English Laundry Debuts Beverly Hills Boutique and a New John Lennon Line
On Nov. 3, Christopher Wicks was in Shanghai opening a store for English Laundry, his Los Angeles–based fashion label.
Ten days later, the chief executive of the line found himself opening a boutique closer to home. He unveiled a 2,200-square-foot English Laundry store at 358 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills.
The Beverly Hills boutique will debut Wicks’ menswear collection, Designs Inspired by the Art of John Lennon by English Laundry. It has a range of merchandise from woven shirts and blazers to T-shirts bearing graphics from the art of the slain rock star. Price points range from $30 to $170 for the collection, which was licensed from Live Nation Merchandise and Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono.
The new store is the latest of many stores planned by a man who still defines his business as primarily wholesale. He maintains a boutique on Melrose Avenue and within the last year opened licensed boutiques in Las Vegas and Miami.
In late 2010, Wicks plans to open a boutique in London. In the next five years, he intends to open 25 licensed boutiques in Europe.
Wicks said boutiques are nothing more than a way to test products for his labels, which are sold at Macy’s and Nordstrom. “I get more information from one afternoon in a store than from a barrage of design assistants,” he said. —Andrew Asch
