Kontoor starts joint Lee, Wrangler stores rollout with Berlin debut

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 20, 2022

Kontoor Brands’ denim labels Lee and Wrangler have joined forces for a dual-branded denim store in Berlin that’s intended to be the first in a series of joint stores in Europe. The brands said it offers consumers “the ultimate denim experience”.

It’s on the Tauntzienstrasse, a major shopping street in the City West area. It covers 150 sq m to be followed by a rollout “at key high-traffic shopping districts in a curated selection of European cities”. 

“Europe continues to be a key market for expansion for the brands,” said Chris Waldeck, EVP, COO and Global Brand President at Lee, adding that further stores will open “in the coming months”.

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The stores will “offer consumers an immersive experience with products from both brands and the opportunity to engage with [them] in a curated retail environment that brings to life the unique characteristics of each brand”. 

As in Berlin, they’ll carry a dual fascia with separate windows and frontages for each brand, unified by a design concept that underscores the brands’ combined 200+ years of denim expertise. 

The Berlin store features jeans from both brands merchandised by gender and fit categories in the store’s main area, “with a range of apparel options complementing the jeans”. The customer journey then leads to a specialised denim room with a wider variety of denim on a seven-shelf stack. This in turn leads to the fitting rooms, adorned with brand imagery. 

The company has used heritage materials and imagery throughout the store to “illustrate the brands’ distinct personalities”. This means a premium archive-driven feel for Lee Jeans, including a capsule area for the premium Lee 101 range. Meanwhile, a “bold, youthful, style” is used to evoke the spirit of Wrangler with a mixture of vivid red and indigo blues in the visuals. 

An overarching grey and blue concept unifies the design with denim-look arches across the entrance to the store and the denim room. Recycled denim used has been on the cash register.