MUMBAI: Iconix Lifestyle India Private Limited has expanded its brand portfolio with the acquisition of IP rights in India of iconic British brand Lee Cooper.
Born in 1908, with its heritage in denim, Lee Cooper is today a multi-category, dual gender brand with presence across 126 countries, 7000 points of sale, and over 2 Million social followers.
As the original British denim brand, Lee Cooper’s journey began in a local factory in London’s East End as a leading maker of workwear, providing uniforms for the British Troops in WW1 and WW2.
By 1945, the brand had moved its focus from military wear to fashion and denim. Since then, Lee Cooper has become a global fashion brand with over 100 years of heritage and a loyal fan base worldwide.
Today, the Lee Cooper products and collections are created with denim at the heart and fashion at the forefront.
Perfectly fitting its influential 18–30-year-old consumer, every stitch, rivet, and wash is perfected by Lee Cooper’s forward-thinking denim artisans. Spanning across multiple categories that includes apparel for men, women & children, footwear, bags, accessories, watches, swimwear, workwear, eyewear, fragrance, homeware and personal electronics.
“Lee Cooper’s brand history and unparalleled relevance in the Indian market makes it the most prestigious acquisition for the JV. It’s the go-to denim brand that liberalized India grew up with and its affinity among consumers gives us a strong foundation to rebuild the brand in the country.” said Darshan Mehta, Managing Director of Reliance Brands Limited and Director on the Board of Iconix Lifestyle India Private Limited.
The acquisition will allow Iconix Lifestyle India to expand Lee Cooper presence in India through enabling the brand’s distribution across all retail channels while strengthening marketing and brand management.
Bob Galvin, Chief Executive Officer and President of Iconix Brand Group Inc and Director on the Board of Iconix Lifestyle India Private Limited, commented, “Gaining Lee Cooper’s IP rights aligns with our long-term strategic approach to growing our brand presence in India. We have a very strong commitment to the ongoing success, and this development provides the opportunity to operate directly in a quickly expanding market and to bring this iconic high-quality brand to a new audience.”
Iconix Lifestyle India Private Limited is an equal joint venture between India based Reliance Brands Limited and Iconix Brand Group Inc.
The JV owns 24 fashion and home brands from the Iconix portfolio for the Indian territory, across fashion, lifestyle, and home.
These include brands like Candie’s, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Rampage, Mudd, Danskin, Ecko Unltd., Ocean Pacific, London Fog, Starter, Ed Hardy, Joe Boxer, Umbro, Rocawear, Artful Dodger, Marc Ecko, Mossimo, Zoo York, Charisma, Cannon, Royal Velvet, Waverly, Fieldcrest, and Lee Cooper.
Founded in London’s East End in 1908, Lee Cooper has a rich history spanning over a century, establishing its iconic status as the Original British Denim brand. From humble beginnings in workwear, Lee Cooper has become known as a global style innovator with a loyal fanbase worldwide.
An essential sartorial ingredient of all the 20th Century’s most progressive youth movements, Lee Cooper’s vast contribution to UK popular culture is undeniable. But what makes the brand truly unique and perhaps more genuine than any other, is its refusal to emulate the faux Americana of all its competitors. Choosing, instead, to continually emphasis and celebrate its London origins.
