Founded in 1988 by three partners under the leadership of French-born George Amoual, LC Waikiki started its commercial life as a wholesale brand. Founded and registered in Paris, LC Waikiki initially attracted attention with its t-shirt and sweatshirt designs. Over time, with the departure of the two founding partners of the brand, LC Waikiki was transferred to George Amoual as the sole shareholder. In 1997, Tema Tekstil, a subsidiary of the Taha group, which is the manufacturer of LC Waikiki and also its licensor in Turkey, acquired the rights to the LC Waikiki brand all over the world.
LC Waikiki, or LCW for short, is an Istanbul-based chain of stores with 47,700 employees and 1047 stores in 47 countries. It takes its name from the Waikiki beach on the island of Hawaii and the initials "Les Copains", which means "friends" in French.
After being acquired by Taha Tekstil, it opened its first store in Europe in Romania. As of March 2020, it has a total of 1004 stores in 55 countries outside Romania. On July 10, 2021, the company opened its first store in South America in Peru.
In 2022, it plans to open stores in Ivory Coast, Angola, Mongolia, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan.
In Turkey, there are more than 400 LC Waikiki stores in 80 cities.