Research For Documentary - History Of "Office" Heels

History of 'Office' heels

Office first opened back in 1981 as 'Office London' with a concession in the shopping mecca Hyper Hyper, but its roots go back to the 60's selling hand-crafted belts, luggage and footwear.

The unit in Hyper Hyper proved to be extremely successful, prompting further expansion into the West End. The first stand-alone Office store opened on Kings Road in 1984, followed by sites in Charing Cross Road and High Street Kensington.

Office continued to grow throughout the Eighties, encompassing every major shopping area in London including Covent Garden, Camden and Portobello Road. By 1995 the chain had acquired stores on prestigious South Molton Street and Neal Street, Covent Garden.

February 1996 saw the launch of Offspring situated in London's Covent Garden. It was a pioneering new concept encouraged by the sports footwear industry, devoted to revolutionising the world of fashion sports retailing and underpinned by the existing creative and commercial success that had kept Office at the fore-front of the fashion footwear market over the last ten years. A further two stand alone Offspring stores soon followed in Camden and Brighton. Riding on the success of such an innovative brand, 2006 saw Offspring open concessions within the prestigious department store Selfridges London and Manchester.

In 2000, Poste was launched, an up market men's boutique offering a selection of designer men's shoes in an environment synonymous of a typical gentleman's club. Since then concessions have been launched in Harvey Nichols stores nationwide.

By July 2001, Poste Mistress the sister store arrived and soon became the essential ladies footwear boutique in Covent Garden. Both stores boast a celebrity clientele that reads like an A -Z of who's who in the showbiz world. Paris Hilton, David and Victoria Beckham, Helena Christiansen, Keira Knightly and Kelly Brooke to name a few.

In 2003, the private company was purchased by Tom Hunter of the West Coast Capital Group and with his backing the company's store ratio has doubled with further expansion planned for 2006.

In 2004, Office moved over-seas opening their first stand alone store in Dublin. Since then four further branches have opened in Dublin and Belfast.

OFFICE currently retails from 74 stand-alone sites including; 4 in Eire, 3 Offspring and a Poste & Poste Mistress boutique. Our concessions include; 23 House of Fraser, 7 Topshop (including NYC), 7 Harvey Nichols and 5 Selfriges (4 Offsprings and 1 x Ladies). In addition to our stores we have a thriving mail order and world-wide website business - OFFICE remains a firm favourite with the fashion-pack.

Ever since its' inception, Office has gained a reputation for originality in its approach to shoe retailing. Uninhibited by the creative constraints imposed by the larger multiples, Office has always managed to effectively marry originality to commerciality in both product and store design.

Both the men's and women's ranges encompass the whole style spectrum, from designer to sports. Own label designs offer affordable yet directional fashion, reflecting the massive legacy of a company founded on London style