Boden hits High Street
Fashion catalogue loved by yummy mummies to open string of stores
IT’S loved by middle- class mothers across the nation for a catalogue of clothes that are comfortable and reliable – if not necessarily the most fashion-forward.
But now Boden is shaking up its dowdy image and setting out to become a high street name by opening shops across the UK and beyond.
The online and catalogue retailer, which counts David and Samantha Cameron as fans and is popular with ‘yummy mummies’ thanks to its floral patterns and cosy knitwear, has also revamped its clothing range and launched a new ‘limited edition’ collection in a bid to attract more styleconscious customers. The overhaul comes in the wake of growing success for the brand, which yesterday announced that its pre-tax profit soared by almost a third last year to £32million, thanks to sales of £280.7million.
Deputy chairman Julian Granville said: ‘We have been dialling up the stylish elements of our range, and we have had some very good success from that.’ Fashion magazines have raved about the new collection, which includes leather jackets and skirts and designer- i nspired footwear.
A recent review in the Daily Mail’s Femail magazine said: ‘There are enough new pieces to make even sceptics look past its mumsy bright prints.’
Boden owes most of its success to its website, which had 23million visitors last year and accounts for more than 90 per cent of sales. But the brand, which trialled a temporary ‘pop-up’ store in Birmingham in 2012, said it now wants to become a ‘multi-channel’ retailer.
It already has one shop, in Ealing in west London, and is now looking to open sites across London and further afield, including the US, over the next few years. Boden said it is still developing the format and does not yet know how many it will open.
The retailer poached product director Matthew Hilgeman from trendy US brand American Eagle Outfitters in June to head up the style revamp and has also launched an advertising campaign with top model Karen Elson to promote the limited edition range, Icons.
Boden was launched in 1991 and its success peaked in the early 2000s. Profits then tumbled in 2012 after shoppers criticised the brand on parenting website Mumsnet for being ‘smug’, ‘twee’ and overpriced. But the business recovered, largely due to its popularity abroad. It sells its clothing in 60 countries and more than half of its sales come from overseas, with French sales leaping by more than 30 per cent last year and US business online rising by 13 per cent in the first six months of this year.