AllSaints to Celebrate 30th Anniversary With a Runway Show in London
AllSaints is preparing a celebration for its 30th anniversary.
The U.K.-based brand will hold a runway show on Sept. 13 during London Fashion Week, followed by a fragrance launch dinner on Sept. 14.
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The show, which will be held at Serpentine Gallery, will showcase the spring 2025 collection, titled Metamorphosis, and will include a number of archival pieces that best illustrate the AllSaints aesthetic that have been reimagined and created for the show. They will be sold in limited quantities.
In addition, the company has worked with 13 artists to create leather and faux leather jackets — a hallmark of the brand — that will be displayed in a gallery that week.
Beyond London Fashion Week, AllSaints has also signed five new licenses intended to expand its business in other categories it views as growth opportunities.
The first, which launched at the beginning of the year, is for gender-neutral eyewear with Mondottica. The range consists of 14 styles in tortoiseshells, colored acetate and metal finishes, including branded hinges, beveling and metal detailing. The collection uses Eastman Acetate Renew, a material made from certified sustainable cellulose and recycled plastics, that significantly reduces gas emissions and fossil fuel usage.
Next was a childrenswear line introduced in May with Next. Called smAllSaints, the line takes its cues from the adult collection and is targeted to kids from four to 13 years old. In addition to its own stores, the smAllSaints collection was also rolled out to 40 Nordstrom doors in August. It is also available on the Next website.
This month, the company will launch a trio of fragrances with Scent Beauty. The three scents are Sunset Riot Intense, Shoreditch Leather and Ravaged Rose, all of which will be sold in a bottle that combines AllSaints hardware with a leather sleeve. The collection will also be sold globally at fragrance specialty stores and premium department stores.
Also in September, AllSaints will debut its first men’s tailored clothing collection with Jack Victor. The Montreal-based company will create suits from European fabrics with an AllSaints aesthetic. The line will launch exclusively with Nordstrom.
And finally, in October, the company will introduce men’s underwear produced by licensee Centric Brands. The collection, which will feature contemporary designs, will be sold at AllSaints stores as well as at select department stores and e-commerce sites around the world.
AllSaints was founded in East London in 1994 by Kait Bolongaro and Stuart Trevor who sought to create a “cool and unique fashion label with vintage-inspired garments [offering] a modern, rock ‘n’ roll-type sensibility for both men and women.”
Trevor wanted to name the brand “The Saint,” which represents the initials of his name “ST.” However, he took inspiration from the “All Saints Road” in Notting Hill when he attended a carnival the summer before the business launched and decided to name the business AllSaints. Initially, it was only wholesale but the company now operates some 250 stores and outlets in 12 countries across the U.K., Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. It is owned by Lion Capital, the private equity firm that also owns the John Varvatos brand.
It sells half men’s and half womenswear with the strength in the men’s product coming from casualwear, while the women’s merchandise is more separates, said Catherine Jobling, chief operating officer.
The U.S. is its largest market, and the company also has a big business in the U.K. but it is “underpenetrated” in many parts of Europe as well as Asia. Jobling said the company has recently had “great growth” in Egypt, Israel, Spain and Asia. In the U.S. and Canada, AllSaints has 69 total stores: 20 full-price, 12 outlets and 37 concession shops. In Mexico, there are 30 stores: eight full-price, two outlets and 20 concession shops.
AllSaints also has a healthy business with Nordstrom, she said, which will be expanding the collection into more doors including a trial shop-in-shop concept that will feature four private brands and four outside brands, including AllSaints.
AllSaints’ success comes four years after the brand filed an insolvency procedure known in the U.K. as a company voluntary arrangement, or CVA, to protect its then-255 stores worldwide.
The move is common in the U.K. when a troubled company tries to save its business by renegotiating deals with landlords and other creditors.
A month later, in June 2020, AllSaints struck a deal with landlords worldwide to keep its stores open by shifting to a new rent structure that puts less pressure on the retailer. At that time, creditors overwhelmingly approved its request to switch to new lease terms for All Saints Retail Ltd., in the U.K., and its American subsidiary, AllSaints USA Ltd.
Jobling said AllSaints’ business today is “very healthy,” prompting the brand to move into expansion mode once again. Currently, the U.S. is its largest market, she said, and it’s “underpenetrated” in Europe and Asia. The latter represents only 12 percent of overall sales and it “could be a lot bigger,” she said.
Jobling said the plan is to continue to expand its reach by adding more stores — but in a controlled way. “We can grow everywhere, but we have to choose,” she said.
In the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, 2023 — the last reported — total sales for All Saints Retail Ltd., which includes the John Varvatos brand, rose to 457 million pounds from 337 million pounds the prior year. Operating income was 526,000 pounds, a sharp contrast to the 3.3 million pound loss in 2022. Operating profit was 28.5 million pounds from 10.1 million pounds the year before.
Looking ahead to the next 30 years, Jobling said the company has high expectations: “We would love to be a brand for positive change in the world,” she said. That would be accomplished by becoming “the most recycled brand on the planet and a beacon for what’s possible.”
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