David Thunmarker (Tiger of Sweden): "Our development in France is one of our priorities"

CEO of the Scandinavian clothing brand Tiger of Sweden (men, women and denim) since 2008, David  Thunmarker spoke to FashionMag.com about the brand’s international offensive, especially in France.

FashionMag.com: How would you describe Tiger of Sweden’s trajectory in recent years? 

David Thunmarker: Since becoming head of the company five years ago, we’ve doubled Tiger of Sweden’s sales from 60 to 120 million euros, the result in particular of the desire on the part of our parent company, IC Group A/S, which is listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange, and which also owns brands By Malene Birger, Peak Performance, Saint Tropez and Designers Remix, to expand beyond the Scandinavian market. In September 2013, we opened two of our brand own stores in London's Piccadilly neighborhood and on the Canary Wharf - and that’s not to mention our corners in department stores Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. We’ve significantly expanded in the UK and German markets- the latter now the company’s fourth largest (a directly-managed store in Düsseldorf and a corner at the Galeries Lafayette in Berlin, ed.) Our strategy now involves turning our focus toward France and the United States.

FM: Although you recently entered the French market, you have developed rapidly. What are your plans for the future? 

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DT: We came to France in August 2014 with the opening of seven corners: in BHV Marais, at Galeries Lafayette Paris Montparnasse and at the Galeries Lafayette in Lille, Strasbourg, Metz, Dijon and Annecy. In February, we continued forward with openings at the Galeries Lafayette in Bordeaux, Rennes, Caen and Grenoble. We’ve also opened a pop-up in the men’s section of the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann  pending a permanent concession in September. It’s also around then that we’ll be opening a concession at the Galeries Lafayette in Perpignan, Montpellier, Toulouse, Biarritz, and our first corners at Printemps in Vélizy and Lyon. For us, it was important to place Tiger of Sweden employees in each of these stores so as to increase awareness about the label. So far, we're quite pleased with the reception of our brand, which has a very Scandinavian look, in France, and sales are in line with our forecasts. The goal now is to find a location in Paris to open our first full-fledged store.

Interview by Stéphanie Salti