Kurt Geiger: Record holiday trading as US expansion pays off
Growth at Kurt Geiger outpaced expectations last year driven by American demand for the luxury footwear and accessories brand.
Despite general gloom in the retail sector, December 2024 was the most profitable month in the brand’s history, with its 17 per cent growth credited to a 54 per cent rise in handbag sales and its US expansion.
With the help of celebrity hype from Kylie Jenner, Rihanna and Paris Hilton, North America is Kurt Geiger’s fastest-growing and largest market – despite only opening its first four stores in the last six months.
In the US alone, sales surged by 58.7 per cent to over £110m from February to September, with its e-commerce and wholesale businesses growing by 94.4 per cent and 50.9 per cent, respectively, during the same period.
From 2018 to 2025, yearly US sales have grown from £2.5m to £250m at the retailer.
Its expansion to bricks-and-mortar in America marks the first time Kurt Geiger has branched out from partnerships with US retailers including Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Dillards.
“We’re going big in North America,” chief executive Neil Clifford said. “Seeing our growth in the region, we believe our creative and social spirit and our statement-making styles aren’t just for Londonphiles. We love the idea of Kurt Geiger being a worldwide conduit of London’s pop culture scene.”
The figures come after CityAM reported in August that a surge in demand for denim handbags and footwear linked to Taylor Swift‘s global Eras Tour helped UK sales at Kurt Geiger jump by 35 per cent since the start of its current financial year.
Kurt Geiger’s brick-and-mortar bet
Kurt Geiger boss Neil Cliffors is famously a believer in bricks-and-mortar and has previously slammed London’s “tourist tax” for pulling customers away from London’s high streets.
The retailer’s four new venues in the US – and three in Mexico – are established around a “visual identity”, which debuted at Kurt Geiger’s 3,000 sq ft Oxford Street flagship store in London in September 2023.
The store quickly “exceeded all sales predictions”, the company said, and is considered one of the most profitable stores in the firm’s history.
Kurt Geiger is planning to reach 50 US stores in the coming years.