Polène Opens Fifth Store in London’s Regent Street
LONDON — Polène, the French accessories brand, has opened a 4,845-square-foot space on Regent Street and from the inside looking out at the neobaroque architecture, it can feel like Paris.
Across the two floors there are touches of leather and minimalism everywhere, with an entire wall of bricks made from compressed leather scraps and a woven leather banister that leads to the second floor, where jewelry is also on display.
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“London was really a clear opening for us for a few reasons — one of them being that London has a strong fashion history with Central Saint Martins and all the famous designers,” said cofounder and chief executive officer Antoine Mothay in an interview.
“The more commercial reason is that we have a lot of clients coming out of the U.K. and especially London,” he added.
The London store is Polène’s fifth opening after Paris, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.
Even though the brand was founded in 2016 and accumulated a strong digital presence, Mothay explained that brick-and-mortar retail remains key.
“Opening stores is another way to create a connection with the client and to give them knowledge,” he said.
Despite Britain’s challenging political and economic climate, the brand sees the U.K. as a strong market with “very educated clients.”
“We believe in long term development,” Mothay said.
As reported in June, 80 percent of Polène’s digital sales are outside of France, with the U.S., Japan and Germany being the top three markets. China, Singapore, the U.K. and Canada are also growing online sales markets. Survey data indicated that 41 percent of potential clients wanted to buy a bag in a physical store in their city
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