At last! M&S gets it right

By former Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman

WHEN the Daily Mail recently published my suggestions on what could be done to improve the ailing Marks & Spencer, my ideas garnered a huge response. Almost unanimously, readers wrote of

their loyalty to the High Street store, but also their frustrations in navigating the swamp of clothes on offer and the difficulty in finding the great ones.

It’s interesting to learn that the store is currently reviewing the overload of different labels — including Per Una and Autograph — which needlessly confuses us shoppers.

Not one person, though, wished to see

this High Street totem (which recently revealed that it is set to close some 100 of its stores by 2022) condemned to the dust-heap of retail.

Marks & Spencer itself responded with an invitation for me to come and preview its new autumn collections (in stores and online later this year).

As so often, the display had been beautifully styled to showcase some great clothes, but also to demonstrate how basics could be turned into fashion looks in a way that is both attractive and inspiring.

It would be helpful if the stores showed the clothes the way we see them in the preview. Why can’t the general public be given the same access to how the M&S team styles them?

Put the entire looks in shop windows, on the shop floor and, of course, online. Inspire us. You don’t have to wear them that way — but you may well want to.

It also seemed to me that, this time, the collection had been more finely edited, with less significance placed on pieces that M& S considered might grab coverage on the fashion pages and more focus on its real customers. Great.

Previously, I had often felt that the emphasis on a few uber-fashionable clothes that would tick the ‘Press’ box was a waste.

Especially since, so often, the clothes only made it into a few flagship stores.

Everyone — fashion press included — just wants Marks & Spencer to offer well- crafted, wearable, contemporary style at great prices. So, here are my top choices that do just that . . .