John Lewis Revamps Its Oxford Street Fashion Floors

Back-to-school September revamps take many forms. For John Lewis, good intentions for the year ahead manifest themselves less in terms of newly sharpened pencils (though there are plenty of those) and more in a new 40,000 sq ft womenswear floor in its flagship Oxford Street store.

Add to that a 12-strong personal styling studio, a 1100 sq ft shoe boutique and a brilliantly fresh, revised in-house, 800-piece womenswear collection and it’s clear the high street retailer is on a mission to buck the misery that is currently befalling its rivals. Oh, and it has a new name, too: John Lewis & Partners, a nod to the some 85,000 permanent staff whom own 50 John Lewis shops across the UK. Consider this a full-scale summer holiday makeover.

“For the first time we’ve got our name above the door,” said Simon Coble, John Lewis’s trading director, at an unveiling of the sparkling new Oxford Street floor. “It’s a very special time for us. This is also the biggest investment we’ve ever made in our own-line womenswear fashion, something that has required collaboration from many departments within John Lewis, and we’ve really gone with our gut. We’re excited to see how customers react.”

It ought to be overwhelmingly positive. The new line has dispensed with trends – there’s nary a ruffle nor a retina-searing floral print to be found – and instead is characterised by its crisp minimalist cuts and saturated colour palette. Clothes are merchandised in store according to colour categories, with combinations suggesting themselves organically.

“We’re an inclusive business, not a dictatorship,” Iain Ewing, head of womenswear design, told Vogue back in July, at a preview of the collection. “It’s not about telling people, ‘this is a must-have’; it’s about giving them a range of options. It’s about ‘tools, not rules’. We’re not going to dictate to you – we’re going to help you enhance yourself. We’ll show you how you can take something that’s a statement piece, a yolk yellow blouse that feels unusual, and wear it with a grey roll-neck for work. The in-store stylists are trained in how to put combinations together to help customers feel confident.”

John Lewis is also going after their feet. Fifty per cent more space has been given over to women’s shoes, meaning the shoe boutique now comprises 1100 square feet. Luxury shoe brands including Isabel Marant, Sarah Jessica Parker and Stuart Weitzman now feature in the offering alongside Michael Kors and Kurt Geiger. Shoppers on Tuesday evening were already snapping up jewel-toned satin, crystal-embellished shoes from Jessica Parker’s range – and they should add John Lewis’s pale fawn coat, elegant high-neck blouses and khaki workwear trousers to the list. And the hot tomato bag. Nothing says back-to-school like a new uniform, after all. The John Lewis & Partners womenswear collection is available from 4th September 2018 in stores and online at Johnlewis.com.