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This autumn’s London fashion week boasts plenty of familiar labels, from Burberry to Alexander McQueen, ready to show off their wares. But on Wednesday there was an unexpected addition: Marks & Spencer is joining the luxury lineup.
The British high-street retailer will celebrate its ۱۰۰th anniversary in the fashion industry by staging a catwalk show in September highlighting its latest women’s and menswear collections.
Stuart Machin, the chief executive of M&S, said the decision to show at LFW was an opportunity to “showcase our designs on fashion’s global stage” and was part of the retailer’s wider efforts to transform itself into a go-to fashion destination for high-street shoppers.
Laura Weir, the chief executive of the British Fashion Council, described M&S as “one of the great icons of the British high street”, adding that the retailer had played “an important role in the nation’s retail and cultural story for generations”.
M&S’s debut LFW catwalk show will be livestreamed for customers who want to tune in from home. Unlike most luxury brands where the pieces on the catwalk don’t arrive in stores until months later, the M&S collections will immediately be available to buy online and in its bigger stores.
Catherine Shuttleworth, a retail consultant and the chief executive of Savvy Marketing, said the decision by M&S to take part in LFW showed “a confidence around its fashion credentials”.
Speaking at the group’s annual meeting in London on Tuesday, Machin said the retailer had successfully “dumped the frump” – a reference to a comment made in ۲۰۱۶ by its then chief executive, Steve Rowe, who described the retailer as having a reputation for “frumpiness”.
Machin, who succeeded Rowe in ۲۰۲۲, is on a mission to transform the business with a focus on boosting sales and profits by appealing to a younger fashion-focused customer.
Maddy Evans, M&S’s head of womenswear, who joined the brand in ۲۰۱۹, has also been crucial in its turnaround. The approach includes trend-driven monthly product drops that appeal to customers looking for newness alongside items that garner virality on social media. Barrel leg rather than skinny jeans, mesh jelly shoes and lightweight funnel neck jackets, all at a snip of the price of designer equivalents, have helped shift M&S’s age demographic from the ۵۵+ bracket towards those in their ۲۰s and early ۳۰s.
For a retailer previously best known for knickers and vests, it is a radical change of direction. Quick to riff on luxury trends, its more affordable takes have become catnip on social media. On TikTok, videos such as “rate my M&S haul” and “unbox my M&S order” rack up thousands of views. Trending items this month included kitten-heeled flip-flops similar to those worn by the model Hailey Bieber, Chloé-esque floaty lace tops and Missoni-inspired striped knitted dresses.
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Meanwhile, when Love Story mania was in full swing, M&S was quick to release a collection inspired by the ۹۰s style of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy which included a loose white shirt and black slip dress.
In June, the retailer launched its summer collection with a fashion show in Ibiza, hosted by the Chicken Shop Date presenter Amelia Dimoldenberg, which featured a purpose-built, see-through catwalk constructed over a giant swimming pool. Last week it took over the pit lane at Silverstone to launch another collection, with models walking against the backdrop of its F۱ garages hours before the British Grand Prix got under way.
These shows follow the appointment of celebrity ambassadors including Gillian Anderson and Claudia Winkleman, sellout collaborations with the actor Sienna Miller and the designer Bella Freud, alongside a decision to stock other brands including the ethically focused Nobody’s Child and the wedding guest go-to Ghost London. The retail expert Elizabeth Stiles said such initiatives have “elevated perceptions of the whole business”.
M&S now holds just over ۱۰% market share of total national clothing sales and has ۱۲ million female customers. Quite the feat for a retailer that fell out of the FTSE ۱۰۰ in ۲۰۱۹ (returning four years later) and suffered another devastating blow in ۲۰۲۵ when it was hit by a cyber-attack which left shoppers unable to buy online for several months and almost wiped out its profits.
Its debut at London fashion week follows in the footsteps of Topshop, which became the first high-street brand to show on schedule in ۲۰۰۵. Cos will show at September’s New York fashion week, while last September Cos’s sister brand H&M opened London fashion week with a show starring the Vogue models Alex Consani and Paloma Elsesser.
However, M&S’s focus on younger shoppers has left some shareholders concerned the strategy risks alienating its traditional customer base. During its AGM, Machin said he had been approached in store by a customer who complained that its dresses had become “all sleeveless” and “a bit skimpy”. His “stylish ۷۸-year-old mother” had also given him feedback, including that tops were “getting a bit short”. As a result, future pieces including those on September’s catwalk, will feature items that “cover the tum, tops and bum”.
