Sainsbury's adds trends team as its targets fashion growth

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 30, 2017

Sainsbury’s has hired a team of trend spotters as part of its drive to increase its share of the UK fashion market.

The team of 30 roving trendspotters has been tasked with picking up on the key product and style developments in influencer markets such as Tokyo, New York and key European cities, the Mail reported. The company said the team has already begun to influence its collections.

Mass-market retailers have increasingly been investing in trend operations as they work to offer directional as well as mainstream looks to help them be seen as fashion destinations that can rival the fast fashion giants.

Sainsbury’s is already the sixth largest fashion retailer in the UK by value and the latest move is part of an overall strategy to boost its fast reaction to global fashion trends.

Its Tu Clothing brand was added to last year with Tu Premium as part of this strategy, targeting the customer who might otherwise go to Whistles or the big department stores. It also drafted in Portas, the agency run by Mary Portas, to create a new marketing and brand strategy that would boost its fashion credentials.

The Tu brand now sells almost £1bn worth of clothing and accessories annually with over 8m customers shopping the brand.