Pepe Jeans was founded in 1973 by three brothers who ran a weekend stall at Portobello Road Market in London, before expanding to a store in Carnaby Street and then into Europe in the 1980s.[4]
In 1988, Pepe Jeans was owned by Arun, Nitin and Milan Shah.[5]
In February 2015, Pepe Jeans and Hackett London (part of the Pepe Jeans Group) were bought by the Lebanese M1 Group, and the LVMH subsidiary, L Capital Asia. These companies were previously owned by Torreal Funds (31 per cent), Artá Capital (16.4 per cent), L Capital Europe (11.5 per cent), and its managers.[6]
In 2015, Pepe Jeans announced that the Group was adding a new brand, Norton Clothing, as a tribute to the British motorcycle brand founded in 1898.[7]
In 2016, the group acquired the French fashion brand Façonnable.[8]
In September 2019, Marcella Wartenbergh became CEO of Pepe Jeans Group.[9][10] Also in 2019, Dua Lipa became a global ambassador for the brand.[11]
In September 2023, Pepe Jeans celebrated its fifty years of existence in London with a photo exhibition of its many campaigns and a dinner in honor of its new ambassador, Lila Moss.[12] Later, in December, Pepe Jeans announced its aim to develop in the Indian market, where it is already present with around 200 stores.[13] Indeed, it plans to open over 100 new stores in the country over the next three years.[13]
