Skims has offered a first look at its upcoming Regent Street flagship, capping a week of contrasting headlines for the Kim Kardashian-founded shapewear brand.
The retailer shared images of its new store on a prime corner site at 245-247 Regent Street, one of London’s busiest and most high-profile shopping destinations.
The store, which was first teased in December, spans 12,000 sq ft and sits within a Crown Estate-owned property previously occupied by Ted Baker.
Skims has signed a 10-year lease on the site as it continues to deepen its presence in the UK market.
Regent Street remains one of London’s most in-demand premium and luxury retail locations, with recent openings including Antler, Max&Co, Penhaligon’s, Michael Kors, Gant and Lululemon.
The flagship marks another step in Skims’ UK expansion. Earlier this year, the brand teamed up with Nike to open a pop-up at Selfridges, showcasing the NikeSkims Spring 26 ballerina collection.
It also launched at luxury department store chain Flannels last autumn, further building its wholesale presence in the UK.
However, the Regent Street reveal comes during a week of highs and lows for the brand, after a lorry driver was jailed for smuggling £7.2m worth of cocaine hidden inside a legitimate shipment of Skims products.
Border officers discovered 90kg of the Class A drug after stopping Jakub Konkel’s truck at Harwich International Port in Essex on 4 September.
The cocaine had been hidden inside a delivery of Skims clothing and underwear from the Netherlands, which was being brought into the UK for onward distribution.
Konkel, 40, of Kartuzy in northern Poland, admitted smuggling the drugs and was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court.
The court heard he had been paid €4,500, around £3,918, to collect the drugs from an industrial estate in Belgium, drive them to the Hook of Holland and board a ferry to the UK.
Judge Richard Wilkin said Konkel had acted as a “willing driver” and played a “significant role in this large-scale, commercial operation”.
Officers became suspicious of how the lorry was being driven before x-raying the vehicle, which was carrying 28 pallets of underwear and clothing.
They found the trailer had been specially adapted to hide 90 wraps of cocaine within the rear doors.
National Crime Agency officer Paul Orchard said organised crime groups often used corrupt drivers to move drugs hidden within legitimate commercial loads.
“The detection and investigation have removed a significant amount of cocaine whose profits are lost to the crime group behind the smuggling attempt, and with Konkel they’ve lost an important enabler,” he said.
The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs, Konkel’s truck and mobile phone, and said he would be deported after serving his sentence.
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