. for the location in the falkland islands see river island falkland islands . for the topographical formation within a river see river island and ait . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message river island type private company industry fashion clothing textiles retail founded 1948 lewis separates founder bernard lewis and brothers headquarters london england united kingdom number of locations head office west london area served united kingdom ireland netherlands belgium south africa namibia estonia saudi arabia united arab emirates georgia qatar sweden philippines bahrain kuwait malta chile peru key people bernard lewis founder chairman clive lewis deputy chairman son of bernard lewis ben lewis ceo nephew of bernard lewis vanessa lewis creative director bernard s wife leonard lewis non executive son of bernard lewis products women s men s and children s clothing footwear and accessories revenue 826m december 2009 operating income 160.5 m december 2009 owner families of bernard and david lewis parent lewis trust group divisions chelsea girl website riverisland.com river island is a london headquartered high street fashion brand which operates in a number of worldwide markets . set up in 1948 by bernard lewis and his brothers in london it is to this day still a private company owned by the lewis family . contents 1 history 2 stores 3 design 4 references 5 external links history edit store front at castlepoint shopping centre . in 1948 bernard lewis started selling fruit and vegetables and then knitting wool from a bombed out site in the east end of london . 1 joined by his three brothers 1 the chain expands to nine stores under the title lewis separates . 2 by 1965 lewis separates had an impressive 70 store empire in the uk and it was decided that the brand needed a new identity . lewis separates was re branded to chelsea girl 2 the name chosen because at the time the king s road in chelsea was the hub of fashion music and popular culture . citation needed chelsea girl became the first uk fashion boutique chain . citation needed in the late 1970s two of the brothers left the business 2 leaving bernard david and their families in charge . they formed the lewis trust group for which david ran the other businesses covering hotels property and investments leaving bernard to run the retail operation . this allowed the company to expand into menswear in 1982 with the launch of concept man stores 2 before they were merged with chelsea girl to become one retail brand under the name of river island in 1988 . 2 in 1993 the brand opened its first shop in republic of ireland . since then it has expanded into a dozen markets including russia poland and various countries in the middle east . citation needed in 2010 river island launched kidswear . in 2011 chelsea girl was re introduced as a capsule collection within river island stores . 1 stores edit river island in july 2015 had 317 stores in the uk republic of ireland south africa the netherlands estonia sweden belgium poland the middle east ukraine georgia malta and philippines alongside a website riverisland.com which ships to over 100 countries worldwide . 3 as of 2012 river island no longer has physical shops in singapore . in 2013 online fashion retailer zalora began acting as a bridge between river island and most of south east asia . 4 in spring autumn 2015 river island will open stores in peru and chile . in this season river island will open three stores in chile los condes santiago costanera center santiago parque arauco santiago river island in peru is planning to open two stores in jockey plaza lima miraflores lima the number of river island stores on 15 july 2016 africa south africa 15 namibia 1 americas chile 3 peru 2 asia united arab emirates 11 saudi arabia 8 kuwait 5 philippines 3 bahrain 1 qatar 1 europe united kingdom 247 ireland 24 netherlands 6 sweden 3 estonia 2 sweden 2 belgium 1 georgia 1 malta 1 design edit a branch in leeds west yorkshire . river island has an in house design team at its west london headquarters . 5 references edit a b c james hall 20 march 2011 . ben lewis interview river island chief on reviving 80s style chelsea girl . daily telegraph . retrieved 18 july 2012 . a b c d e james hall 20 march 2011 . from chelsea girl to concept man history of river island . daily telegraph . retrieved 18 july 2012 . international shipping . river island . river island . retrieved 26 march 2014 . zalora and river island . river island . river island . retrieved 4 january 2015 . about us . river island . river island . retrieved 26 march 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title river island & oldid 739681847 categories 1948 establishments in englandclothing brands of the united kingdomclothing retailers of canadaclothing retailers of englandclothing retailers of irelandclothing retailers of the united kingdomretail companies established in 1948retail companies based in londonprivate companies limited by guarantee of the united kingdommultinational companies headquartered in the united kingdomhidden categories use dmy dates from october 2014use british english from october 2014articles needing additional references from july 2012all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from october 2014articles with unsourced statements from july 2012official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages polskirom n t rk e edit links this page was last modified on 16 september 2016 at 08 26 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view