LONDON — Villa Moda is moving westward.
The luxury retailer from Kuwait will open its first European unit at The Power Station, a 1.1 billion pound, or $1.9 billion, retail, hospitality and residential development that will open here in spring 2009.
All figures have been calculated at current exchange.
Villa Moda London will occupy 54,000 square feet of retail space over three levels in the Art Deco turbine hall of the building.
“It’s always been my dream to bring my knowledge and vision of luxury retail to Europe,” Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, founder of the Villa Moda luxury fashion and accessories stores, said Monday in a telephone interview from Dubai, where he is attending the International Herald Tribune’s third annual fashion conference. “Europe, frankly, is a little tired these days when it comes to retail. It’s the East and Middle East where things are happening right now.”
The Power Station will be housed at London’s former Battersea Power Station, which was decommissioned in 1982, and has been empty since. Hong Kong-based property developers Parkview International London plc have been granted permission to develop 4.3 million square feet of the entire site, which spans 38 acres.
Ian Rumgay, a spokesman for Parkview, said his group’s mission is to attract premium brands that have not yet laid down roots in London. Villa Moda will be the first business to open at The Power Station, and Al-Sabah said it would be influenced by retail meccas, from the bazaars of the Middle East to London’s Portobello Road. Designers and brands who decide to join forces with Al-Sabah will be asked to create one-off products for Villa Moda.
Al-Sabah, who three years ago opened the first Villa Moda in Kuwait City, said it was too early to talk about the brands that will be featured in London or the exact investment he plans to make.
This spring, Al-Sabah plans to open a Villa Moda spanning 3,800 square feet in the Damascus spice market.
Rumgay added his group was already in talks with the British Fashion Council about the possibility of using the The Power Station as a biannual fashion week venue, or a place to stage special events or alternative sets of U.K. fashion shows.
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Parkview’s flagship property is located in Hong Kong and is known simply as Parkview. It is an 18-tower residential, hospitality and retail site. The company has similar retail sites in Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, and also has investments in offshore gas and oil businesses. It owns the Le Beau Vallon hotel near Saint-Tropez and has a joint-venture with the Shangri-La luxury hotel group.