BROOKS BROTHERS ENTERS JOINT VENTURE TO ACCELERATE GROWTH IN CHINA

Brooks Brothers Group, Inc and Walton Brown Group, a subsidiary of The Lane Crawford Joyce Group, Asia’s premier fashion retail and brand management group, have announced the establishment of a joint venture that will drive Brooks Brothers’ market expansion throughout the region. Following the formation of the joint venture, Brooks Brothers and Walton Brown will establish a corporate office and showroom in Hong Kong in early 2016.

The joint venture will take over the management of Brooks Brothers’ existing retail network of 90 stores in the territory and will activate a strategic expansion plan to open more than 10 points of sale in the first two years across key cities in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In addition to freestanding stores, the joint venture partnership will see a deep investment in a multi-channel distribution platform providing wholesale, outlets, travel retail and e-commerce channels to bolster brand presence and fuel business growth in the region.

Building on the success of Brooks Brothers’ ready-to-wear menswear and accessories collections, the product offerings within its women’s collection and accessories lines will be enhanced with the appointment of Zac Posen, one of America’s most influential designers, as the creative director for women’s wear. His highly anticipated first women’s collection will debut in spring/summer 2016 and will be available worldwide.

Claudio Del Vecchio, chairman and CEO of Brooks Brothers, said in a statement, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Walton Brown on this exciting joint venture which enables us to develop long-term growth strategies across multiple online and offline distribution channels especially in China, one of our most important growth markets for our global business. We are confident in China’s growth prospects in the premium sector for the coming years and this is the optimal time for us to position Brooks Brothers for long term sustainable growth.”