L.K.Bennett – Rebranding a British icon

In 2008 Sirius Equity and Phoenix Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in the quintessentially English brand of women’s ready to wear, shoes and accessories. Robert Bensoussa, the new Chairman, previously CEO of Jimmy Choo, recognised the need to reinvent the brand as an international fashion label and reach a younger audience. The primary internal tactic in achieving this was through a new internal product design team, as well as outside collaborations with the likes of Caroline Issa (appointed Editor of Tank magazine 2025).

Following an in-depth examination of the brand’s culture, model, and practice it became apparent that the change in brand positioning should be communicated by an update to the existing identity whilst ensuring their existing core customer did not feel alienated. Intrinsic to the brand overhaul was the creation of a new monogram, an acronym of the brand name.

With strong branding credentials, Art Director, Jay Flaxman was the natural choice for such a significant addition to the company’s identity. A stylised black ribbon had appeared alongside the earliest incarnation of the L.K.Bennett logo and they already use ribbons as part of their retail packaging. The action of tying the bow to give a feeling of completeness was also a key idea. We then connected the shape of the letter ‘B’ with a satin bow. From there, the challenge for our team was how to integrate the two angular letterforms of ‘L’ and ‘K’ with the now more fluid ‘B’ in an elegant way.

Mindful of the existing L.K.Bennett logotype which used a version of the URW Bodoni typeface, we were careful not to veer too far from this or risk an unhappy pairing with the well known L.K.Bennett logotype. Once the letterforms had been finessed, the three letters flowed into each other almost seamlessly, with even the negative space between the ‘K’ and ‘B’ suggesting a heart shape. We then created an additional device to compliment the new monogram by rotating and repeating an element of the design to form an elegant flower-like symbol. the ‘Tudor Rose’. The combination will be used by L.K.Bennett as both an embellishment on the inside of their handbags and as a grip pattern on the sole of a ballet pump. The new monogram was first seen as a set of metal charms adorning a swishing leather tassel on the entire new handbag range and then followed on their range of shoes and accessories.

The advertising featured established British actresses, Emily Mortimer and Rosamund Pike in a contemporary, higher fashion context to draw parallels with the new brand positioning.

Over a decade later the product range continues to feature the marques we created to great effect. The company effectively competes against heavier weight fashion labels, enjoys increased loyalty within its existing client base and has earned new found respect within the fashion industry.