River Island

This article is about the fashion brand. For the location in the Falkland Islands, see River Island, Falkland Islands. For the topographical formation within a river, see river island and ait.

River Island
Company typePrivate company
IndustryFashion, clothing, textiles, retail
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948): Lewis Separates
FounderBernard Lewis and brothers
Headquarters
London, England
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
Head Office: West London Tech Hub: East London
Key people
Will Kernan (CEO)
Bernard Lewis (Founder, President)
Clive Lewis (Deputy Chairman, son of Bernard Lewis)
Ben Lewis (Non-Executive, nephew of Bernard Lewis)
Vanessa Lewis(Creative Director, Bernard's wife)
Leonard Lewis (Non-Executive, son of Bernard Lewis)
ProductsWomen's, men's and children's clothing, footwear, sportswear and accessories
Revenue£879.5m (2019)[1]
£52.5m (as EBITDA) (2019)[1]
OwnerFamilies of Bernard and David Lewis
ParentLewis Trust Group
DivisionsWomenswear, menswear, kidswear
WebsiteRiverIsland.com

River Island (stylised as RiverIsland and abbreviated as RI) is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online.[2]

Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Island also has menswear, kidswear and pet collections. River Island’s collections are entirely designed in-house at the brand’s West London head office, and it was one of the first vertical fashion retailers in the UK.[3] In the 1960s, it became an influential name in the womenswear fashion scene, under its previous name: Chelsea Girl.[4]

Today, River Island is considered a key player on the UK high street, with 250 stores across the country, including flagship locations in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, plus a significant online presence.[2] In recent years, the business has expanded internationally, and continued to grow its online offer.

River Island is a private company, and remains fully owned by the Lewis family.

  1. ^ a b "RIVER ISLAND CLOTHING CO. LIMITED Company number 00636095".
  2. ^ a b "About Us". River Island. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Supply chain at River Island". Retail Week. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  4. ^ Goldfingle, Gemma; Bowden2017-03-15T11:30:00, Grace. "From Chelsea Girl to River Island: 11 retail rebrands". Retail Week. Retrieved 24 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)