L.K.Bennett

LK Bennett is a British luxury fashion brand based in London, England. The company sells ready-to-wear collections incorporating clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories. Linda Bennett set up the first LK Bennett shop in Wimbledon Village in 1990, with a goal to produce "something in-between the designer footwear you find in Bond Street and those on the high street". The company’s success led Bennett to earn the nickname "Queen of the Kitten Heel.” In 1998 Bennett created her first ready-to-wear collection and started overseas expansion, opening a boutique in Paris in 2000. She then opened stores and concessions in Spain, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, including in-store concessions in chains including Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, John Lewis, Fenwick, Printemps, and Galeries Lafayette. In November 2004, Bennett appointed BDO Stoy Hayward to find strategic investors. Bennett sold a 70% stake in the business in 2008 to Phoenix Equity Partners and Sirius Equity, a retail and branded luxury goods investment company, in a deal believed to have netted her around £100m. Bennett remained on the board of the company as a non-executive director, and retained a stake of about 30 per cent. In April 2017 the brand announced that Linda Bennett would be returning to its helm with a focus on product and brand development.