Furniture & fashion retailer Laura Ashley is to launch its first menswear collection as it seeks to expand its reach on the high street, it has been announced today.

‘Man at LA‘ is a capsule collection featuring 14 men‘s shirts in a range of simple plain, striped and checked designs “for a tailored look” and was made in Italy.

It is hoped that the new collection will help boost overall fashion sales as the retailer reported a 1.2 per cent fall in total fashion sales in the 26 weeks to July 28th 2012, while like-for-like fashion sales remained flat.

Nonetheless, Laura Ashley has benefitted from its focus on digital expansion, having launched a smartphone enabled site in 2012 which has driven online sales and the ‘Man at LA‘ collection will also be available online.

Available in selected stores and via the retailer‘s website from next month, each shirt will be priced at £70, a statement from Laura Ashley said.

In recent months, a number of high street names have expanded their reach by extending their product offering, with fashion retailer H&M opening its first own-branded ‘& Other Stories‘ stores earlier this month.