Marks & Spencer (M&S) today announces plans to refocus its clothing strategy on the values that made the brand famous as it reasserts its leading position on quality and style with the launch of its forthcoming Autumn/Winter collections.
The vision to put quality and style back in to the heart of M&S’s clothing offer was unveiled by Executive Director of General Merchandise, John Dixon and his team as they showcased the Autumn/Winter collections and announced a quality charter that will align standard setting ethics with a confident design ethos. The move comes following months of listening closely to customer feedback and extensive research.
With an initial focus on womenswear, M&S’s new clothing strategy comprises:
- Reasserting its leadership in quality through significant upgrades;
- A planned transition towards clearer and more compelling sub-brands with the launch of M&S Collection;
- Style edit of the key trends for the Autumn/Winter season;
- Improved fashion and design credentials including the new Best of British range.
Customers will begin to see the changes from late July, when the new Autumn/Winter collections launch in-store and online.
John Dixon, Executive Director of General Merchandise said: “Today marks more than just the launch of our Autumn/Winter collection. It is the culmination of six months of extensive research that has seen us listen to our customers’ views on our brand and build on our heritage. This has reinforced that exceptional quality and confident style should lie at the heart of our clothing proposition and provide the M&S difference that our customers expect from us.
“This is our focus going forward that will reassert our position as a leading, premium fashion retailer.”
Belinda Earl, Style Director, said: “Being part of the team that has really spent time exploring our customers’ needs to rediscover the fashion DNA that makes M&S special and relevant is what excites me about my role as Style Director. Over the last few months we have learnt that M&S is a brand that should be looking upwards for aspiration and we are determined to do just that.
“Every woman deserves to look great and feel confident in her clothes. We are focussed on delivering quality, stylish fashions for our customers each and every time they shop with us.”
Marc Bolland, Chief Executive, said: “I’m really enjoying working with the new team and I am confident that we are taking a step in the right direction by focusing on quality and style.”
Quality
Exceptional quality is part of the renewed focus of M&S’s new womenswear strategy – with a commitment to deliver the M&S difference customers expect and to exceed their expectations on fabric, fit and finish.
M&S has invested in improving and upgrading quality across womenswear, whilst maintaining prices for its customers. The quality upgrade includes the use of better fabrics across its ranges. For example M&S’s market leading machine washable pure cashmere jumper (£65) has increased by 9% in weight and all basic £6 cotton t-shirts have been upgraded to feature an exclusive STAYNEW™ finish which reduces pilling wash after wash.
Complementing its quality promise, M&S has introduced a host of brand new product innovations to ensure its clothes are made to last with a flattering fit and finish. For example all coats and jackets feature Ascolite® button technology which prevents buttons from falling off; whilst Insolia™ technology has been extended across footwear ranges to reduce pressure on the foot and improve comfort and stability.
M&S has also reviewed its sizing blocks to give consistency of fit whichever style or brand customers choose to shop. For example there are now only six sizing blocks for all formal trousers compared to 16 previously and these changes will come through when the winter collections are launched in store.
The finish of products has also been improved. For example, visible seams have been introduced which will be upgraded from an ‘over lock’ to a ‘French’ seam for a neater finish and improved comfort for the wearer.
Introducing M&S Collection
This autumn M&S will re-launch its core clothing range with the introduction of M&S Collection, as the next step in the development of M&S Woman. M&S Collection will offer a considered edit of stylish wardrobe essentials with a renewed focus on great quality, everyday clothing.
M&S Collection offers customers the very best choice in confident, stylish clothing in an effortless, easy-to-wear edit. As part of this edit M&S has reduced the number of product lines by 10% whilst increasing the depth of its buy into key hero categories of dresses, coats, knitwear and formal tops and bottoms.
As part of the move, Limited Collection will be transitioned to Limited Edition and will form part of M&S Collection encompassing the same core values but with a focus on more trend-led design and the latest wearable, current fashions. The range will be updated every two weeks to regularly bring customers the latest interpretations of the key season’s trends.
Additionally, M&S’s Classic range will retain its brand identity but become part of M&S Collection. Classic focuses on elegant comfort and style with a more focussed understanding of today’s older customer and her style needs.
Clearer and more compelling sub-brands
The repositioning of M&S Collection is as planned for phase two of Concept 11 and in line with M&S’s ongoing strategy to make the M&S clothing brand a destination in its own right. Clearer and more compelling sub-brands with distinct identities will help customers find the style that suits them best. The positioning of the sub-brands includes the following:
- per una – as M&S’s biggest sub-brand with a loyal customer base, the range is fun and feminine with touches of glamour every day. per una still exudes colour, print and embellishment, however the new range features more considered use of colour and refined detailing to reflect the modern per una customer.
- Autograph – emulates affordable designer quality with exquisite, understated elegance and uses more luxurious fabrics and design details than the core collection. As part of its quality promise, M&S has upgraded 75% of the fabrics used in Autograph including noble natural yarns such as wool, cashmere and silk.
- Indigo – offers authentic fashionability to M&S’s denim and casualwear offer. All Indigo layering t-shirts and £19.50 jeans are made from responsibly sourced BCI cotton which uses less water and pesticides.
Frances Russell, Director of Womenswear, said: “We’ve injected some love back in to our brands and focused on their brand signatures to ensure that every product in each of our collections has been designed specifically with our customers in mind. This product focus, coupled with a clearly signposted, compelling collection of brands helps to make choosing amazing outfits that are perfect for every occasion even easier for our customers.”
Style edit of the season’s key trends
To complement M&S’s quality wardrobe staples, the new Autumn/Winter collections feature a style edit of the season’s key trends. From the London Calling trend including bold red and black checks, sleek leathers and animal prints to the Modern Elegance trend encompassing clean, simple tailoring with luxury fabrics and muted colours. Each trend edit has been designed to work for the M&S customer in both a considered and wearable way.
Best of British
Building on its fashion and design credentials, M&S has unveiled its exclusive new collection to celebrate the Best in British design and manufacture across womenswear and menswear. Best of British combines M&S’s rich heritage with modern styling to create an edit of timeless pieces with an emphasis on true British craftsmanship and quality.
Garments are made in a selection of premium fabrics from luxury Scottish cashmere through to fine Yorkshire cloths. All garments are manufactured in Britain and each piece is finished to the highest level of detail – a standard synonymous with British design.
The new collections mark the launch of a three year partnership between M&S and the British Fashion Council, which puts more emphasis on British design and talent. The Best of British collection will be available from the 10th October online at www.marksandspencer.com, in five UK stores and internationally at M&S’s flagship stores in Paris and Shanghai.
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