Team suits from M&S... via Cambodia

For their official team photograph before they travelled to Russia yesterday, England’s players wore Marks & Spencer suits, made in Cambodia.

Marks & Spencer had proudly trumpeted the £264 suit’s design, with red, white and blue trim, and boasted that the pure merino wool was woven at the Alfred Brown mill in Yorkshire.

What it neglected to mention was that the material for the jacket, waistcoat and trousers was then shipped to Cambodia and made into suits before being sent back to the United Kingdom for general sale – a distance of almost 13,000 miles.

The Marks & Spencer website does not disclose where the suits were made. It states: “Complete with jacket, trousers and waistcoat, this suit is carefully crafted from luxurious, 100 per cent Merino wool woven in England by Alfred Brown, for a modern, streamlined silhouette that’s sure to make an impression at your next formal event.”

Marks & Spencer initially refused to say where the suit was made. Asked four times by The Daily Telegraph, a spokesman repeatedly answered: “The fabric is woven by Alfred Brown mill in Yorkshire.”

In the end, The Telegraph dispatched a journalist to investigate the labelling of suits being sold in stores. A spokesman then confirmed the suit was made abroad.

“We’ve been the official tailor to the England team for 11 years and the suit has always been manufactured abroad which allows us to offer our customers the best value for money,” the store said.

“We always clearly display for our customers where the product is made on the care label – in this case Cambodia. We’re very proud the wool is woven by British supplier Alfred Brown – a long-standing supplier of M&S.”

The suit was designed with input from the players and the Football Association. It is the third official World Cup outfit designed and manufactured by Marks & Spencer for the England team.