Clarks fêtes 200th year, opens Milan pop-up with Candiani, expands global e-tail presence

British footwear brand Clarks is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. In Italy, the brand is marking the bicentennial by opening a pop-up space within the Candiani Denim Store, in piazza Mentana 3 in Milan, where customers are able to personalise their Clarks shoes throughout December.

From December 2 to 9, the Milanese store by Candiani, a premium Italian denim producer with its own jeans line, is hosting a Clarks pop-up shop. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the British footwear brand’s history, its signature models, and learn about some of the leading figures who have worn Clarks and helped define its identity, influencing generations. A documentary about Clarks’s 200 years in business, entitled From Somerset to the World, will be screened inside the pop-up shop. The shop will showcase a selection of Clarks Originals models, including the Wallabee, Desert Boot and Desert Trek, as well as several items from the Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection, reinterpreting materials, shapes and colours with a contemporary feel.
 
In parallel with the pop-up shop (where a special event was staged on Thursday December 4), throughout December the Candiani Denim Store is giving Clarks customers the chance to create a personalised version of their shoes, choosing from two Clarks Originals models, the Wallabee and the Desert Boot. The limited-edition shoes will feature a personalised denim fob, and customers will be able to choose from an extensive library of patterns and designs. The motif chosen will be lasered directly on to the shoes at Candiani Custom, the denim brand’s urban micro-factory for bespoke jeans located next to the store.

FashionNetwork.com has had the opportunity to talk about Clarks’s distribution plans in Italy with Fabio Antonini, CEO of 3A, the company that has been distributing the British brand’s men’s and women’s lines since the Fall/Winter 2025-26 season.
 
FashionNetwork.com: Clarks has been busy overhauling its retail presence in Italy. What are the implementation steps, and what have the initial results been?

Fabio Antonini: Unlike the previous distributor, whose strategy was chiefly aimed at monobrand stores, we have rejigged Clarks’s distribution model by focusing on the wholesale channel and on a strong presence in multibrand stores. This is enabling us to rapidly extend our territorial footprint, making the brand more accessible and better integrated within the Italian market.

FN: How many more Clarks corners are you planning to open in 2026 in Italy? And what about Clarks’s monobrand presence? Are you considering other initiatives like the one with Candiani?

FA: We currently don’t have any plans for new corners or monobrand stores. Our strategy is focused on the wholesale channel and multibrand retailers. The initiative with Candiani was developed as a special project to celebrate Clarks’s 200th anniversary. Over the next few years, we will assess new collaborations and special projects, in line with the brand’s future requirements.
 
FN: In how many multibrand stores is Clarks currently distributed, and how many more are you planning to reach?

FA: In 2025, we have made Clarks available at 433 clients for a total of 619 doors [in Italy]. Next year, we’re expecting to grow the number of clients served by approximately 10%.
 
FN: Clarks recently announced and deployed a strategy designed to boost its position in global e-marketplaces, is it also being implemented in Italy?

FA: Clarks’s new global strategy is set to make the brand even more accessible and reachable by online consumers. Its expanded presence on new global marketplaces is making Clarks easier to access in Italy too, strengthening its online presence and making it easier for consumers to buy.
 
FN: What revenue result did 3A reach in fiscal 2024, how much did it grow by, and what is your forecast for 2025?

FA: In 2024, 3A generated a revenue of approximately €110.3 million, up 4.84% over the €105.2 million recorded in 2023. We’re expecting to grow at a similar rate in 2025.

FN: Have there been new entries or other changes within 3A’s brand portfolio?

FA: Yes, there have been changes. Our portfolio includes underwear by Nike, Jordan, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as footwear and other products by Clarks, Converse Shoes, Nike Swim, Nike, Jordan, Converse Apparel Kids, Lacoste Kids, Huggies Apparel and Crep Protect.

We’re pursuing a strategy aimed at introducing new lines with a distribution exclusive, to further enrich our portfolio also in terms of brand quality. Some new lines will feature as early as spring 2026.

Brand background

Clarks was founded in Street, Somerset, in 1825, when Cyrus Clark opened a tannery with his brother James. It began shoemaking by using leather offcuts to create slippers. In 1950, Clarks created the revolutionary Desert Boot shoes. Since then, Clarks has built an archive of over 22,000 models that have been worn across generations all over the world.
 
In fiscal 2024, Clarks’s parent company C&J Clark Ltd reported a revenue drop of 9.4%, to £901.3 million (approximately €1.07 billion), and a pre-tax loss of £39.3 million. This led the company to overhaul the Clarks brand, cutting overheads, modifying the marketing approach, and repositioning the range. The brand’s retail strategy too has been reappraised, streamlining the store fleet and developing initiatives like the Milanese pop-up store.
 
Clarks, in typically innovative fashion, is also expanding its online presence with several new launches on global e-tailers like Shein, Walmart, Target, Secret Sales and TikTok Shop. In the UK, Clarks has recently been introduced on Shein and Secret Sales, while in Europe it will be available at Secret Sales Netherlands and Dress for Less later this year. In the Americas, it has been featured on eBay for the last five years, and has recently reached Shop Simon, Shein and Walmart, while it will be available on Target this month.

Clarks is also aiming to consolidate its presence on TikTok Shop. It launched on the Chinese social shopping channel in Singapore and Malaysia last year, and this year it has reached the UK and the Americas, with Europe set to follow in 2026. This expansion drive follows the September announcement of the first Clarks-owned digital marketplace, which is set to be launched in the UK in early 2026.
 
Candiani is an Italian family company founded in 1938 and based in Robecchetto con Induno, near Milan, in the Ticino Park Nature Reserve. Besides owning the store in piazza Mentana in Milan, with the Candiani Custom micro-factory for bespoke jeans, Candiani owns among others the patent for Coreva, the first and only biodegradable and compostable stretch denim available on the market.