Base London takes first steps into clothing with launch of menswear

Base London is breaking out of its core footwear range with the launch of a line of men’s clothing.

It is the first time that the shoe company has ventured into the competitive clothing market. The new range, which will be available in August, will initially include casual jackets, trousers, T-shirts, shirts and jumpers. It will be targeted at Base’s existing customer’s – 18to 25-year-old streetwise “lads”.

The clothing will be available in stores such as Arnotts, Active Venture, Blacks Retail, Fenwick, First Sport, Lapel Menswear, Original Shoe Company and Strides.

The launch will be backed by a press advertising campaign through Banc, which handles Base’s footwear range. The ads will break in the August issues of men’s colour magazines and may be supported by an outdoor campaign. The Base London account is worth between &£1.5m and &£2m.

This is the company’s second major campaign this year, following its April launch of a range of women’s shoes (MW March 28). Base’s first attempt at breaking into the womens’ shoe market two years ago failed after a poorly targeted campaign.

Base made head of marketing Jane Morgan redundant in October 2001 following a restructure of its marketing department.

Brand manager Becky Munslow now heads the marketing team.