoring, coats and eveningwear. The company has stores throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Indonesia, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Russia, the Republic of Ireland and many other European countries.
History
Karen Millen studied Fashion at the Medway College of Design (now the University for the Creative Arts).[1]
The company was founded in 1981 when Karen Millen partnered with Kevin Stanford. With a loan of just £100, the pair bought one thousand metres of white cotton and began manufacturing and selling white shirts to their friends. A party plan network followed and in 1983 they opened their first store in Maidstone, Kent, which was followed a few years later by branches in Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Guildford and London.[2]
The brand continued to expand throughout the Nineties, and was acquired in June 2004 by the Icelandic Mosaic Fashions. In 2009 Mosaic Fashions ceased trading and the brand transferred to Aurora Fashions. Karen Millen was spun-out of Aurora Fashions to become an independent company in March 2011.[3]
Operations
Creative Director Gemma Metheringham oversees twelve designers, producing two main collections and two transitional collections each season.
Karen Millen trades from 84 standalone stores and 46 concessions in the UK and Ireland. Internationally, Karen Millen trades from 16 company owned stores and 57 franchise stores in 23 countries.[4]
In the United States, Karen Millen has boutiques in Atlanta, Boston, Bellevue, Washington, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Short Hills, Tysons Corner, Natick, San Diego and Washington, D.C.. In March 2008 the company launched a new flagship store in New York at 114 Prince Street. In October 2013 the first boutique in the Caribbean opened in Puerto Rico.[5]
References
- ↑ http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/alumni/karen-millen
- ↑ About Karen Millen - Womens Designer Clothes - Karen Millen
- ↑ Katherine Rushton (1 March 2011). "Aurora Fashions to spin off Karen Millen". Retail Week. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ Baugur Group | Details | Karen Millen
- ↑ Karen Millen opens New York flagship store | Fashion news | Marie Claire