Hunkemöller

Hunkemöller is a global omnichannel retailer specialising in lingerie and related products. The company was founded in 1886 in Amsterdam as a speciality shop for corsets. Today, it is a brand with more than 7,400 employees in 19 countries.^[1] Hunkemöller is a market leader in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

Hunkemöller International B.V.

Industry	Lingerie
Founded	1886
Founder	Wilhelm Hunkemöller Josephina Lexis
Headquarters	Hilversum, Netherlands since 1886
Number of locations	900 stores and 19 webshops
Key people	Philip F. Mountford, Michael P. Hitchcock and Vi J. Patel, Gijs van Engelen, Alexandra Legro and Charlotte Davies.
Products	Fashion, lingerie
Revenue	€641 million (2019)
Number of employees	7,400 (2021)
Website	hunkemoller.com

Hunkemöller store in Antwerpen (2017)

History

Wilhelm Hunkemöller and his wife Josephina Lexis founded the company in 1886 as a special shop for corsets and bustles in Amsterdam. In the early years, they produced products in their own factory. In the following years, the family-owned business expanded and opened stores in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. In 1974 the company was acquired by Vendex subsidiary Confendex B.V., a subsidiary company of Vroom & Dreesmann. At this point, the company name was changed from “Hunkemöller Lexis” to simply “Hunkemöller”. In 1977 the company expanded to Belgium and ten years later to Germany. Today, Hunkemöller has stores throughout Europe and franchise partner stores in the Middle East. In 2003 online operations began in The Netherlands.

Notable people

In August 2016, the Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes became Hunkemöller's lead brand ambassador.^[2] Previously, the model and tv personality Sylvie Meis was the face of the company. In 2021 US actress and singer Lucy Hale launched a collaboration with the brand.^[3]

Collections

Hunkemöller sells lingerie, shapewear, nightwear, loungewear, swimwear, sports clothing, hosiery, fragrance and accessories. Hunkemöller structures its product offer via a range of sub-brands: HKMX (sports collection), Private collection (seductive lingerie), Noir (premium lingerie and swimwear), P.O.P. (aimed at Generation Z), Freedom (wire free collection), Bra Solutions (bra accessories) and Always Sexy (everyday lingerie). In addition, the brand creates regular collaborative influencer collections. In the autumn of 2021 the brand launched its first Lucy Hale collection.^[4]

Company structure

Hunkemöller operates an omni-channel model: own-operated physical stores, outlets (for clearance), shop-in-shops, digital channels and international franchise units. Hunkemöller began its franchise program in 1979.^[1]

The company was acquired by The Carlyle Group in early 2016.^[5] Since the end of 2010 the company belonged to PAI Partners, a European private equity group.^[6] Before it was part of Maxeda, a retail business from the Netherlands who in 2009 appointed the current CEO Philip Mountford to lead a period of expansion and transformation. Hunkemöller’s headquarters is in Hilversum, the Netherlands. In 2021 the business operated 900 physical stores, 19 international webshops, has around 7,400 employees and 4.7 million active members.^[7]

In October 2021, The Carlyle Group shared its intention for the sale of the business.^[8] In October 2021, CEO Philip Mountford estimated the brand's worth as €1bn (£855.45m).^[8] In 2022, the company was sold for an undisclosed amount to a group of Dutch investing firms. The Carlyle Group retains a minority of the shares.^[9] Since February 2024 the CEO of the company is Brian Grevy.

Diversity & Inclusion

The brand's diversity and inclusion activities include the appointment of Loiza Lamers as a brand influencer and supporting the European Network Against Racism.^[10]

Charitable support

• Pink Ribbon Foundation – a charity that supports women in the fight against breast cancer.^[11]
• CEMBA – a circular economy social enterprise that reuses fashion waste products to create mattresses for flood refugees.^[12][13]
• NewLife – an organisation that provides support to terminally ill and disabled children ^[14]

Awards

• 2017-2021: 'Top Employer'.^[15][16]
• 2017: 'Best European Retailer of the year' (Lingerie & Underwear) ^[17][18]
• 2017: Philip Mountford (CEO) 'Best Retail Executive'.^[18][19]
• 2017: 'Webshop Award'.^[20]
• 2016 'Cross Channel Award Europe'.^[20]
• 2016: RETA (Retail Technology Award) in the category Best Enterprise Solution^[21]
• 2015: 'Webshop Award Europe' and 'Cross Channel Award Europe'.^[22]
• 2015: German 'Retailer of the Year'.
• 2015: VROUW Award Telegraaf (NL) for the best lingerie collection with focus on the Sylvie Collection London.^[23]
• 2015: Women’s Health Germany Award for 'Best Lingerie Brand'.
• 2015: RETA (Retail Technology Award) in the category best customer experience with the Flagship Düsseldorf, Germany ^[24]
• 2014: Mercuriusprijs for 'Best Store Concept' in Belgium with the Meir Flagship store.
• 2014: 'Best Lingerie Chain' in the Netherlands.
• 2013: 'Best Lingerie Chain' in Belgium, Germany, and Austria.

References

1. . www.hkmi.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
2. "Doutzen Kroes is Hunkemöller's new face". www.fashiongonerogue.com. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
3. "Lucy Hale Sizzles in Lace Lingerie as She Debuts New Collection with Hunkemöller". 27 October 2021.
4. . Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Hunkemöller | The Carlyle Group". www.carlyle.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
6. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-07.
7. . Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
8. "Hunkemöller bosses talk Brexit bumps, business rates and bras". 5 October 2021.
9. Hughes, Huw (2022-03-23). "Lingerie brand Hunkemöller returns to Dutch ownership". FashionUnited. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
10. "Hunkemöller launches lingerie collection with top model Duckie Thot". 12 October 2020.
11. "Hunkemöller launches Pink Ribbon campaign". 2 October 2020.
12. "Home". cemba.nl.
13. "Hunkemöller and CEMBA are handing out mattresses to victims".
14. "Corporate Social Responsibility".
15. "Lingerie retailer Hunkemöller named as 'Top Employer' Netherlands".
16. "Be inspired - Careers at Hunkemöller".
17. "Hunkemoller wins 'Retailer of the Year' award".
18. . Archived from the original on 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2021-11-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
19. https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipmountford ^{[self-published source]}
20. "Retailer of the Year".
21. Institute, EHI Retail. "Preisträger 2016 - retail technology awards europe - EHI Retail Institute". www.reta-europe.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
22. "Hunkemöller wins two European retail awards". 4 December 2015.
23. telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
24. "retail technology awards europe: Das sind die reta-Gewinner 2015 – invidis". invidis. Retrieved 2016-11-07.