M&S may axe own label in bid to f ix fashion crisis
PER UNA, the women’s fashion label once praised for attracting younger shoppers to Marks & Spencer, is facing the chop in a desperate bid to revive the retail giant’s fortunes.
The troubled store chain revealed last night that it was reviewing the brand’s future as part of a massive overhaul.
It said some of its other ranges, which include Autograph, Limited Edition and Blue Harbour, had also ‘lost their identity’. But it singled out Per Una as one of the labels most at risk amid a brutal closure programme that will see 100 branches axed by 2022. None of its 18 Irish stores will be affected but the closures will affect some of the chain’s 19 Northern branches.
Even help from celebrities such as TV presenter Holly Willoughby, whose appearance last year in a €70 Per Una magenta pleated skirt helped it to sell out, has failed to lift the label’s overall fortunes. Per Una was launched in 2001 as a joint venture between M&S and Next founder George Davies. It targeted women under 35 with Italianinspired designs and was credited with almost single-handedly lifting M&S out of the doldrums at the time.
But nearly two decades later, the retailer has found itself in another rut after failing to keep up with more stylish online rivals and cheaper high street alternatives.