In preparation for the 40th anniversary of the founding of the American outdoor fashion brand PENFIELD in 2015, ITOCHU Corporation will launch a high-end line, "Black Label," in addition to the main line, "Blue Label," from the 2014-15 autumn/winter season.

Black Label, supervised by a renowned European designer with extensive experience in outdoor and street fashion, will express in a modern style the brand's worldview that has been built over approximately 40 years. In Japan, ITOCHU has concluded a sales agreement with Imoto for Black Label, and in addition to its main sales channel, select shops, it will offer collaborative models with brands such as HUNTING WORLD, Dickies, and X-LARGE, as well as limited edition models with retailers such as Ron Herman.

In South Korea, Asia's largest outdoor market, ITOCHU has opened a Penfield monobrand store through AIOLI Co., Ltd. By adding Black Label, the company will strive to further strengthen its brand value, and will also feature celebrities on television, in magazines, on social media, and through bloggers, with plans to expand to 15 stores, including pop-up stores, by the end of 2014. In Japan and the four Asian regions where Itochu holds the trademark rights, the company aims to achieve sales of 10 billion yen on a retail price basis in five years' time.

Penfield, which was founded in Boston in 1975, introduced products as an outdoor wear brand that combines fashion and functionality. Itochu Corporation acquired the rights in October 2012 and will gradually roll out the brand in Japan and other Asian regions.