Hunkemöller 2027: 140 Years, Archive Corsets and New Stores

Hunkemöller 2027 begins with an anniversary. The Dutch lingerie chain, founded in Amsterdam in 1886 and best known today for its mall stores across Europe, turned 140 in 2026 and marked it with a collection reworked from its own archive, a store redesign that has reached about 200 shops, and a quieter overhaul of how its stock moves around the continent.

A corset from the archive, cut in stretch

Hunkemöller started as a corset business, and the anniversary collection goes back to that. In an interview with FashionUnited published in October 2026, Patricia Beurskens, the company's creative brand director, described pulling corsets, bras, slip dresses and other pieces from the archive and translating them for now rather than copying them. Her example was a vintage corset: the team kept the silhouette and the original style of closure, then made it in modern stretch fabric so it can be worn for a full day.

That is the commercial version of a trend the runways have pushed for several seasons, the corset bra and boned bodice worn as clothing. Hunkemöller's angle is to keep the shape and drop the rigidity.

For the anniversary the brand also worked with the Dutch couturier Tess van Zalinge. Beurskens said the collaboration explored where lingerie stops and clothing starts, which is a fair description of half the fall collections in Europe this year.

Pattern rooms in the Netherlands, sewing elsewhere

The same interview gave a rare look at how the chain builds product. Pattern makers and technical teams sit in the Netherlands, and the company tests fits on a range of sizes, not only the sample size. Suppliers are picked by specialty: one for seamless pieces, another for fine lace, another for statement items. Most lingerie is made outside Europe, mainly in Tunisia and Asia, where the skilled bra factories are. Beurskens was candid about the main trade-off in the range: a heavily decorated lace bra cannot be as comfortable as a plain one, and the design team has to choose case by case.

Hunkemöller 2027 in stores: light rooms and a new Athens flagship

The store change is the most visible part of the plan. About 200 European stores have moved to the new concept, according to FashionUnited, swapping the old dark interiors for light rooms in soft colors, with curved fixtures and separate zones for each product group. Beurskens summed up the brand pillars as femininity, aesthetics and affordable luxury.

New openings continue. In October 2026 the Greek site Queen.gr reported a new flagship in Kifissia, in the northern suburbs of Athens, opening in mid-October and joining three existing Athens stores. The autumn edit promoted there was built around lace bralettes, bodysuits and everyday bras styled to show under an open shirt or a V-neck sweater.

A robotic warehouse in Almere

Less glamorous, but just as telling about the chain's direction: on January 1, 2026, GXO took over Hunkemöller's business-to-business logistics at a 32,000-square-meter site in Almere, in the Netherlands. The announcement, made in February 2026, said it was the first time the brand had outsourced that work. The site uses a shuttle storage system and shelf-to-person robotic picking, and it combines store and e-commerce fulfillment in one operation. Chief financial officer Nick Gresham called the move "a major milestone for Hunkemöller." The same release counted more than 700 stores in 20 countries.

The Redwood years so far

All of this follows a change of owner. In March 2025, Just Style reported that US investment firm Redwood Capital Management had taken over the company, with chief executive Brian Grevy setting out plans to revamp more than 150 stores, open at least 15 new ones in growth markets, launch a new e-commerce and loyalty platform, and automate distribution. Eighteen months on, the 200 refitted stores and the Almere warehouse show that the program has moved past the slide deck.

The fuller company story, from the Amsterdam shop of 1886 to the private-equity owners of recent decades, is on the Hunkemöller brand page. For 2027, the brand has shown its hand: archive shapes in stretch fabric, lace pieces styled to be seen, and a store network that looks lighter than it did two years ago.

Last updated October 28, 2026