American fashion retailer J.Crew announced plans to expand into Asia June 11, revealing a collaboration with Asia’s leading designer specialty store Lane Crawford.
As of October 2012, Lane Crawford‘s retail and online stores will provide customers throughout Hong Kong and China with access to the J.Crew women’s and men’s collections.
"We always want to work with the ‘best of the best,’ and Lane Crawford was at the top of our fantasy list. When it comes to editing and presenting collections with a creative and elevated point of view, no one does it better. We are beyond excited to partner with Lane Crawford to help introduce J.Crew to Asia," J.Crew’s chairman and CEO Millard Drexler explained in a release.
The fashion store, which has previously collaborated with designers including Prabal Gurung and Eddie Borgo, has large scale plans to expand internationally in the coming years. The decision to favor expansion into China signals the ever-increasing shift of the industry towards targeting Asian consumers, with London Fashion Week designer Paul Smith recently revealing growth plans in China.
Other European fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Gucci and Burberry, are also set to significantly increase their Chinese stores in the next five years.
That isn’t to say that J.Crew is ignoring the European market — at New York Fashion Week earlier this year the firm discussed tentative plans to open a London store in 2013 and the retailer still has plans to open specialty stores in select markets across Europe.
Source: YahooNews