- Debenhams is scrapping future collections from fashion designer Betty Jackson
- The department store retailer is reducing its offer from menswear designer Jeff Banks
- Shifting its product focus away from fashion towards beauty in an attempt to boost sales
Debenhams CEO Sergio Bucher is reducing the retailer’s range from some of its longstanding designer partners in an effort to broaden its appeal.
The department store retailer is cutting back its fashion offer from some of its partners as part of Bucher’s turnaround strategy.
The retailer’s chief executive, who joined in October from Amazon’s European fashion arm, is understood to have discontinued its partnership with Betty Jackson.
The 67-year-old London designer launched rival Marks & Spencer’s Autograph suits collection in 2000.
Debenhams will also be reducing its offer of 73-year-old designer and Warehouse co-founder Jeff Banks’ menswear collections to formal suits and shirts only.
The retailer, which saw its full-year profits and like-for-like sales edge up in October, is diversifying its product offer away from clothing towards beauty, food and gifting in an attempt to bolster its appeal to a wider customer base.
No decisions on the department store retailer’s longstanding partnerships with other fashion veterans, including John Rocha, Jasper Conran and Ben de Lisi, have yet been made.
However, Bucher is expected to bring in new designers to refresh Debenhams’ clothing offer.
2 Readers' comments