Widely recognised British fashion brand River Island has signed an exclusive franchise deal with Edcon, resulting in flagship stores to be launched in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Known to be one of Britain’s unique and hugely popular clothing brands, River Island prides itself on the ability to remain ahead of trends and indeed create them.
(December (20th), 2014) The local fashion industry has been set a twitter by the news that one of the biggest and most recognised clothing brands on the British high street will soon be found in South Africa. River Island recently signed an exclusive franchise deal with Edcon, providing the leading retailer with sole distribution rights to the popular brand.
The first flagship store is set to launch in Rosebank, Johannesburg in June 2014 with additional flagship stores expected to open in Cape Town in October next year.
River Island is a brand with Great British heritage. Founded and based in London, the business was created and is managed by the Lewis family. With design at the heart of the business, it prides itself on the ability to remain ahead of the trends and indeed to create them. With over 65 years of fashion retail experience, the brand continues to grow globally and has over 300 stores in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Poland, Holland, Belgium and the Middle East and offers worldwide shipping through its website.
Edcon CEO Jürgen Schreiber comments, “River Island is a complete shopping experience all in itself. Not only is it extremely fashion forward but it is also very versatile and possesses its own unique flair. We expect it to be a hugely popular addition to our current range.”
While clients of River Island are all connected by their love for fashion, the brand’s diverse collections all draw on different inspirations, enabling wearers to cultivate their own unique styles.
River Island is constantly evolving in order to stay young, fun and vibrant. Not surprisingly its stores undergo the same evolutionary process in order to maintain their unique image. Customers can constantly expect to see new elements of surprise in shop fits and visual merchandising.
“This is truly a significant milestone in local fashion,” enthuses Schreiber. “River Island is known for its incredible collection which literally has everything from statements to staples. No matter what a client’s individual style, River Island will have fun refreshing pieces to suit their needs,” he concludes.
“We are very excited to be entering into the South African market in partnership with Edcon. We are confident that together, with our combined knowledge and experience, we can deliver fantastic fashion and a great store experience to our South African customers.” – Ben Lewis, CEO River Island
About Edcon
Edcon is South Africa’s largest non-food retailer, with a market share of the South African clothing and footwear (C&F) market nearly twice that of its nearest listed competitor, trading through a range of retail formats. The Group has grown from opening its first store in 1929, to trading in 1 368 stores (as at 28 September 2013) in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Edcon has been recognised in national surveys as one of the top companies to work for in South Africa and continues to make significant progress in its equity and transformation goals.
Our retail businesses are structured under three divisions: Edgars division, including Edgars, Boardmans, Edgars Active, Edgars Shoe Gallery, Red Square and the Group’s mono-branded stores such as Topshop Topman, Tom Tailor, Dune, Lucky, T.M. Lewin, Lipsy, Inglot, La Senza and Accessorize whose product is also available through Edgars stores, serves principally middle and upper income markets; Discount division including Jet, JetMart and Legit, serves principally middle to lower income markets; and CNA, the Group’s stationery, books, games, movies, music, hi-tech electronics and mobile retailer. The Edcon Credit and financial services division provides credit and insurance products to the Group’s customers.
With the launch of its “Thank U” loyalty programme, Edcon now has the largest retail customer database in South Africa which enables it to provide customers with relevant offers across its suite of retail and financial services products; this programme includes all mono-branded stores in South Africa.
For more information, please visit the Edcon website: http://www.edcon.co.za.
About River Island
With over 65 years of fashion retailing experience, River Island is one of the most successful fashion brands on the High Street.
River Island is known for its stylish and accessible fashion and the unique touches it brings to its collections giving them standout from the rest of the High Street. With an extensive in-house design team at the heart of the business, River Island delivers new and original fashion to customers on a daily basis. River Island is known for great going-out looks, amazing denim and fabulous shoes and bags, as well as being the perfect place to pick up everything you could need to get a complete head-to-toe look. It recently captured the world’s attention via the hugely successful design collaboration with international popstar Rihanna, who launched her Rihanna for River Island range at London Fashion Week in February 2013.
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
