London’s first High Street Fashion Week gave John Lewis stores in the capital a boost last week but the department store chain suffered a 2.8% fall in sales overall as good weather kept shoppers away.

The climax of the Back to School period drove asoctaed sales up 19% on last year and demand for children’s shoes rose by 73%.

John Lewis Direct, celebrating the launch of its Fashion Online site with 11,000 new lines in the last seven days, also had a strong week and was up 19%.

The Bluewater store, which finishes its refurb this week, generated “early returns” on beauty products, watches, jewellery and handbags.

Five stores, led by Peter Jones, nothced up sales increases. The others were Norwich, Cambridge, Southsea’s Knight & Lee a and Glasgow.

Total Waitrose sales were up 11.3% for the week to £81.9 million.