LONDON – Holzweiler, the Oslo-based label, is preparing to expand in China a 12 months after taking investment from Sequoia China.

Within the second half, the brand is about to open 4 stores worldwide with more planned for next 12 months across the Asia-Pacific region.

Three stores shall be in China, a market that has seen a rebound in luxury spending post-pandemic.

The primary opening shall be in Chengdu’s upscale, luxury-filled shopping complex Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, where Louis Vuitton opened its first restaurant within the country. The Chengdu store will open on Thursday and shall be the brand’s ninth location, and first retail outpost outside of Scandinavia.

In September, additional stores will open in Xintiandi in Shanghai, and Beijing’s Sanlutun Taikoo Li, where a pop-up opened in June.

Andreas Holzweiler, chief executive officer at Holzweiler, which he co-founded along with his sister Susanne in 2012, said it was key for the brand to be present in first-tier shopping destinations like Beijing and Shanghai, in addition to latest first-tier cities like Chengdu.

“These emerging destinations will connect us with broader customer groups with high spending power. That’s crucial for a latest brand like ours to enter the market. Once we had selected the important thing cities, we focused on refining probably the most relevant districts and identifying locations that may align with our brand DNA, including lifestyle offers, architecture and design, and cultural hubs. Each location must feel prefer it is sensible for those customers entering the shop and learning what Holzweiler is, perhaps for the primary time,” he added.

To best convey the Holzweiler identity, the brand has enlisted long-time collaborator Snøhetta to handle the interiors of the Chengdu store. Taking cues from the concept of “Norwegian forces,” this latest visual direction will eventually be translated into all global Holzweiler retail spaces.

Sequoia China, which is now called HongShan because the China branch was split from the U.S. business last month to operate independently, said it would proceed to support the brand through the retail openings. Last 12 months, the enterprise capital firm took a majority stake in Holzweiler. It’s also an investor in brands including We11done, Ami, Destree, and Canadian e-tailer Ssense.

Prior to planned physical retail rollouts in China, Holzweiler launched an internet flagship on Alibaba’s business-to-consumer platform Tmall, and have become the primary Scandinavian brand to launch a pop-up in Beijing’s SKP-S last October.

Angelica Cheung, enterprise partner at Sequoia China and founding editor of Vogue China, said “Holzweiler’s unique brand value lies in a mix of quality design, community, modern lifestyle, and continued inspiration from nature. In our partnership with the brand, we see huge potential for these qualities to resonate with the audience in China.”

Because the brand progresses in China, Holzweiler believes that it’s imperative to “maintain the extent of connectivity and closeness we seek with our customers,” even when operating at a bigger scale.

“We consider that physical stores, particularly as a comparatively latest brand in China, shall be key to our success in what’s a hugely competitive market. It is going to enable us to more effectively communicate the essence of the brand and what makes us unique,” he said.

“The more opportunities that we are able to create to enable customers to attach with our heritage and have interaction in the approach to life that we encapsulate at Holzweiler, the more we consider that they may connect with our product and understand how we differentiate as a Scandinavian brand. Universal values of sustainability, constructing community, and respect for nature are brand cornerstones that we’re confident will resonate in China as effectively because the sentiment we’ve in-built our home market,” Holzweiler added.

The brand hosted its first local event in Shanghai last March to attach with local media and influencers. It is going to proceed to concentrate on these area of interest experiences, including store opening events and calendar moments, to encourage awareness and hype-building around core products.

It also plans to interact with customers via online shopping events resembling 618 and Singles’ Day.

After gaining enough local audience insight and feedback, Holzweiler said the brand will tremendous tune its offering to raised cater to the Chinese market while ensuring that “our product is increasingly universal while being true to the Holzweiler aesthetic.”

He said the partnership with Sequoia China has been instrumental “in identifying those features of the brand and product that we consider our Chinese customers will particularly reply to. We’re entering this next stage armed with a beneficial knowledge of our key appeal,” noted Holzweiler.

A London store can even be unveiled in September, coinciding with the brand’s London Fashion Week debut, Holzweiler confirmed. The shop shall be in Soho, on the corner of Berwick Street opposite Axel Arigato.

He called the London showcase a key moment to “bring together, and connect with our global community.”

“We plan to make use of our London platform to translate our core values on a bigger scale, and reach audiences in our key territories and further afield. We’re working closely with an incredible creative team, including stylist Francesca Burns, on a spring 2024 show concept that may center on our Norwegian heritage and underscore nature as a relentless inspiration to Holzweiler,” he added.

Within the fourth quarter, the brand can even launch a season-less product initiative that may highlight its core versatile and interchangeable styles.