The fashion verdict on Marks & Spencer’s new collection
By ditching the trends and focusing on quality clothes that women will want to wear, M&S might be able to fight its fall from FTSE grace, say Lisa Armstrong and Caroline Leaper
More than any other fashion brand on the high street, M&S has to ask itself two questions each time it launches a new collection: not simply would a fashionconscious woman buy this, but also would a woman who hasn’t flicked through the style pages in years, but needs practical, flattering, good-valuefor-money items to wear be tempted? Actually, there’s a third question, can those two be served by one store?
Perhaps more so than you think. Fashion – even the highest, haughtiest catwalk servings – has increasingly coalesced around the central ground, where trends change far more slowly than they did at the start of the millennium. The new perennial favourites – midilength dresses, soft, drapey fabrics, classic “heritage” check coats and blazers, scarf-tie blouses, pleated skirts – come back season after season, and they all appeal to both ends of the age spectrum. M&S has received that message loud and clear (last autumn’s runaway success item, an “ageless” star-print dress that went viral, confirmed it). They’re no longer thinking in terms of flash trends and catwalk copies, rather:
“Is it versatile, easy and flattering?”
One of the big changes this season, the team says, is a conscious “refining of the sub-brands”. To us shoppers, that means no more Limited Collection, no more Indigo. Three are still standing; the long-established Per
Una, the luxury-leaning Autograph and the core
M&S Collection. But the design directors understood that these names were starting to mean nothing and that the products in store lacked identity. Per
Una 2.0 is better. Its
prints are bright (no more murky florals and over-designed blouses) and its silhouettes finally put into practice all of its preach about appealing to women of all ages. Florals are still shining, but as vibrant pops of colour against dark backgrounds on fluid dresses that skim over the body without being shapeless. Waists have been raised to lengthen legs and flatten tummies and the colour palettes work across all skintones. One pussy-bow dress, with a delicate modern-floral red print against a pale beige stripe was displayed in the press showroom with a black, top-handle leather bag. Straight out of Maggie Thatcher’s style canon, maybe, but plenty of millennials would wear it, too, albeit with different accessories. With Autograph, the focus turns to more minimal pieces and premium fabrics. M&S leathers now are by-products of the meat industry and its synthetic alternatives are properly vegan (some fake leathers use animal-derived glues). Their black glossy backless loafers look expensive, as do the sage green leather gloves and block-heeled leather knee boots (soft, comfortable and with the magical Insolia insert) are a strong contender for best boot on the high street this autumn.
A few brave souls, regardless of age, might be tempted by M&S’S take on the bra-digan – as illustrated by Katie Holmes – with a Rosie Huntingtonwhiteley-designed version. It’s actually rather chic and considerably less than Holmes’s £1,700 version from Khaite. Before you march on M&S for proposing such a click-baity
combo, we’d better say that they’re offering these items separately and not suggesting you wear them out of the house. Instead, see it as an example of how, if you shop M&S carefully, you can put any look together, from racy or recherché to mum/grannyon-the-school-run.
M&S is in need of a good fashion season – the 135-year-old retailer’s shares have lost around 40 per cent of their value since January 2018 and, in particularly gutting news, it is set to fall out of the FTSE 100 for the first time since its inception in 1984 this week.
Its celebrity-fronted “edits”, they hope, will continue to sell out; a fifth Holly Willoughby-approved “drop” is due to arrive in the new year.
Denim, as a category, is still shifting volumes. M&S is number one for denim in the UK, selling one pair of jeans every 10 seconds (skinny has always ruled for the M&S customer). And M&S was committed to improving the ethical and sustainability credentials of its output long before it became fashionable: all their cotton and denim is BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified. We feel they could be doing a bit more on the sustainability front in other ranges, but they’re better than most on the high street. There has been a definite upgrade in design this autumn – ironically, by shifting the focus away from naff, micro-trends to the kind of design details millions of women are actually looking for. Some highlights, if you’re after a shopping list: the Prada-esque patterned platform sandals (£29.50), the Autograph camel and red check coat (at £199, a proper investment), those backless loafers (£19.50) and an abstract leopardprint dress that would appeal to even the fussiest dresser (£69). Overall, there is plenty here to keep us clicking back on to their website regularly – and not just out of professional curiosity. But will we be tempted into one of their 258 stores? Less sure. While this collection looked pretty darn good in the showroom, the stores remain a battlefield of depressing decor and confusing layouts.
The design team say they’re working on this, and trying to at least make shopping for outfits and the pieces that you see styled so well in the promotional lookbook images, easier. However, there are still those horrible-looking display units to contend with. They downgrade all products – surely it’s time for some home improvements at M&S? You’ve got some great merchandise here, time to ensure that you show it off properly.