Tesco clothes go upmarket

Not content with an ever-increasing slice of the cheap but cheerful high street fashion market, Tesco took a step upmarket today with the launch of a luxury design-led clothes collection.

The move ups the stakes in the war between the supermarket giant and rival Asda for the loyalties of the fickle female clothes shopper.

Asda recently hired tabloid style favourite Coleen McLoughlin as the face of its keenly-priced George range.

But Tesco’s new range challenges the pile-em high, sell-em cheap model of supermarket clothing

The “F&F Collection by Lee Rees-Oliviere at Tesco” has been created by the company’s head of design, Lee Rees-Oliviere.

A capsule wardrobe that pays attention to cut and design, it is liberal in its use of luxury fabrics such as merino wool and cashmere, hitherto unseen in the supermarket aisles.

As a result, prices are a little higher than the bargains shoppers are used to but still low enough to put the top end of the high street under pressure.

Perhaps with an eye on couples doing the weekly shop together, Tesco has put as much effort into the men’s range.

Market research by TNS showed recently that sales of clothing in supermarkets has risen 94% in the last five years and now nearly a fifth of clothing, in volume terms, is sold in supermarkets.

With super-cheap prices and a swift stock turn-over to keep up with catwalk trends, supermarkets have been challenging the likes of TopShop and New Look for business.

But now it looks as though Tesco is training its sights on the upper end of the lucrative clothing industry.

Terry Green, chief executive of Tesco Clothing UK, said: “We are proud to be the first supermarket retailer to introduce a premium clothing collection, designed to complement the success of existing clothing brands like Cherokee and F&F.

“We’re delighted to be able to offer our customers a fantastic opportunity to get their hands on a collection of beautiful clothing at amazing prices.”

The F&F Collection is available from early next month in 25 stores nationwide with new deliveries every 6-8 weeks.