Karen Millen
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| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Karen Millen Kevin Stanford |
| Headquarters | Witney, Oxfordshire, England |
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Key people
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Neil McCausland (Executive Chairman) Gemma Metheringham (Chief Creative Officer) Beth Butterwick (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Women's Clothing accessories Women's Bags Women's Fashion Women's Dresses |
| Owner | Kaupthing Bank |
| Website | www |
Karen Millen is a British women's clothing retailer, specialising in tailoring, coats and eveningwear. The company has stores throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Indonesia, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Russia, the Republic of Ireland and many other European countries.
Karen Millen studied Fashion at the Medway College of Design (now the University for the Creative Arts).
The company was founded in 1981 when Karen Millen partnered with Kevin Stanford. With a loan of just £100, the pair bought one thousand metres of white cotton and began manufacturing and selling white shirts to their friends. A party plan network followed and in 1983 they opened their first store in Maidstone, Kent, which was followed a few years later by branches in Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Guildford and London.
The brand continued to expand throughout the Nineties, and was acquired in June 2004 by the Icelandic Mosaic Fashions. In 2009 Mosaic Fashions ceased trading and the brand transferred to Aurora Fashions. Karen Millen was spun-out from Aurora Fashions in 2011, remaining under the ownership of Aurora's owner, Kaupthing Bank.
Creative Director Gemma Metheringham oversees twelve designers, producing two main collections and two transitional collections each season.
Karen Millen trades from 84 standalone stores and 46 concessions in the UK and Ireland. Internationally, Karen Millen trades from 16 company owned stores and 57 franchise stores in 23 countries.
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Wikipedia