Ben Sherman Celebrates Mod With L.A. Store
The rock bands of the British Invasion of the 1960s keep selling records, but will their mod look stay fashionable?
Ben Sherman, one of the top British Invasion fashion labels, thinks so.
In 2000, the company reinvented itself as a lifestyle brand that specializes in updates of the mod look. The label was successful and sold at retailers such as Nordstrom. atlanta–based Oxford Industries noticed the British label’s moxie and purchased it for $145 million in 2004.
In 2004, Atlanta-based Oxford Industries purchased it for $145 million.
And now, another sign of its growth is its new retail division: On June 1, Ben Sherman opened a 2,500-square-foot store in the Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles.
It’s the company’s second store. Its first, a 6,000- square-foot boutique in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, opened in March. The Los Angeles store will be part of a 15-store chain in such cities as Miami and San Francisco, said Paul McAdam, president of Ben Sherman North America.
The Los Angeles store has rock graphics, blondwood floors and chairs emblazoned with the Union Jack, similar to the SoHo store.
McAdam said Ben Sherman started the retail division to increase consumer awareness of the mod Ben Sherman brand. But the brand will continue to change with the times.
“It’s still British, it’s still authentic, but it’s very contemporary,” he said. —Andrew Asch
