John Lewis Sees Growth in Menswear Category With Own Label Brands
LONDON — Menswear at British retailer John Lewis has become a steady category that’s growing at its own pace.
Sales have increased by 13 percent for the brand’s in-house labels such as Anyday, Kin and John Lewis & Partners.
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“We have expert product design teams that are intensely focused on fabric, silhouette, print and quality, and they skillfully balance style and trend to ensure our customers keep coming back for more,” Daniel Bradley, menswear design lead at John Lewis, told WWD.
“While trends hold importance, our approach to design is authentically rooted,” he added, naming London’s cultural scene as an inspiration for the upcoming fall 2023 designs.
A highlight of the season for John Lewis has been knitwear and outerwear, which use natural and ethically sourced fibers, as well as luxurious merino cashmere blends.
“The collection that garners the most attention and is perhaps best known to the British customer is our tailoring. With expertly cut pieces featuring a soft shoulder and a higher-rise in the waist, we have reimagined suits from the ground up to prioritize comfort,” Bradley said.
The 2022-23 fiscal year results showed that John Lewis and Waitrose group sales sat at 12.25 billion pounds, a 2 percent dip from the previous year. As a whole, the group reported a 78 million pound loss, but the men’s category soared with a 20 percent year-on-year increase while womenswear sales rose 17 percent.
“The tailoring market is back in a big way and over the past year we have been busy behind the scenes developing an all-new proposition, new fits, modernized constructions and luxury fabrications with us being one of the only high street retailers to offer Ermenegildo Zegna fabrics within our suiting,” Kathleen Mitchell, commercial director at John Lewis, told WWD earlier this year.
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