John Lewis ramps up fashion credentials

The department store group will sell an edited range from womenswear brand Jigsaw for autumn/winter. It is the first time the fashion retailer has collaborated with a UK department store.

The range, which will include shoes, handbags and childrenswear, will be available in six John Lewis stores this autumn.

It follows the launch of John Lewis’s top price-point range from Nicole Farhi’s main line this year.

Sales for John Lewis’s own-brand women’s fashion are up 26 per cent since February. Reiss, which launched in November last year at the department store chain, has delivered “ a strong performance”, according to a statement. Whistles sales are up 43 per cent.

Jaeger is up 39 per cent in the same period following “fantastic” sales of the new Jaeger London collection. New seasonal lines from denim brand Seven For All Mankind are up 25 per cent.

John Lewis will launch a raft of other international brands for the autumn/winter season, including BCBG Max Azria and Danish brand Part Two, the latter of which will be available from July. Swedish luxury brand Day Birger et Mikkelson will be available from August. The retailer will also introduce Bench and Full Circle as part of its urban branded collections in August.

John Lewis buying director for fashion Peter Ruis said: “This is a new era for fashion at John Lewis. The influx of UK and international brands, two of which are exclusive to us, demonstrates that John Lewis is the place to come for aspirational brands wanting to break into the UK market.”