Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.
Secret Shopper: Why are Millennials queuing down the street for Djerf Avenue’s pop-up?
If you’ve walked around the streets of Covent Garden in the past few days, you may have noticed a truckload of Gen Z and Millennials in minimalist, neutral-toned get-ups. That’s what happens when Matilda Djerf’s Djerf Avenue pop-up is in town.
As expected, the store’s aesthetic – similarly to the brand’s cosmetics and clothing offering – is simple and refined. It doesn’t shout ‘we’re here’, but with a long line of patiently waiting customers, does it really need to?
The space, decked out in Christmas crackers and Christmas trees galore, offers Londoners a chance to shop the brand’s loungewear, fashion and beauty range in person for the first time while getting them in the Christmas mood.
With the clothing being on the pricier side (thanks to the brand’s use of lower-impact materials, including recycled materials and natural corozo buttons instead of plastic), the tranquil shopping environment is a much-appreciated element, even if it means a few extra minutes out in the cold.
The experiential services (which include free coffee, complimentary hair styling and more) were a bonus and showcased the intentional thought put into creating the brand’s first London store. So, please Matilda, bring Djerf Avenue to the streets of London for good.
Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.
M&S opens first fashion boutique-style store at Battersea Power Station
It was interesting to read this week that M&S has headed to Battersea Power Station to launch its first boutique-style store concept, selling a curated edit of womenswear, menswear and beauty.
The retailer really has been pulling out all the stops to get across its vastly improved fashion offer of late. Especially judging by all the work it has done on its Christmas TV and social advertising campaigns, including the menswear one launched last week featuring former TOWIE star Mark Wright and Made in Chelsea personality Spencer Matthews as best buddies dressed in Autograph, which received 12 million views and 250,000 likes.
The new store concept is a further indication that M&S aims to access a more affluent customer base and take on high street rivals such as ZARA and Mango. Its recent collaboration collection with style icon Sienna Miller also raised the fashion bar and proved a hit with M&S’s customers.
The new 8,400 sq ft space is much smaller than typical M&S stores (aside from the convenience M&S Food Halls), which adds to the boutique feel, with neon-lit areas spotlighting M&S’ premium offerings, including Jaeger and Autograph.
Style advice is also on hand with a 35-strong in-store team of Customer Experience Visual Stylists, and there’s new Click & Collect points for online clothing and beauty shoppers too. If it works out well, we are sure to see more of the new concept stores spring up in selected areas in 2025.
Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.
TikTok Shop celebrates record-breaking Black Friday
TikTok achieved record-breaking sales this Black Friday, marking its biggest-ever UK sales event to date. I can’t say I’m surprised by this news, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
Growth was partly driven by a surge in LIVE shopping, with over 6,000 sessions per day in the UK during the Black Friday period (25th November – 2nd December) as shoppers flocked to find discounts on the latest trends in fashion, beauty, home, electronics, toys, and books.
It comes as TikTok predicts this Christmas will mark its biggest UK retail moment yet, continuing to benefit from LIVE shopping sessions and an increase in ad spend from clients. It certainly will be a Merry Christmas for the TikTok Shop team, as well as the brands involved.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
‘After three unnecessary years of delays’ M&S’ Marble Arch redevelopment is approved
I don’t know why I care so much about this saga, but I do.
Having initially had its plans to raze and rebuild the 94-year-old flagship in Marble Arch, the plans were rejected by the then-secretary of state Michael Gove, who claimed that demolition would negatively impact nearby sites, including the Grade II*-listed Selfridges store directly opposite. I reported on it at the time, and I don’t say this lightly: it was a whole thing.
However, three and a half years after the first proposal was submitted in March 2021, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has approved the redevelopment as of 5 December.
Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin said: “We can now get on with the job of helping to rejuvenate the UK’s premier shopping street through a flagship M&S store and office space, which will support 2,000 jobs and act as a global standard-bearer for sustainability.”
Katie Ross, Content & Events Executive.
The Interview: Peter Alexander on bringing his pyjamas and unique approach to retail to the UK
Peter Alexander, AKA The Pyjama King, has opened three doors in the UK (at Westfield London, Westfield Stratford and Bluewater) and, all being well we may get more. But in the meantime, let’s be grateful for the stores we have as they truly bring something different and fun to our British high street.
The UK is the first market outside of Australia and New Zealand to get Peter Alexander stores and we got the chance to sit down with its charismatic founder and find out all about his inspirational story, his unique approach to retail and his ambitions for the future.
He’s a breath of fresh air and I’m really hoping we see more of him and his stores in the future.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
