J.Crew Enters the Asian Fashion Market

The following article is from Fashionista (click here to read in its entirety):

J.Crew To Make Its First Appearance In Asia, Continues Plan for World Domination
By Hayley Phelan
June 11, 2012

J.Crew is on a roll. After reporting a strong sales lift two weeks ago (profits nearly doubled over the last year), the retailer has another exciting announcement: Their wares will now be available in Hong Kong and China, thanks to a new collaboration with luxury retailer Lane Crawford.

According to a press release, a curated selection of J.Crew’s women’s and men’s ready-to-wear collection, as well as shoes, will be available at select Lane Crawford stores and online starting in October 2012.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with J.Crew on this first-ever, unique multi-channel project,” Lane Crawford’s president Andrew Keith said.

The partnership is also a first for J.Crew. While the American brand has a similar relationship with Net-a-Porter, the collaboration with Lane Crawford marks the first time J.Crew’s clothes will be sold at brick-and-mortar stores outside North America. And J.Crew couldn’t be happier about it.

“We always want to work with the ‘best of the best,’ and Lane Crawford was at the top of our fantasy list,” J.Crew’s CEO Mickey Drexler said. “When it comes to editing and presenting collections with a creative and elevated point of view, no one does it better. We are beyond excited to partner with Lane Crawford to help introduce J.Crew to Asia.”

Of course, the collaboration with Lane Crawford is only the beginning. J.Crew has set its sights on becoming a household name all around the world. “One of the big priorities is building the global brand, in a disciplined, deliberate manner,” Stuart Haselden, J.Crew’s chief financial officer, told WWD. And with retail stores in Canada, an online store that distributes to 106 countries, and brick-and-mortar locations in the U.K. and Hong Kong expected to open soon, it’s safe to say the American retailer is well on its way to world domination.

Pretty exciting international expansion! (They are definitely moving quickly abroad in the past few years.) Curious if they will slow down a bit and concentrate in the international markets they have just entered, or move forward to include additional locations...

What are your thoughts on J.Crew's entrance to the Hong Kong market? What market should they pursue next?