Jimmy Choo takes over Bluebell

The towering luxury heels maker, Jimmy Choo, has bought out its Hong Kong joint venture partner, Bluebell, for an undisclosed sum. With this movement, the fashion label takes control of its operations in Hong Kong. New owner Labelux, the private

European luxury group which acquired Jimmy Choo from TowerBrook Capital in a deal worth more than £500m in July, said Hong Kong was “a critical base for our developing Asian markets, ” reported the Financial Times. Up to the date, Bluebell managed Jimmy Choo´s five Hong Kong stores plus retail concessions in luxury department stores Lane Crawford and Joyce.

Bluebell has a strong presence in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, where they distribute and allocate other luxury brands such as Paul Smith, Moschino or Blumarine.

It is worthy a mention the fact of that in a recent interview, Jimmy Choo´s CEO, Joshua Schulman, advanced: "Over time, Jimmy Choo can have a presence in Asia commensurate with our presence in the West,"pointing to two key retail openings in the China region this year, in Hong Kong's Pacific Place and in Nanjing in the mainland. Last year sales hit £150m and the company said sales were currently up more than 10% as it rode the boom in demand for luxury from Asia, especially China.

In addition to other expansion markets, such as Japan, Mellon and Schulman also continue to find opportunity in the U.S. market, where the brand has rebounded strongly since the recession. Last month, the label opened three stores, including a unit on New York's Bleecker Street, a store at Crystals at City Center in Las Vegas and a location in the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.

Angela González-Rodríguez