US sports manufacturer Nike and CWF Children Worldwide Fashion, the high-quality children's fashion experts from France, have signed a licensing agreement.
CWF will design a Nike fashion collection for boys and girls aged 0-14 in the future and will also take over the manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution of the collection via their local distributors. The collection features about 200 different items and is said to be "based on sports and innovative materials, inspired by sports and adapted to fashion" and is split into the three target groups babies, kids and juniors.
The collection is supposed to be launched in the 2002 autumn/winter season, will be sold exclusively in Europe and will probably be presented to the public for the first time on the occasion of the Pitti Bimbo in Florence, in January 2002.
Nike plans to expand their high-class collection range through the agreement with CWF and also intends to step up their penetration of the European market tapping new distribution channels such as children's fashion boutiques and the relevant special departments in clothing stores.
Nike's regional distribution offices for Europe, the Middle East and Africa are located in Hilversum in the Netherlands. Nike's headquarters in Beaverton/Oregon take care of the marketing of sports items and sportswear to more than 100 countries world-wide. In the business year 1999/2000, Nike generated a turnover of about EUR 9.72bn.
For CWF, aquiring the Nike license is "a perfect complement to our range and underlines CWF's position as a leading partner with a high-quality children's fashion range in Europe", Gerard Freiss, Vice President Managing Director communicated. The licensing portofolio of CWF from Les Herbiers comprises the children's fashion lines of DKNY, Kenzo, Timberland, Elle, and lately, also Burberry. In 1999, turnover amounted to EUR 69.3m.