PrettyLittleThing to open LA HQ and influencer lounge

PrettyLittleThing, the Manchester-based fast fashion etailer is set to open its first US HQ on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, as it aims to position itself closer to the influencers and celebrities who drive its business.

The business has taken over a two-storey retail space, with near neighbours including AllSaints, Sweaty Betty, Zadig & Voltaire, Rag & Bone and Lululemon, WWD reports.

While the brand will occupy a prime retail unit, it will not be a traditional store according to PrettyLittleThing founder and co-CEO Umar Kamani. Instead the space will be used as an influencer lounge for gifting and it will also house a photo studio.

“There’s no brick-and-mortar in the plan. It’s more profitable for me, and more beneficial for me, to open a country rather than a store,” said Kamani, who has just been awarded a five-year visa to work in the US and plans to spend most of his time there.

PrettyLittleThing, which is part of the Boohoo group, is on a fast growth trajectory. When AIM-listed Boohoo reported its year-end results last month, it revealed that PrettyLittleThing had achieved a 228% growth in saleson a comparative 12-month basis to £181.3m. 

The brand has been built on dressing high visibility influencers and music stars and launched in the US two years ago with a campaign fronted by Kendall Jenner. Kamani, whose father Mahmud founded Boohoo and whose brother Samir runs Boohoo MAN, said its strategy was to dress the influencers in affordable fashion and not present affordable copies of designer fashion on its site.