As part of its global expansion plan, the brand looks to Hong Kong for an important milestone in its Asian development.

8 June 2022 – Bluebell Group announces today its partnership with K-Way^® French outwear brand. Following the brand’s in-market digital launch in June, the new mono-brand physical store opening is planned for October 2022 at Pacific Place under the Swire Group, one of Hong Kong’s most premium shopping malls.

The iconic French brand known for its windbreaker, lifestyle fashion and sportswear is today part of BasicNet, an Italian company that also owns Kappa^®, Superga^®, Briko^® and Sebago^®, and on track to rapidly expand beyond its homebase. Bluebell Group, a pioneer in Asia in brand and retail development, operating over 150 brands across the region, will manage the brand’s overall presence including an online e-commerce shop, local marketing activation, and overall retail operations.

K-Way^® will be introduced to Hong Kong consumers first through its online k-way.com.hk and a planned physical store in October. Targeting the active young local audience, offering a mix of technical meets fashion apparel, the brand’s footprint is expected to grow further in Hong Kong and into Mainland China later this year.

«We are very proud to open the first K-Way^® mono-brand store in Hong Kong and happy to embark on a path to a long presence in the city for the brand and for a long partnership between BasicNet and Bluebell».

Lorenzo Boglione, BasicNet Executive Vice Chairman.

«We have no doubt K-Way^® will become an anchor brand for us in Hong Kong, where retail today is geared solely on local consumption. The brand offers a desirable and accessible lifestyle unisex fashion and kids wear, which is one of our core focus for the development of this market. BasicNet has some very exciting global growth plans and hype collaborations for K-Way^® and we are pleased to play a role in bringing something fresh and playful to our Asian consumers».

Samy Redjeb, Bluebell Group Managing Director for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

ABOUT BLUEBELL GROUP

Bluebell Group has pioneered building successful brands in Asia since 1954. As Asia’s partner of choice, Bluebell Group is present in Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Macau SAR, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Australia.

The Group’s distribution network includes flagship stores, shop-in-shops, counters, its own multi- brand concepts, as well as a highly selective wholesale network, together with both direct e- commerce and marketplaces, covering both domestic and Travel Retail. The Group operates across multiple product categories: Accessories, Footwear, Apparel, Fragrance, Beauty, Gourmet, Jewellery, Watches, and Tobacco.

Bluebell Hong Kong, established in 1967, has 220 employees, 25 retail doors, and operates 5+ leading luxury, fashion, lifestyle and tobacco brands to date. Bluebell Hong Kong is a joint-venture partner of Owndays Japan, a brand under L Catterton Asia portfolio.

A family-owned group, Bluebell Group today has over 3,800 staff, 650 points-of-sale, US$2b in turnover. www.bluebellgroup.com

ABOUT BASICNET / K-WAY^®    

K-Way^® was born in Paris in 1965, on a rainy day. Clothes retailer Léon-Claude Duhamel observed people rushed by in soaking wet clothes, with uncomfortable umbrellas. He had an idea: creating the first windproof and waterproof packable jacket in history. Classic, modern, hi-tech, functional, and colored, with its iconic 3-colors zipper, K-Way® is a registered trademark in the Italian and French dictionaries.

K-Way^® is a brand of BasicNet SpA, the Company also owner of Kappa^®, Robe di Kappa^®, Jesus^® Jeans, Superga^®, Sabelt^®, Briko^® and Sebago^®. BasicNet operates worldwide through an international network of entrepreneurs, licensees of the brands, which produce or distribute the products. BasicNet offers to its network services of research, development, industrialization of the products, and global marketing. All the company processes occur only through the Web, making BasicNet a “fully web integrated company”. BasicNet, with headquarters in Turin, Italy, is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 1999.

PRESS CONTACTS

Bluebell Group

Anne Geronimi ageronimi@bluebellgroup.com

Photo 1: Outdoor Billboard – Venice 

Photo 2: Shop interior