Royal-warrant house Launer London opens a two-week shop inside Hankyu Kobe for a Queen Elizabeth II centenary bag
British royal-warrant handbag house Launer London has opened a two-week shop inside Hankyu Kobe built around a centenary edition of its Traviata bag -- a reminder that a distributor-run department-store pop-up is effectively the brand's main retail presence in Japan.
British royal-warrant handbag maker Launer London has opened a two-week shop inside Hankyu Kobe, built around a bone-white edition of its Traviata bag commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's 100th birthday.
The pop-up, run by Sapporo-based distributor H.I.T. Co., Ltd., occupies the second-floor international shoes-and-bags section at Hankyu Department Store Kobe from October 14 to 27, according to the company's release. Launer London, founded in 1940 and still handmaking its bags at a workshop in Walsall, England, holds a Royal Warrant as a handbag supplier to the British royal family; the release said the late Queen used the Traviata model throughout her life. The centenary edition keeps the brand's signature rope-emblem hardware in a fine plated finish, set with small crystal accents. Prices were not disclosed.
Launer London has no standalone store in Japan; a time-limited shop on a department store's accessories floor, run through a distributor, is effectively the brand's main retail channel here, set against a home base of a single royal-warrant workshop in England.