Premium British womenswear label Saint + Sofia wants to open a raft of UK stores after finding success with its first location, which opened last autumn in the Seven Dials area of London’s Covent Garden.

Operating in the same niche that has seen Me+Em and Mint Velvet finding success, it’s aiming for 10 new locations, although it won’t be opting for a mad dash for growth. We should see two new sites in London this year and 10 in total over the next two years with Cambridge, Glasgow, somewhere in Surrey, Leeds, other key cities and “neighbourhood” towns, also on the hit list, The Times reported.

For London, that means affluent neighbourhoods such as Marylebone, Richmond, Chelsea and Hampstead Heath that are on so many premium retailers wish lists.

The company told the newspaper that its Monmouth Street store, which opened in November, has “exceeded expectations” for the formerly-online-only label.

Saint + Sofia was founded by Dessislava and Malcolm Bell during the pandemic and has grown fast, selling “fair, sustainable fashion” that’s inspired by the arts and pop culture. 

Profitable since launch, they told the newspaper they’re targeting revenue of £40 million for the year to December, up from £25 million the year before.

As mentioned, the company isn’t targeting the kind of ultra-fast growth that could be hard for a still-small business to manage and aims to continue being self-funded with no plans to find external investment.