Karen Millen

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Karen Millen Fashions Limited
Private limited company
Industry Retail
Founded 1981
Founder Karen Millen
Kevin Stanford
Headquarters Witney, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Key people
Neil McCausland (Executive Chairman)[1]
Gemma Metheringham (Joint Managing Director)
Steve Price (Joint Managing Director)
Products Clothing
accessories
shoes
Website www.karenmillen.com

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).[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

References

External links