Stella is going East

Stella McCartney plans to open six stores in India.According to WWD, McCartney is planning to open the first two stores by the end of 2008 with four more to follow over the course of the next two years.

President and ceo of Stella McCartney, Marco Bizzarri, said of the move: "These new store openings strategically complement the brand's portfolio of stores in New York, London, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Singapore and Moscow - and a network of 600 wholesale accounts worldwide."

As part of the deal, TSG holds exclusive rights to the designer's name in India and will be responsible for building the brand there, as well as working on a new partnership between McCartney and the company to save endangered Bengali tigers via PeTA India's Boycott the Circus campaign.