Brora to open first-ever concessions with John Lewis debut

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 13, 2017

Scottish cashmere specialist and fashion brand Brora has announced its first ever high street concession with the label set to open inside department store chain John Lewis.

The 24-year-old brand has previously only been sold through its own retail network, which makes the opening of concessions this autumn a big move for the company.

It will debut womenswear shop-in-shops in Cambridge, Southampton and Glasgow in September and the brand is scheduled to move into more of the retail giant’s branches next year.

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The Brora line will also be available on John Lewis’s website, possibly an even more significant move given that the department store is moving towards its digital revenues being as big as those from physical stores faster than virtually any other big name UK retailer. This will put Brora in front of a huge potential consumer base both in the UK and abroad.

Brora’s founder and creative director Victoria Stapleton said that John Lewis “holds so many of the same values as we do and I am sure customers who are not already familiar with the breadth of the Brora collections will be pleasantly surprised.”

John Lewis has been investing heavily in its fashion offer in recent years and fashion has proved to be one of its most successful categories with it generally being a highlight of the retailer’s weekly sales reports.

Its strategy has been to create own-label collections as well as bringing in brand names with an appealing profile and a strong USP. Earlier this spring it announced that it would open the first physical stores for popular online retailer Boden.

Brora’s profile is of a company that makes medium-priced fashion classics for adults and children in natural fabrics. One big USP is that it still manufactures in the UK and said it supports thousands of British jobs.

John Lewis’s womenswear buyer Perushka De Zoysa said this focus on supporting local craftsmanship is “perfect for our customers”.