Outlet centres appear to have been among the big winners of the festive trading period with McArthurGlen having already reported strength across its properties. Now another outlet operator has hailed its own November and December sales.
Image: Ben Sherman
Peel Retail & Leisure has announced an “exceptional trading performance at Gloucester Quays, underpinned by robust sales growth and increased footfall throughout the festive period”.
It cited a “super” Black Friday, coinciding with November’s payday in 2025, and said Gloucester Quays recorded a 6.5% year-on-year (YOY) increase in retail sales for the month.
This momentum carried into December, with footfall for the month rising by 5.5% YOY.
This was helped by the addition of attractions such as the free-to-attend Christmas market, now in its 13th year, which the company said was a “significant draw to the destination, featuring 100 stalls and an accompanying ice rink set alongside the waterside public realm”.
We’re constantly being reminded how experiences are a major boost to retail destinations and the Christmas market has clearly been performing that role for 13 years on the trot.
Peel said that the attractions contributed to a weekend footfall spike, averaging at +15% YOY across the seven weeks leading up to Christmas, and the ice rink also celebrated its busiest year to date.
That said, retail sales rose but only by 1.1%. There’s no getting away from the fact that the UK retail sector remains hugely challenged. But in a festive season when many destinations reported both YOY footfall and sales declines, a 1.1% uplift has to be seen as a win,
The company said homewares and gifting led the way, surging by 66.3%, alongside strong growth in menswear of 31.2%. They were the top-performing categories for the festive season.
Their success reflects the leasing activity during the year with new arrivals having included Søstrene Grene, Ben Sherman, Label Yard, and Men Kind, alongside the relocation and upsize of Crew Clothing. Festive pop-ups from Calendar Club and Gloucester Docks’ own Gloucester Brewery further enhanced the seasonal offer, achieving full retail occupancy for the festive period, while the total centre occupancy currently stands at 96%.
Importantly too, the positive trading has continued into 2026, with the first week of the year delivering 13.5% growth across retail YOY.
It’s to be hoped that performance can continue as the centre remains a magnet for major name brands. In fact, Peel said five leading fashion brands have reaffirmed their commitment to Gloucester Quays, with lease renewals secured for M&S, Adidas, Asics, and Eden Menswear, alongside a significant store refit for Joules.
Paul Carter, asset director at Peel Retail & Leisure, said the results “highlight the strength of our diverse tenant mix and the impact of targeted new arrivals, introduced throughout 2025 in direct response to changing consumer demand. Our emphasis on being a ‘crossover outlet’ has provided this platform for success, bringing together an offer, environment, and experience that makes Gloucester Quays stand out.
“Gloucester Quays is resonating with visitors seeking a full day-out experience in a unique historic waterside setting, and we remain committed to evolving the scheme to set a new benchmark for the outlet model, and reinforce our position as a leading regional destination.”
On Friday, India’s Reliance Industries posted an 186.45 billion rupees ($2.06 billion) profit for the October-December quarter, missing analysts’ average estimate of 196.44 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Reliance Retail’s youth fashion retail format ‘Yousta’ – Yousta
Shares of Reliance Industries fell as much as 2.7% in early trade on Monday after the conglomerate announced missing its third-quarter profit estimates, weighed down by slowing earnings growth in its retail segment. Shares of the Mukesh Ambani-led firm were trading at 1,426. 60 rupees, as of 9:41 am, and were among the top five losers on the benchmark Nifty 50 Index
UBS analysts trimmed Oil-to-Chemicals(O2C) and retail estimates slightly but said they still see room for a valuation re-rating, as the company’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) mix increasingly shifts toward structural growth drivers such as digital and retail, reducing dependence on the cyclical oil and gas segment. Festive discounting, investment in hyper-local delivery startups, and a one-off impact from India’s new labour code trimmed core margins at its retail unit to 8% from 8.6% a year earlier.
Retail growth softened primarily because the festive season was brought forward and due to the one-month impact of the consumer products demerger, analysts at Emkay said. Core earnings for the segment grew 1.3% to 69.15 billion rupees, compared with 9.5% growth a year earlier.
Reliance’s oil and gas segment weakened due to lower output and softer price realisations from its ageing KG-D6 fields, leading to an 8.4% revenue decline and a 12.7% drop in core earnings amid higher maintenance costs. Meanwhile, analysts at Systematix forecast a rise of 5%, 12%, and 9% O2C, Retail, and Jio revenue CAGR, respectively, during FY25-FY28, while a 12% decline in their oil and gas businesses.
After closing 2025 at €80 million, up 5%, denim specialist Jacob Cohën is preparing to open its first US mono-brand store in late May: a two-storey, 280-square-metre space on Madison Avenue in New York.
Jacob Cohën, AW 2026-27
“The first level will be dedicated to womenswear and the second to menswear, with a lifestyle-driven concept,” Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle, president and creative director of the brand, tells FashionNetwork.com. “The US market is very important to us: we have been present in the wholesale channel for a couple of years now and have already reached a turnover of €3 million; moreover, the US is our leading country in terms of e-commerce sales, followed by Germany and Italy. The New York opening will be preceded by another opening at the end of April in Monte-Carlo.”
During Milan Men’s Fashion Week, the brand presented its AW 2026-27 collection, with models moving as if they were guests in the lobby of a luxury hotel, a set crafted in denim by designer Fabio Chrestich. The garments are embellished with leather inserts, stitching that traces the brand’s trapezium-shaped logo, and applied rivets. The materials speak to luxury and refinement: ultra-soft nappa, including suede, deerskin, and sheepskin for jackets, bomber jackets and gilets; double-faced cashmere, in solid colours, contrasting combinations or Prince of Wales check, for sharply tailored coats with a distinctly sartorial spirit. Puffer coats and jackets crafted from Loro Piana fabrics are characterised by the StormSystem treatment, which combines a soft handle with practicality.
Jacob Cohën, AW 2026-27
Denim- whose most elevated iteration is the emblem of Jacob Cohën- runs through the collection in shirts and five-pocket jeans with relaxed cuts; in addition, the new Blue Silk Cloud project uses recycled denim mixed with silk and polyester for the garments’ internal padding. The jumpers, in fine cashmere and cashmere- silk yarns, come as polo knits, mock-necks or rollnecks, in colour-block or with geometric patterns. The palette is inspired by autumn and captures shades of brown, burnt tones, taupe, greys, and moss green, through to ochres and ice blue.
For womenswear, the craftsmanship is extremely detailed and deft cuts elegantly reveal the body through skirt slits, openings at the back of silk shirts, and the necklines of cross-over tops, counterbalanced by the solid construction of jackets with structured shoulders.
Trench coats and coats come in suede or pony skin, a material also used for gilets and super-cropped jackets. Denim features contrasting leather trims and details, and Jacob Cohën’s cult styles are reimagined in different fabrics, including leather. For womenswear, the palette includes brown, taupe, ivory, brushstrokes of green that shade from forest to sage, pops of “electric” purple, grey, and indigo blue.
Jacob Cohën, AW 2026-27
“Since S/S 2026 there has been a radical change in the development of the collection, an expansion towards the total look and a broadened leather assortment, from nappa to second-skin leather used for rainwear and blazers, from shearling to ultra-light suede, through to deerskin. We are bringing the hallmark details of our jeans into tops and outerwear, such as buttons, rivets, and poems printed on the inside,” concludes Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle. “In addition, we are moving increasingly towards lifestyle: we have presented padel racket bags in denim and leather and have recently launched our first hemp-based beauty line, developed in collaboration with a company that specialises in natural essences. We have translated the fragrance with which our garments are washed into shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and body lotion; in addition, we have created a kit for hotels and a wooden beauty box that, once the products are finished, becomes a jewellery box.”
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There was a changing of the guard and of gears at Giorgio Armani Monday morning, as Leo Dell’Orco presented a smooth and chic debut collection for the house, the final important show of Milano Uomo Moda.
A velvet suit by Giorgio Armani – FashionNetwork.com
The collection was the first not designed for the house by eponymous designer Giorgio Armani, who passed away in September last year.
Inevitably, Dell’Orco, Giorgio Armani’s right-hand man for the past four decades, sent out a collection that was hyper respectful of the master’s DNA. Yet he still added his own imprint to a signature collection that featured over a dozen women’s looks that practically matched the menswear designs they marched beside.
Leo also upped the pace of the show, which was no bad thing, and concentrated on what the house of Armani does best- impeccable, fluid tailoring. Most notably with some excellent jackets and blazers. Varying between one-button blazers with elongated shawl lapels made in the house’s signature non-colours of mud, cement, or wheat. To five-button Nehru jackets, again riffing on old Giorgio favourites- from zig zag pattern to waffle style. Paired with forgiving tapered pants that nipped at the ankle it all made for a very flattering silhouette.
A woman’s look on the runway – FashionNetwork.com
Leo did break new ground in terms of colours, showing some great olive green or amethyst velvet shirts, pinstripe jackets and coats- for men and women. Along with superb silk mandarin jackets in dashing Colombia blue. While Giorgio’s love of Asian design was remembered in a great series of silk shirts with high smoking collars.
A change of guard also on the board, where recently appointed members John Hooks and Marco Bizzarri sat smiling in the audience.
“It feels emotional to be back after 15 years,” commented Hooks, the house’s managing director for a decade until 2011. While a beaming Bizzarri predicted: “expect an exciting 18 months at the house of Armani.”
As noted, under the terms of Giorgio Armani’s will, the childless late designer left instructions that his heirs sell 15% of the house within 18 months of his death. And then a further 35% to 54.9% to the same buyer.
Muted tones at Giorgio Armani – FashionNetwork.com
However, after watching this show, one got the distinct impression that no one in Armani is in any great hurry to sell.
Clearly enjoying his new role, Dell’Orco took a few risks with his choice of coats, showing dramatic double-face slate grey topcoats with funnel necks, or the sleekest meeting of a chauffeur’s tunic and long coat in putty grey. One could sense the models loved wearing them, too.
In another marked change, the models appeared quicker and marched faster in two morning shows, held in the famed Armani show-space in the basement of Giorgio’s personal palazzo on central Via Borgonuovo.
The collection and show did lose focus towards the finale, with some odd knits and a good deal or repetition. It lacked the ruthless self-editing for which King Giorgio was famous. But overall, this felt like a successful passage into a new era, and a win for the house.
Leo Dell’Orco with his nephew Gianluca Dell’Orco on the runway – FashionNetwork.com
In a generous gesture, Leo took his bow with his nephew Gianluca Dell’Orco, a design director for menswear.
Bowing, smiling, and ebullient- aided by the galactic funk and gentle techno soundtrack, including Evolver by AstroMat. Armani soundtracks traditionally had been one of Leo Dell’Orco’s responsibilities.
And one could not help to chant during the show “Ashes to Ashes,” the traditional refrain at funerals, suggesting there is a future life immortal in heaven.