AGATHA IS LAUNCHED!

The highly anticipated French custom jewellery brand AGATHA has finally opened in South Africa!

The chic, celebrity-packed launch event was held at Hazeldene Hall, Johannesburg in September and featured the stylish Tasha Baxter and Nico Panagio. The AGATHA range of accessories was introduced to the South African media for the first time.  Guests were blown away and were overheard using words like “fresh, cool, hot, inspiring, sensual and thrilling” to describe the jewellery on display.

Several senior AGATHA executives flew in from Paris for the launch. Félicie Cherrier, AGATHA’s export manager said that “Agatha is about a large distribution network. It is a brand known throughout the world, with 300 stores worldwide, more than 100 in France, and the other 200 in markets all over the world, such as Spain, Canada, Turkey, England, China, Dubai, Japan, Korea.  For two years, Agatha has been expanding to new markets: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Central Europe, and, now, of course, South Africa”.

The brand will be managed in South Africa by FMF (Free Minds of Fashion) and Eric van Tichelin, FMF’s Managing Director explained his company’s confidence in the market.  He said he had been persuaded to invest in this country by “the many wonderful people I happened to meet and make friends with; the beauty and the diversity of the country overwhelmed me as I travelled around and last but not least the economic performance and the potential for growth in the future, in which I so strongly believe”.

“We noticed that the retail sector is growing fast” he continued, “with a big demand from the consumers for international brands. Given the worldwide reputation of French brands in the field of fashion, it was apparent that introducing some of these retail brands to the South African market could be a successful business”.

Patrick Dedryver, FMF’s Marketing Director announced that the first AGATHA store would open on September 12, 2008 in the Brooklyn Mall.  The next would be in Canal Walk, Cape Town in mid-November 2008 and the third in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg in March 2009.  The rest of the roll-out plan would be announced in due course.