Rebecca Minkoff plans Asian assault

Fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff plans to open up to six stores in Hong Kong by 2018 as part of a broader Asian rollout.

The new 585 sqft store in Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui marks not only its standalone store debut, but the first step in a planned Greater China entrance.

It will also expand its stores in Korea and within the next 18 months open in the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

At the same time it is targeting the US, with a Los Angeles stores planned by June this year and another in Chicago by year’s end.

“We want to focus on these really great supercities and Hong Kong is definitely one of them,” Minkoff said in an interview with WWD.

“I love the fashion here. It’s a very edited view and I think they take more risks.”

Japan has marked the only blemish to date in the brand’s Asian ambition. While it has 12 points of sale there it had to close its flagship in Tokyo’s Ginza last year.

“We found that’s not the right location for our customer. That’s a very Fifth Avenue-type of customer whereas we [attract] a more [Greenwich] Village and SoHo-type customer,” Minkoff said.