KANGOL FORMS CHINESE JOINT VENTURE

Fashion brand Kangol will open 55 stores in China by 2008, and a Hong Kong flagship store as well. The company will open the branded stores under license. The shops will be operated by joint venture partner Mainland Headwear.

The first store will open in Shanghai next March and 16 additional stores are planned by the end of next year. Twenty shops will follow in 2007, with a flagship expected to open in Hong Kong.

Kangol chief executive David Heys said: “Kangol is proud to be in partnership with one of China’s most progressive retailers. We are excited by the prospect of seeing the Kangol brand on the Chinese retail landscape and especially before the Beijing Olympics. We are confident our brand is in the hands of professional marketers, in a country that has incalculable potential. The success of the project will lead to even bigger opportunities with Mainland”.