Reiss was founded in 1971 by David Reiss, originally selling men’s suits. Since 2000, Reiss began to sell womenswear. Products lie at the heart of the retailer’s strategy as it seeks to embody David Reiss’ belief in timelessness rather than fast fashion. All clothing is own label and not overtly branded. The retailer is run in a similar way to designer fashion houses, with an in-house atelier at its central London headquarters and 20 in-house designers. Its focus is on good quality wardrobe staples with a slight design quirk. Prices can reach up to £1,500 for womenswear items, placing Reiss at the top end of the high street market. In the UK, Reiss operates around 20 concessions, mostly in John Lewis, as well as around 60 standalone stores. It is focusing on international growth, opening 40 new points of sale worldwide in the past year. It recently opened 12 concessions in Nordstrom stores in the US.
Bellwether retailer Next unveiled its full-year results today, confirming that online is doing better than ever and providing more information on its latest etail venture.
Agility and partnerships go hand in hand with brand relevance and evolution. So do innovation and investment.
Next and Reiss have agreed on a long-term strategic partnership whereby Next will take a 25% equity stake in the fashion brand.
Retail Week speaks to a panel of industry experts to determine which executives will be in charge of the UK’s biggest retailers over the next five years
Tesco boss Dave Lewis and Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner were among the winners of the Retail Week Awards 2020 sponsored by Salesforce.
Advertisement
