Background
Charles & Keith opened their first store in 1996 in the Amara Shopping Centre, Singapore.[1]
In 2001 Charles & Keith opened an international venture in the Philippines, where by 2013 they had 33 stores.[2] They debuted in the Middle East in 2004 with a store in Dubai,[3] and another in Saudi Arabia in 2005.[4] In 2011 the brand had over 230 stores across the world mostly based in the Middle East and Asia.[5] By 2013 this had grown to over 300 stores worldwide, including locations in Africa, and in Japan, where they opened a flagship store in Harajuku, Tokyo and other stores in Yokohama and Osaka.[2][6][7] All the stores are company-owned unless local legislation forbids this, in which case the stores are run through a joint-venture arrangement.[4]
In 2011, LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) invested in a 20 percent stake.[2][8] At the time LVMH stated that they intended to expand Charles & Keith's presence with 40 or 50 new stores across India.[5]