High street retailer River Island signed a seven-year licensing deal
with KMI Brands for them to develop, produce and distribute fragrance,
toiletries and cosmetics.
This marks the first licensing agreement for River Island and will allow
KMI Brands to distribute River Island fragrance outside of their retail
stores and into wholesale.
While details have yet to be released on the exact products, the
licensing deal allows KMI Brands to develop beauty and grooming ranges for
River Island’s women, men and children categories.
Claire Green, brand director at KMI Brands, said in a statement:
“Discovering the heritage of the River Island brand has been a joy. The
brand is renowned for stylish, accessible and inclusive fashion and
translating this to a dynamic beauty category with experience and purpose
at its core is an exciting opportunity to develop further.
“Meeting the extended River Island family of head office and store teams
has allowed us to gain a true understanding of the River shopper and
company values. This has helped to identify where we can enhance and
develop, ultimately with the aligned mission to deliver a great experience
for the customer.”
Theodore Sheppard, head of international and business development at
River Island, added: “River Island are excited to enter into a partnership
with KMI to design and develop our beauty and grooming ranges across our
women’s, men’s and kids’ categories.
“As a specialist in the field, KMI have extensive experience as well as
a strong understanding of brand values. This makes them an outstanding
partner to take River Island forward in these categories which we believe
will deliver significant growth in the coming years.”
Rachel Parsonage, managing director at KMI Brands, said: “KMI are
approached for licensing opportunities in beauty on a regular basis, in
fact we haven’t signed a new licence for 4 years. Despite numerous
approaches, for us it’s about finding something unique and special which is
almost intangible – it’s a feeling, a vibe and when you peel back the
layers to explore the cultural fit, this is the magic we are looking for.
“In the first meeting with Theo and River Island there was a continual
reveal of amazing insights and a love of all things River Island. The
honesty of their initial journey into beauty was refreshing and this really
struck a chord. Together we are excited to deliver products which will
delight and surprise.”
KMI also develops fragrances, bath and body and home fragrance for Ted
Baker and Orla Kiely.
Image: courtesy of River Island
