The Kooples has had its sights on America for a while now, but things will finally start to happen in September. The brand – founded by the Elicha brothers – will set foot in New York at the beginning of September thanks to department store Bloomingdale’s. Talk was originally of an own-brand store, but The Kooples has in the end opted for in-store concessions to test the waters.

André Saraiva and Annabelle Dexter-Jones for The Kooples autumn-winter 2012/2013

Seven concessions, to be precise – five for womenswear and two for menswear – will open in five of the Bloomingdale’s stores in New York, including those in Soho and on 59th Street. For the time being no other openings have been announced as part of its US expansion.

When the brand moved to the UK it opened several stores straightaway, living up to its reputation as a large-scale retail developer. It has since said that it has completed its British expansion, which the local press interpreted as a “forced slow-down” after the opening of 24 stores and dozens of concessions. The Kooples is certainly being more cautious in the US with just the seven points of sale in Bloomingdale’s.