French leisurewear brand Eden Park is extending its footprint in travel retail with new listings in Africa and the Middle East.
The brand will open a corner in the Ivory Coast’s Abidjan Félix Houphouet Boigny Airport this month. Two further 15sq m outlets are scheduled to open later this year; a corner at Léopold-Sédar-Senghor International Airport in Senegal and another store at the Marrakech Ménara Airport in Morocco.
According to Eden Park CEO and Co-Founder Franck Mesnel, the brand will target Egyptian travel retail in 2017, with outlets scheduled to open at Cairo International Airport and El Nouzha Airport in Alexandria. Corners are also planned at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport next year.
Eden Park (named after the New Zealand rugby ground where the first Rugby World Cup final was played out between France and New Zealand in 1987), was launched in 1988 on the initiative of two French international rugby players, Mesnel and Eric Blanc. Known for its pink bowtie label, the brand is active in 34 countries. In travel retail it operates an outlet at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and two pop-up stores at Hamad International Airport’s Esquire and Junction outlets.
“We are continuing to expand, with a focus on travel retail for the future,” Mesnel said.
The brand exhibited for the first time this year at the TFWA Asia Pacific exhibition in Singapore, introducing Autumn/Winter 2016 collections for men and women.
Both collections, in natural colours of grey, beige, brown and blue, were inspired by three Paris districts: Marais, Sorbonne and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
The men’s range combines classic and modern designs, with a focus on finishing details.
“This love of details has always been one of the brand’s key features, with its combination of nonchalance, boldness and something offbeat, right down into the smallest finishing,” Mesnel said.
The collection includes prints and small bow tie designs feature on shirts and trainers. Knitwear includes rolled and v-neck pullovers and cardigans and the range offers trench coats and a down jacket.
The A/W 2016 Collection for women is described as “timeless and contemporary”, in style and materials, and includes dresses in viscose and cotton, v-neck pullovers and blazers. The range targets women who are seeking high-quality clothing which has an “offbeat touch”, Mesnel said.
Mesnel’s continuing passion for rugby was the driving force behind the development of ‘Les Papillons du Ciel’, an association which aims to promote education for underprivileged children, aged 6 to 14, in 2012.
“Les Papillons du Ciel is dedicated to developing educational programmes and activities, ranging from basic help with school work to the creation of learning establishments, all of which are supported by the symbolic apprenticeship in a sport/passion that is rugby,” Mesnel said.
“Rugby is first and foremost about respecting others as well as the rules. It is about working and communicating to win. Although it is only a game, it remains an important vector for educational values.”
The pilot project was the opening of the Rocher College: Education and Rugby, in 2012 on Saint Marie Island in Madagascar. To date the school has 75 pupils and four qualified teachers and is supported by a project, initiated by Mesnel, using left-over shirt fabrics to create mini badges in the form of bow ties. The badges are available in Eden Park boutiques, with 30% of all sales going to support Les Papillons du Ciel.