Sainsbury’s Tu: Supermarket Style Goes Premium and Upmarket

Sainsbury’s, while primarily recognized as a leading UK supermarket, is significantly expanding its fashion presence through its Tu clothing line. Despite traditionally focusing on value-driven apparel, the brand is actively pursuing a larger share of the premium fashion market, alongside a dedicated push to grow its menswear sales.

Central to this strategy is the introduction of more premium ranges featuring high-quality, natural materials. Sainsbury’s plans to incorporate fabrics like 100% merino wool, cashmere, linen, and leather into its collections. This move is already showing promising results, with premium styles experiencing a remarkable 300% increase in sales over the past year.

This expansion into premium offerings began in November with the launch of a 100% cashmere womenswear collection – Tu’s largest knitwear launch to date. The collection featured seven pure cashmere pieces starting at £65, alongside blended merino wool and cashmere styles from £40. Sainsbury’s described this as a pivotal moment, signaling a commitment to “elevated fabrics and timeless designs crafted for lasting appeal,” building on successes like a popular suede bag.

Ben Smith, the recently appointed Clothing MD, revealed to The Telegraph that Sainsbury’s is deliberately “stretching up” its fashion ranges. A key component of this ambition is a focused effort on menswear, with the goal of doubling sales in that category. Currently holding a modest 3% market share in menswear, Smith believes this target is achievable, citing initiatives like updated chino fits as already attracting more male customers.

Beyond fit updates, Tu is also injecting a stronger fashion element into its menswear designs, and early indicators suggest positive momentum – described as “green shoots” by Smith. The success of Tu mirrors similar growth experienced by other supermarket clothing operations, like Asda, where fashion sales are outpacing food sales.

However, Sainsbury’s ambitions place it in direct competition with established fashion retailers like Marks & Spencer and Next. Both are significant players in the menswear market, and M&S, in particular, is a dominant force in the premium sector that Tu is now targeting.