Kujten CEO on US expansion, new stores and building a cashmere ‘love brand’

Kujten first opened its debut US boutique in New York during September 2025. At the time, the French cashmere brand was building on a relationship with US customers that had already blossomed online. One year on, however, and the business is preparing to accelerate its physical expansion, with three new locations planned for the fourth quarter of the current year.

The openings, in SoHo, Miami and Aspen, will bring Kujten's US store count to four, reflecting a decision that co-founder and chief executive officer Carole Benaroya said reflects both the response to the Madison Avenue site and the opportunity to reach different customer groups across the country.

“Our US story started before Madison Avenue. American customers were already buying Kujten online, which told us there was real appetite for the brand,” Benaroya told FashionUnited. The first boutique, she added, offered a closer understanding of that demand. “She knows cashmere. She touches, compares, and cares about quality and provenance. And she comes to Kujten for something she doesn't find elsewhere: quality, color, timeless essentials with a twist, and cashmere she can wear every day.”

Founded in Paris in 2012 by Benaroya and Stéphanie Eriksson, Kujten set out to challenge cashmere’s traditional image through colourful designs, contemporary silhouettes and everyday pieces. The brand's presence in the US received an early boost in 2024 through a capsule collection with Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Dr. Woo, before its first permanent US retail site followed the next year.

Now, with a network of more than 60 boutiques globally, Kujten is now looking to establish a stronger position in the US, a market Benaroya describes as increasingly important to the business.

SoHo, Miami and Aspen target different US customers

Instead of simply replicating Kujten's existing framework on Madison Avenue, the three upcoming openings have been selected to complement. While the Upper East Side boutique introduced Kujten to New York's prominent luxury clintele, SoHo is intended to offer a different perspective on the brand.

“SoHo shows another side of Kujten: downtown, more fashion-led, with a younger and very international customer,” Benaroya explained. The store, located at 92 Greene Street, will give the brand access to a customer whose shopping habits and fashion preferences differ from those of its existing New York audience.

Miami, meanwhile, presents another opportunity. The new boutique, planned for Bal Harbour shopping mall, will serve both American and international customers in a city Benaroya sees as increasingly gaining influence in US fashion and retail.

Elsewhere, Aspen builds on a customer base and lifestyle that Kujten already knows from its European resort stores. “The mountains have long been part of Kujten's story, with Courchevel, Megève and St. Moritz. Aspen is the American counterpart to those great European resorts,” she said.

Instead of attempting to enter an entirely new retail category, the location is a natural extension of the brand’s existing positioning. “Someone who spends the holidays in Aspen may well go to Courchevel, Megève or St. Moritz too,” Benaroya noted. “The destinations differ, but they share an international clientele and the same idea of luxury: sophisticated, cosmopolitan and relaxed.”

For Kujten, resort retail also reflects the way its product is intended to be worn. “The mountains are also home territory for Kujten. It is where cashmere makes the most sense, and where our wardrobe works best: luxurious, comfortable pieces you can wear all day, from the mountains to the city.”

Physical retail supports brand awareness

Despite the differences between the four locations, the product remains consistent with Kujten’s French identity. The brand is not looking to alter its offer for the US, but to adapt its merchandising to the climate, lifestyle and preferences of each market. Benaroya stated: “American customers come to Kujten precisely for who we are. Our take on cashmere is freer and more contemporary: color, prints, and strong pieces that stay easy to wear. That vision does not change.”

The product mix, however, will vary between Madison Avenue, SoHo, Miami and Aspen, with the business aiming to ensure that each boutique carries the right pieces for its local customer. The challenge is to make those adjustments without thinning the brand’s identity.

Such consideration towards physical retail emphasises the platform's role in Kujten's strategy. Retail plays an important role in communicating the proposition of a material such as cashmere, where touch and feel are central to the purchase decision. “You can describe softness, quality and craftsmanship online, but the moment a customer holds a piece and tries it on, she feels the difference,” Benaroya said.

The boutiques also give Kujten an opportunity to present its collections and brand story in a more complete way, bringing together colour, materials, silhouettes and craftsmanship, mirroring the way the business developed in its home market. “That is how we built the brand in France, boutique by boutique. We are following the same logic in the US, with digital working alongside.”

Building the infrastructure for growth

Expanding across markets with different climates, customer profiles and seasonal patterns requires more than securing retail locations. Benaroya pointed to recruitment, training, product allocation and logistics as priorities as the business prepares to move from one US boutique to four.

“People come first. Our boutique teams are Kujten's first ambassadors, so recruitment and training are critical,” she said. Ensuring that the right products are available in the right quantities and at the right time is also central to the expansion, particularly when serving destinations as different as New York, Miami and Aspen.

Consistency remains another consideration, with Benaroya noting: "Whether you walk into Kujten in Paris, SoHo, Miami or Aspen, you should find the same identity, the same quality and the same experience."

The company’s existing international network serves as the foundation for this next stage, yet the broader objective extends beyond increasing its store count. Benaroya said the US is already an important market for Kujten, and the three openings reflect an ambition to establish a lasting relationship with American customers.

“What matters is a real relationship with the American customer: that she comes back season after season, and that Kujten is the name she thinks of first for cashmere,” she said. The longer-term goal is to establish Kujten in the US with the same recognition it has built in France. Benaroya described the ambition as becoming a “love brand” in the country, defined by its combination of Parisian roots, Mongolian know-how, colour and casual luxury.

The three new boutiques thus mark a significant step in that direction, building a retail network around distinct customer groups and established lifestyle destinations, while relying on the product and identity that first attracted US shoppers online.