Well it’s nice to see not all news from the Great British High Street is gloom and doom, yes retail, particularly Fashion Retail, is getting a bit of a kicking at the moment. But just when you think, tut it’s all bad news, comes a little gem like this.
This coming season signals a bit of a mammoth evolution of Menswear at John Lewis and Partners. The change will be anchored by two completely transformed own-brands, designed in-house, which will sit alongside a renewed focus on independent and emerging brands.
This confident approach follows the successful launch of John Lewis & Partner’s womenswear last autumn and, with the menswear market set to grow almost 20 per cent in the next five years, it’s an area that presents a significant opportunity for growth for the brand.
Central to this transformation are two own-brand collections. The first is John Lewis & Partners eponymous label, a 280-piece collection that takes a fresh perspective on menswear classics. Designed in-house, the collection blends modern design with reconsidered fits, fabrics and quality.
Alongside John Lewis & Partners sits Kin, a brand that launched in 2013 and which embodies luxe-sport inspired style. From this season it will refocus on directional designs and high-performing fabrics – across both tailoring and casualwear. The Solotex travel suit is a key innovation within the Kin collection; an unstructured suit cut from a four-way stretch showerproof fabric that is crease-resistant. Alongside this, corduroy and velvet bomber jackets paired with matching trousers, and the new Kin Quilted Jacket mix impressive performance with modern, clean design.
Joining the own brand collections, AW19 also sees the introduction of a raft of new independent brands leading with two capsule collections from British brands Folk and Albam. Folk has created a collection called It’s All Good Folk, set to launch at the beginning of August, which focuses on sustainable fabrications, materials and the reissue of key pieces from the brand’s archive.
Albam’s capsule, Albam Utility, set to launch in September, reinterprets workwear staples with a focus on wearability; hero pieces include canvas work jackets, soft jersey sweatshirts and robust cotton chinos.
Both capsules are exclusive to John Lewis and have been designed in close collaboration with the John Lewis menswear team.
