Scandinavian simplicity continues to win more fashion fans worldwide — and Anine Bing is certainly doing her part.
The Los Angeles-based Danish designer has set in motion a three-year plan to double her revenues and global store count; amplify and sharpen the brand’s image; and expand her leather goods offering via a new design studio in Paris, which is becoming her second headquarters.
The privately held company recently crossed the $100 million revenue threshold, and is forecasting double-digit growth in 2025.
“You know, I haven’t built this brand on trends. It’s really timeless pieces,” Bing said in an exclusive interview, wearing one of her roomy blazers with the sleeves rolled up just so, narrow black jeans and glossy, pointy-toed ankle boots. “I really want to create pieces that empower the woman: She puts them on and she can mix and match with whatever she may already have in the closet, and she can wear them 10 years from now.”
Bing was joined by global brand president Julie Bourgeois, who joined the fashion house last June from Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
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“Client-centricity is something we’re going to focus on more and more,” Bourgeois said, arguing that Bing’s blend of “Scandinavian minimalism with American energy and a touch of California is very unique to our brand and makes us so different.”
Anine Bing recently opened her first outlet unit at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Fla., to be followed soon by another in Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Woodbury, N.Y.
The brand also continues to roll out full-price stores, with units at the Americana Manhasset in Long Island and the Ala Moana Center in Hawaii coming on stream in the first quarter. Two locations in China are in the works for the second quarter, including one in Guangzhou.
By the end of 2025, the brand plans to have a total of 41 stores: 22 of them in the United States, seven in Europe and the U.K., six in China, and three each in Australia and Canada.
Store interiors take cues from Bing’s living room in Montecito, Calif., with its natural colors, soothing textures and clean, organic forms.
“We want the client to come to the store and feel she’s in her living room. It’s welcoming, it’s very warm, very casual,” Bourgeois said. “We want her to feel not like she’s shopping, but rather just trying some things on from her closet.”
Bourgeois described a retail strategy hinged on key cities, with future targets including the likes of Milan, Madrid, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
“And I’d love to have a store in Copenhagen one day,” added Bing, who founded her business with her husband Nico in L.A. in 2012 after building a following as a model and pioneering fashion blogger, pre-Instagram and before the term influencer was coined. “Women always wanted to know what I was wearing, and they came to me for that inspiration . . . . I built a community around that.”
(Nico Bing is chief executive officer.)
At present, Bing’s distribution is evenly split between directly owned retail and 450 wholesale accounts in 45 countries, Bourgeois said. “We do believe that each of those channels plays a very important role, obviously, wholesale for brand visibility and market expansion, retail for experience with the client, and nurturing this community that follows us.”
Among new markets on the horizon, Bourgeois is also putting out feelers in the fast-growing Middle East.
Bing and Bourgeois plan to self-fund the retail expansion thanks to the company’s intense focus on profitability. In 2016, Anine and Nico Bing, who hold a controlling stake, took on three minority investors, including two more focused on tech — Index Ventures and Greycroft — plus Felix Capital, which also holds stakes in Ami Paris and Goop.
Apparel remains the core of Bing’s business, with Quinn blazers, Kate jeans, Luca jackets and Rosie sweaters among current bestsellers.
“Women really come to us for a uniform,” Bing said. “I really want to make it simple for the woman to get dressed in the morning. She can throw on her denim, a white T-shirt and a blazer, and she’s ready to go.”
Bourgeois said tailored jackets and outerwear are its fastest-growing categories, and jeans will be the key focus of a new campaign with a fashion edge by Paris-based art director Ezra Petronio. It’s slated to launch in March as digital ads, paid social posts and out-of-home placements.
Bourgoeis noted the brand occupies a “sweet spot in the market in terms of price positioning,” with apparel retailing from about $100 for knits up to $1,250 for leather outerwear.
Footwear, handbags and fine jewelry currently account for less than 20 percent of revenues.
“We see an enormous potential in accessories, especially bags, and we are building a studio here for non-apparel in Paris,” she said. “Our clients want it, our partners want it.”
“I’m obsessed with handbags,” Bing said. “Since I was a little girl, I would steal my grandmother’s vintage handbags. I’m really passionate about creating the perfect pieces for the woman, and I’m really, really excited to build this team here in Paris.”
Bourgeois will be based in Paris, along with some brand communications, product, creative and distribution functions.
“For us, Paris is the capital of fashion, it’s the heart of global creativity,” she said. “This is where we can find some of the best talents in the world, photographers, creative director.”
Despite the rapid growth, Bing said she still listens mostly to her intuition.
“When we design, I know exactly what’s going to be a bestseller when I see it,” she said. “I think I have a really good feeling for what other women want to make them feel confident, because I know how I feel when I put it on.”
