LONDON — Sunspel has inked a wholesale agreement with Anglobal Ltd. for the Japanese market, WWD has learned.
An announcement is expected later today.
Sunspel principals said the company has a longstanding relationship with Japan. The upscale knitwear and underwear brand was one of the earliest British textile businesses to begin exports to Asia.
Anglobal will start wholesaling Sunspel in Japan from spring-summer 2016 and later plans to launch Sunspel stores. The first flagship is set to open in Tokyo early next year.
Sunspel and Anglobal already have ties: For more than 20 years Anglobal has managed Margaret Howell in Japan. Sunspel, meanwhile, has been producing original Margaret Howell T-shirts for even longer period.
Sunspel was founded in 1860 and its current owners Nicholas Brooke and Dominic Hazlehurst purchased the company in 2005.
It still has its own factory based in Long Eaton near Nottingham, England, where clothing is made from fine quality cottons. Sunspel has four stores in London and sales of more than $18 million worldwide, according to the company.