by Put almost anything that’s boring to buy but urgently needed – school shirts, new underwear, a serviceable skirt for the office – into your internet search engine and Next might be the first thing to pop up. The item in question will be reasonably priced, good quality and if you want it, you can get it the next day, no matter where in the country you live.
You might think of Next as a bit boring, but very useful and accessible to everyone. As it turns out, most British shoppers do: the high street giant has just upgraded its forecasts for the third time since early August and now expects this year’s profit to top £1 billion. Why? Due to the early arrival of cold weather, winter coats and jumpers are urgently needed. And here we come to the rescue with a padded hooded longline coat in a range of colors for £50 and a cashmere wool crew from Reiss for £128, both of which you can have by this time tomorrow.
“Next is everything to everyone,” says former fashion editor and stylist Alexandra Fullerton of the street behemoth’s success. Sure, its clothes might not appear regularly in fashion magazines, or be breathlessly managed on TikTok, but the success of the chain lies in the unwavering sense of what the middle of England needs: reliability, good value and something for everyone – be it a new pair. jeans for your tall but thin boyfriend, a nice lamp for the living room or a pack of socks for your husband.
When my sister got married in a last-minute ceremony the day before the number of wedding guests was reduced from 30 to 15 in 2020, I turned to Next to find three pairs of matching shirts and trousers for my son to wear as page boys. I knew. they would have what I wanted. When I was working in London, I regularly went into their Victoria station store to stock up on white leather trainers to wear to the office, and if my kids need school clothes and Next can get it for me faster than M&S, they get my business. Since moving out of London last year Next has become even more useful, stocking as it does a range of brands under one online roof that I can find quicker and easier than shopping in all those places where -alone.
This combination of quality and reliability has been Next’s modus operandi since its launch in 1982. Its target customers, even then, were women over 25; early stores were designed with the clothes laid out so customers could see what went with them – a revolutionary concept at the time. The gamechanger was the launch of the company’s mail order arm, Next Directory in 1988, which is credited with making catalog shopping ambitious and important, fast.
I remember flicking through its pages in the 1990s, turning over corners of things I liked; early catalogs came with fabric samples attached and, amazingly, even then your order would be delivered in a few days. Then there were the legendary Boxing Day Next sales, which became a cult event for thousands of Brits who would queue all night for the chance to be first through the doors. It’s little wonder that in the years since, this high street turtle has outshone its rivals like a hare, becoming one of the most successful British retailers out there.
Under the guidance of Chief Executive Lord Wolfson, Next has also expanded to pull up struggling brands and bring them under the company umbrella – the likes of Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Joules only stay in business because they are work at Next.
High fashion, however, is not next and never was. There might be a nod to a trend: a barrel-cut jean here, a smattering of leopard-print there, but the Next customer is more likely to be looking for a well-cut jacket from the likes of Reiss, or classic Ralph. Lauren loves to hunt down the high street hit of the fashion item du jour. “There are the nice-to-wear-with-jumpers and the nice smart things to wear if you work in an office,” Fullerton rightly says.
Even Next’s collaborations over the years have been subtle, rather than high-fashion – a hookup with whimsical label Shrimps in 2021 featuring tea dresses and children’s rompers, a 47-piece Laura Ashley collection earlier this year with a smattering. pretty easy-to-wear blouses and the Tabitha Simmons shoe collection launched last week, which featured classic pointy shoes, on-trend but low-key scalloped Mary-Janes in black or burgundy and wear-with-anything gold evening heels . Simmons, a stylist in demand who works with the likes of Vogue, Dolce and Gabbana and Erdem, proved that even at the highest levels of the fashion world, the next enthusiasts are under the radar: “I wanted to collaborate always. with Next,” she said when her collection was announced. “I was always such a fan growing up and pouring through the catalogs.”
“They’re things you could buy anyway because they’re pretty, rather than queuing at 6am,” says Fullerton of Next’s stealth hits. Unlike, say, M&S’s collaboration with Bella Freud, which sold out within hours and is now available on resale sites for double the original price, the Tabitha Simmons x Next collection still has a healthy online availability and is likely to it finds its way into your wardrobe. and stay there. This is the stealth style: the kind that isn’t too edgy but will serve you well for several years.
Which is what Next is trying to do with its next big venture: launch a luxury e-commerce site.
Seasons, launched on Thursday, represents the likes of Marc Jacobs, Ganni, Rothlaigh, Le Malene Birger, Rixo and Ray-Ban, with the strapline “Where luxury meets lifestyle”. The 1000-odd pieces for sale – for men, women and children – have been carefully curated, ranging from £18 for a pair of Varley socks to £1,775 for a Belstaff jacket. Crucially, as far as Next is concerned, every item is available to all of its customers as quickly as everything else: what the company describes as a “seamless shopping experience.”
“We see it as an addition to and extension of what we already do, primarily to serve our existing customer base,” says Jade Taylor, Seasons brand director. And the reason Seasons could succeed where the likes of Matches and Net-a-Porter have failed (the retailer was bought by Mytheresa last month) is because it will be available to women (and men ) across the country, not just those who live in London – ie those who are already loyal to Next shoppers, and don’t tend to live in or around the capital.
“We have a high percentage of customers actively shopping and looking for great products,” explains Taylor. “The next logical step was to serve those customers even better.” So if you want a pair of Citizens for Humanity jeans or an APC handbag tomorrow but you live in the wilds of Scotland, you can still have it – as long as you order by 10pm. And if it doesn’t fit, there is the home collection return service, or the 500 return points that exist throughout the country.
Will it work? Well, there is no doubt that Next has already nailed the online market, with 6.3 million customers, and about two thirds of its sales made online. “When it comes to distribution, they’re actually better for the business,” says one business industry insider. That early investment in mail order infrastructure – warehousing, distribution and logistics – is what puts Next miles ahead of its competitors. When high street shopping started to move online, and in today’s instant gratification consumer market, the ability to get something quickly and be able to take it back easily if not -it works than being ahead. the fashion package.
In a world where too much is online, meanwhile, there’s also potential value in a relatively tight set of pieces. The Season offer follows the general Next model – not too prescriptive; things that will show your conscious way rather than a victim of fashion and that you can wear for several years in a row – but without the full size of the main site, which feels a little too much when the search for a sweater requires multiple pages of offers.
In contrast, there’s a 25-piece edit of Ganni items: you can buy one of the brand’s classic leopard-print dresses for £235 or keep it simple with a £115 T-shirt. The pieces aren’t a bargain, but they’re seriously expensive: a black puff-sleeve midi dress by Scandinavian brand Rothleigh for £305; Barbour rust brown x Alexa Chung padded jacket for £199. It’s that kind of stuff The Telegraph’s Men’s style editor Stephen Doig says his Scotland-based Next-loving sister would love it. “She will buy ‘fashion’ pieces from Harvey Nichols Edinburgh and has the Chanel bag and Prada shoes, but relies on Next for everyday pieces, ease of delivery and familiar basics,” he says. “Also she likes that there are many brands under one roof, with delivery she can rely on.”
A more mature target for Seasons, then – and one more player in Next’s bid to dominate the high street.
