Thomas Grote, President of ESPRIT and Abdulkader Hafiz, Chairman of Al-Sawani Group host retail development forum to discuss growth plans in the region; ESPRIT Spring Collection launched

Dubai - March 20th 2006: Al-Sawani Middle East Enterprises (AMEE), the retail arm of the Jeddah based Al-Sawani Group, today launched ESPRIT's Spring Collection showcasing the 'ESPRIT catwalk' held at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Dubai. The launch was a part of 'ESPRIT Retail Development Forum' that brings together all leading retail developers to discuss plans and business objectives moving forward. Al-Sawani is the exclusive distributor of the ESPRIT brand in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Hosted by Abdulkader Hafiz, Chairman of Al-Sawani Group and Thomas Grote, President of the ESPRIT worldwide, representatives of leading malls and retail outlet development companies were presented with the latest advances in the 'World of ESPRIT' and the brand's global strategy.

"We are very excited about the future prospects for the ESPRIT brand in the MENA region, which has witnessed substantial growth over the past two years," said Thomas Grote, President of ESPRIT. "Based on my meetings today with leading retail developers in the region, I am personally very encouraged with the outstanding prospects and amazed at the diversity and creativity of the retail industry in the region."

Grote was appointed the President of the ESPRIT brand effective January 1, 2006. "Global brand expansion will continue. This year, we will further open over 500 wholesale point-of-sales and around 40 directly managed retail stores worldwide."

According to Mohammed Hafiz, Group Managing Director of Al-Sawani Group outlined planned ESPRIT growth both in terms of stand alone retail shops and in terms of expanding the product lines on offer in the region.

"In a booming retail market, competition brings the best out of brands that thrive on innovation and creative excellence. As a leading retail company in the Middle East, Al-Sawani Group has been involved with most of the region's retail developers since the beginning and this strong relationship that continues to be built on mutual benefit and respect is the key to our future expansion plans."

Al-Sawani Group was established in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 1976 and set up its first department store there. Since then, the company has grown exponentially and represents many prestigious international brands such as Max & Co., Benetton, Guess, ESPRIT, XOXO, Replay, U2, Ice Berg, Escada, Marina Rinaldi, Mondi, D&G and many more.

ESPRIT's Spring Collection is made up of women's casual, lifestyle clothing as well as a more sophisticated, career women oriented collection. For a more trendy look edc by ESPRIT is targeted toward teenagers, men's sports collection comprising active and fashion sports wear and finally the men's casual collection.

ESPRIT is an international youthful lifestyle brand offering smart, affordable luxury and bringing newness and style to life. The Group offers 11 product lines encompassing women's wear, men's wear, kids' wear as well as shoes and accessories through over 630 directly managed retail stores and over 9,700 wholesale point-of-sales worldwide.

The brand ESPRIT is sold in five continents and 44 countries, 630 freestanding stores, over 9,700 wholesale customers. More than 20,000 products are designed per year for 11 product lines for women, men and kids.

ESPRIT offers products such as watches, sunglasses, jewelry and perfumes bearing the same ESPRIT quality and essence to consumers. ESPRIT also operates the Red Earth cosmetic brand which includes cosmetics, skin care and body care products.

ESPRIT is listed on the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges and is a constituent stock in the Hang Seng Index, MSCI Hong Kong Index, FTSE All-World Index for Hong Kong and S&P/HKEx LargeCap Index and S&P Asia 50 Index.

-Ends-

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© Press Release 2006