John Lewis is launching a major fashion push, adding 100 new menswear and womenswear brands to its stores in a bid to strengthen its clothing offer against rivals Next and M&S.
The high street giant’s move will include collections from high-end labels such as Mulberry, which will release an exclusive range of 25 bags and accessories, as well as brands like Akyn, By Malene Birger and Iro.
Additional additions include Japanese camping wear brand Snowpeak and parkas from Newcastle designer Nigel Cabourn. Currently, John Lewis stocks 650 clothing brands.
This follows a previous expansion earlier this year, when the retailer added 49 new fashion brands in time for the spring/summer season, including labels backed by Harry Styles and Alexa Chung.
The push forms part of a wider £800m turnaround programme at John Lewis, including store refurbishments and hiring more shop floor staff, while the wider partnership is also investing in refreshing Waitrose stores.
The initiative is overseen by Peter Ruis, who joined last year to head up the department stores. He has more than 30 years of fashion experience, including at Jigsaw and Anthropologie.
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Speaking to the Telegraph, Ruis said his strategy would be about giving customers “even more reasons to shop in our brilliant stores.”
Figures from Global Data show that while Next and M&S have increased their share of the clothing and footwear market between 2019 and 2024, John Lewis’s market share has remained flat at 1.5%.
Mr Ruis recently suggested the “sky is the limit” on how much growth the retailer could see in fashion, aiming to more than double clothing revenue from £1.2bn to £2.5bn.
Alongside new branded ranges, John Lewis is expanding its own-label lines, including the retailer’s largest-ever cashmere collection this autumn, expected to boost cashmere sales by at least 20%.
Rachel Morgans, director of fashion at John Lewis, said the retailer is “carefully curating a premium quality range that offers customers something different” and added, “When it comes to brands, we’re not chasing numbers, but focusing on those that appeal to our customers and offer something new.”
Louise Deglise-Favre from Global Data noted that John Lewis is likely to capture additional spending as M&S has been impacted by a recent cyber attack, which left its online and click-and-collect operations offline for weeks.
She said, “M&S’s inability to trade for many weeks and its ongoing operational struggles following the hack has created an opportunity for John Lewis to capture some of this lost spending thanks to its similar positioning.”
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