New Look is an unlikely bellwether for British retailers. The fashion group sits in that increasingly crowded middle ground of womenswear chains that have become largely indistinguishable from one another.

Yet its decision to shut 60 shops, through a company voluntary arrangement, could prove to be a turning point in the shake-out taking place. It was the latest in a raft of CVAs that retailers are trying to force upon landlords, an insolvency process that enables them to get out of loss-making stores and slash the rents on the remaining ones.

Though creditors approved New Look’s restructuring plan, those close to the talks say it was a close call. Battle-weary landlords are fed up of being asked...