The Sainsbury’s Q3 trading update on Friday came with news that its Tu clothing offer was “strong” in a tough market. The weakness of the market was amply demonstrated by a number of retailers reporting sluggish discretionary sales for the season.

As for Sainsbury’s it said that its overall approach in the 16 weeks to 3 January saw it making “significant Christmas market share gains”.

Its total sales excluding fuel rose 3.9% in the quarter and 3.3% in the six weeks to 3 January. But while grocery was up 5.4% and 5.1%, respectively, across those periods, General Merchandise and Clothing combined dipped 1.1% in Q3 and 1% in the six weeks. And the Argos operation fell 1% for the quarter and 2.2% for the six weeks.

But Sainsbury’s said that “despite softer demand and milder weather, Tu clothing achieved a strong performance within a weak market and delivered an exceptional performance in Christmas categories, including record sales of Christmas pyjamas. Our volume growth outperformed the clothing market by 10 percentage points, reflecting a step up in style and quality perceptions and improved availability both in-store and online”.

It didn’t give a specific percentage for Tu, however, so we don’t know whether its strength against a tough backdrop meant its sales rose, flatlined or even dipped.

If the Sainsbury’s experience was anything like that of rival Tesco, chances are that fashion sales will have risen. On Thursday Tesco had reported unimpressive combined Clothing and Home sales for the festive season but at Clothing alone, its said its like-for-like sales rose 4.4% with fashion continuing its outperformance compared to the weaker home operations.