Sainsbury's expands Tu menswear offer with formal and premium product

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 20, 2017

Sainsbury’s is adding to its Tu Clothing menswear offer, with its first full men’s formalwear line-up having just launched following a strong response to its smaller Harris Tweed line that launched last autumn.

Next month it will also extend its Tu Premium label to menswear with a 20-piece line to include woollen items and a shearling jacket. Higher quality womenswear under the Premium label is already available.

The men’s formalwear launch comes as the company continues to see strong growth for its Tu range and claims a 6% market share by volume of UK clothing.

The company has grown by not only targeting the low-priced arena that is traditionally the domain of supermarket fashion but going after customers who might usually buy their clothing in chains such as Next or at department stores.

The retailer said the just-launched menswear is the first supermarket suiting line created from UK-made made fabrics with four jackets and two suits in the line-up made of British wool (the firm worked with Perseverance Mill and Yorkdale Tweed).

There are 29 pieces in the Tu Formal line altogether with blazers, shirts and two- and three-piece suits included. Prices range from £6 for ties up to £130 for a Harris Tweed jacket.

The company also plans to launch formal occasionwear in time for the party season with items such as velvet shawl collar dinner jackets.

Menswear is a key growth opportunity for the supermarket with the category currently making up less than 20% of its total clothing sales.

This month, the comapny launched its first TV ad for both its womenswear and menswear. Rival Tesco is also heavily advertising its F&F line this month while the new Esmara by Heidi Klum line from Lidl, also being promoted on TV, has upped the stakes for supermarket fashion.