Scotch & Soda (clothing)

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Scotch & Soda

Type	Private
Industry	Design, distribution and sales of clothing and accessories
Founded	1985
Founder	Tom Puik, Aristoteles
Fate	Rebranded 2021
Headquarters	Amsterdam, Netherlands and Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Area served	Europe, Oceania, North America, Asia, Middle East, Africa
Key people	Frederick Lukoff (CEO)
Products	Apparel and accessories
Parent	Sun Capital Partners
Website	scotch-soda.com

Scotch and Soda is a Dutch fashion retail company founded in 1985.

Scotch & Soda is a Dutch fashion and lifestyle label specialising in men's, women's and children's clothing, denim, footwear, accessories and fragrances. Its designs are noted for their progressive style and unexpected details.

Founded in 1985, the brand is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Scotch & Soda collections can be found globally at 225  freestanding stores across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia, as well as in 7,000 doors in some of the world's biggest cities, including New York, London and Paris. The brand's online operations also ship to over 70 countries.

Scotch & Soda is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc.^[1], with Frederick Lukoff serving as the current CEO.^[2]

History[]

Scotch & Soda store in DUMBO, Brooklyn

Scotch & Soda, Alkmaar, Netherlands

Scotch & Soda was founded in 1985 by 24-year-old Dutch entrepreneur Laurent Hompes. Beginning as a men's wholesale brand in the Netherlands, the collection focused on affordable sports jackets in bright colours.

In 2000, the brand was bought by Eric Bijlsma, Joep Krouwels and Patrick Munsters, who relaunched it a year later. In 2008, two stores opened in Amsterdam and Utrecht to launch its retail business, and a new boys' collection was introduced. This was followed by womenswear in 2009, after women were spotted in its stores shopping  its men's clothing for themselves. In 2010, it launched its premium denim line, Amsterdams Blauw, and BARFLY, its signature genderless fragrance. In 2011, a girls' range was added.

The company opened its first international store and US flagship in New York's Soho in 2010. The store attracted the attention of Michael Kramer, president and CEO of Kellwood, at the time a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. Kramer contacted the brand's Amsterdam headquarters and, six months later, brokered a deal that went onto become Sun Capital's first and largest international acquisition at the time.

After the 2011 takeover and the 2015 hire of Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg as CEO, the company focused its efforts on international expansion, beginning with two new stores in London in 2012. During Stoppelenburg's leadership, the company implemented a successful omnichannel strategy, and expanded in the Netherlands, Germany, UK and US. In 2019, men's and women's footwear, and a second fragrance, SCOTCH & SODA, were introduced.

In September 2019, Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg stepped down as the company's CEO to assume the position of chairman of the board. He was succeeded as CEO in September 2019 by Frederick Lukoff, who was previously president at luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney.

Since Lukoff's tenure, Scotch & Soda has continued its plans for international expansion by focusing on its Amsterdam heritage.

In 2020, the brand launched sunglasses and opticals ranges for men and women,^[3] as well as its third perfume, ISLAND WATER.^[4]

New brand identity and expansion of store network[]

On March 16, 2021, Scotch & Soda announced the launch of a new brand identity, as well as the acceleration of its global expansion, with the opening of 15 brick-and-mortar stores and 12 shop-in-shops over the following next 6 months.^[5]

The new brand monogram embraces the symbol of unity at the heart of Scotch & Soda's name which embodies the free spirit of Amsterdam, blending the iconic ampersand with the brand's initials, whilst also nodding to the craftmanship that goes into the collections by following the delicate movement of a thread attached to the eye of a needle.

In Europe, key openings will include new larger locations opening in March 2021 in the Netherlands, including a new store in Utrecht, followed by the opening in Westfield's Mall of the Netherlands in Leidschendam, as well as the brand's largest flagship worldwide opening in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (colloquially known as Den Bosch). In Germany, a new store will open in Hamburg at the end of March and in Konstanz in August. In France, a new store will open in the Corso wing in the CAP3000 beachfront mall in Nice in June. A new location will open in Ukraine in May, whilst in Poland two new stores will launch in Warsaw by October. Additionally, three shop-in-shops will open with Globus in Switzerland this month, followed by seven shop-in-shops to be unveiled in Åhléns department stores across Sweden – including in Stockholm and Gothenburg – in March and April, cementing the brand's growth in Scandinavia.

A new store in the Seaport district of Boston in the United States will open in September 2021, following the recent openings of two stores in California in January to add to the existing 43 store portfolio in North America.  

Continuing its expansion in the Middle East, the brand will enter the new market of Israel in April 2021, followed by Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. In the Asia-Pacific region, a new franchise will open in April 2021 in Mumbai, India, as well as in early October 2021 in Perth, Australia.

The facades of all new stores will carry the new brand identity and play on muted tones of cloud white, charcoal and tan, combined with pop accents of sunshine yellow, rose pink, and burgundy. Bespoke fixtures in aged brass, textured tiles, marble, powder-coated steel and a unique bar design to highlight accessories and get together around it. Selected vintage furniture and wallpapers designed in-house complete the new design concept.

In addition, all new stores are fitted with LED lights, FSC wood herringbone flooring, new hangers made of recycled materials and selected soft furnishings such as sustainable rugs woven in ECONYL.  The Westfield Mall of the Netherlands store is also BREEAM-certified for sustainability performance.

In addition to the new stores, the brand announced the imminent addition of showrooms and offices in Shanghai and Milan.

Branding[]

The name is also stylized as SCOTCH & SODA, or Scotch & Soda.

The company states its designers work from Number 22, Keizersgracht, Amsterdam, a design studio in a former church, in the heart of the city.^{[citation needed]}

References[]