Anthropologie is an American clothing retailer with approximately 200 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the UK that offers an assortment of clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decoration, beauty products, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of URBN brands, which includes

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, K ...

Free People Free People is an American bohemian apparel and lifestyle retail company that sells women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, intimates, and swimwear. It also has a beauty and wellness category, which includes products such as cosmetics, skin, a ...

, BHLDN, and Terrain.

History

In 1970, former

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

roommates and later

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Wharton Business School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

classmates Richard Hayne and Scott Belair needed a project for an entrepreneurial class. They decided to open a retail store called

. According to some sources, Hayne's ex-wife Judy Wicks co-founded the company with him. After opening another store,

, Hayne imagined the concept behind Anthropologie, aiming to give 30- to 45-year-old women a store that offers products reflecting their style.. In the autumn of 1992, Anthropologie opened its first free-standing store in a refurbished automobile shop in

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas ...

. In 1998, the brand launched a

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

catalog. To further access, Anthropologie launched a website that same year. In 2009, Anthropologie opened its first international store in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. It followed the other brands in URBN to expand to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In recent years, some new stores have included a petite shop and dining options. In October 2019, Urban Outfitters revealed Anthropologie Home Outlet in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, focusing only on home furnishings. In April 2021, Hillary Super stepped down as CEO of Anthropologie, and Tricia D. Smith, a 26-year veteran of

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

, took over as Anthropologie’s global CEO.

Products

Anthropologie sells clothing, shoes, accessories, home furnishings, furniture, and beauty products. In 2018, following an exposé of the

mohair Mohair (pronounced ) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. (This should not be confused with Angora wool, which is made from the fur of the Angora rabbit.) Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster ...

industry in South Africa, Anthropologie joined other fashion retailers in banning the sale of products containing goat-derived fur. However, in 2020, Anthropologie became a target of protests when it ignored calls from PETA to ban the sale of items made with

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can success ...

hair.

Collaborations

Anthropologie partners with artists and designers worldwide to create apparel, accessories, and home collections. Collaborators have included

Tracy Reese Tracy Reese (born February 12, 1964) is an American fashion designer who specializes in women's ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, and home fashions such as linens. She is a board member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, having b ...

Peter Som Peter Som (born 1970) is a Chinese American fashion designer. He was creative director for Bill Bass and creative consultant for Tommy Hilfiger, where he designed the women’s wear collection, prior to founding his eponymous label. Born and rai ...

, Collette Dinnigan, Mara Hoffman,

Liya Kebede Liya Kebede ( am, ሊያ ከበደ; born 1 March 1978) is an Ethiopian-born model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer, and actress. She has appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' three times. Kebede has served as the WHO's Ambassador for M ...

, Byron Lars, Ekaterina Kukhareva (2014), Chris Benz, Kit Kemp, Vera Neumann, Amber Lewis, Joanna Gaines and Claire Desjardins.

References

External links

* {{Urban Outfitters , state=collapsed Companies based in Philadelphia Clothing retailers of the United States Clothing brands of the United States Retail companies established in 1992