Debenhams have been lucky over the past few years. Their designer offerings include an impressive line-up of brands ranging from John Rocha to Matthew Williams but now, John Lewis is getting in on the action too. Earlier on this week the department store released the latest Somerset by Alice Temperley collection and already, the sales have exceeded all expectations so much so that it has become the most popular brand in the store's history.
More than a hundred shoppers queued outside the department store on Oxford Street on Tuesday to be amongst the first people to get their hands on the line and on that day alone, the brand took in eleven times the sales usually brought in on the day of a brand launch. But it doesn't end there. The line sold so well on the first day that by the afternoon, it had already met it's target for the week.
Today it's hard to find a brand that hasn't launched a diffusion line. Where sister lines were initially embraced by young brands trying to get their brand out there to the mass market through high street collaborations, more and more luxury brands are tapping into it too. Last month I spoke about Marchesa's plans to create a more affordable line and now Alice Temperley is following suit.
Yesterday the designer confirmed that she is teaming up with John Lewis to create a new line, Somerset by Alice Temperley, which is set to hit stores on September 4. The 60-piece collection is said to tap into many of the themes from the main line with prices ranging from £29 for a scarf to £1,000 for a sheepskin coat. 'I wanted it to be very much a collection of essentials and to design a collection that would provide a feminine and functional wardrobe for women in their everyday life,' she explained. 'We have spent the last ten years building our lines and Somerset will compliment our existing collections; it is a very accessible product that will take our aesthetic to a wider audience.'
