After a cyber-attack rained on its summer, Marks & Spencer is banking on fashion to brighten its autumn.
A Prada-esque, crystal-embellished, charcoal V-neck cardigan (£46), a faux leather trenchcoat with a price tag of £90 – £6,810 less than the Burberry version – and a £36 short pleated skirt that offers a wearable take on Charli xcx’s “brat” styling will hit shop floors shortly.
“We can be bolder because, while we continue to dominate in the over-55s, we’ve got new customers in the 35- to 55-year-old age range,” said Maddy Evans, the brand’s womenswear lead, at a showcase of the new collection in the run-up to London fashion week, which begins on Friday.
The store is relying on womenswear, which has been ticking upward in sales and credibility for two years, to lead a bounce back after a devastating cyber-attack that affected M&S from April to August and is predicted to have cost the business £300m in profits.
Evans said the retailer was aiming for two-thirds newness in store. “That basically means that if a customer walks in to see the new season, two-thirds of it she will never have seen before. The other third is core product – white T-shirts, skinny jeans, black wide-leg trousers, pieces that never go out of stock.”
M&S “sense-checked” trends for wearability, Evans added. The return of the miniskirt, as widely seen on city streets this summer, is reflected at the retailer, but “never unwearably short”. “We are shifting out of the midi skirt into shorter lengths, but our customer trusts us to make a short skirt that they feel good in,” she added.
The head of womenswear design, Lisa Illis, said knowing which trends to ignore was as important as knowing which to pick up on. Waving to a rail of tonal rose, burgundy and chocolate knitwear, she said: “We avoid harder, sharper colours that are more difficult to wear, in favour of these flattering shades.”
Leather – real and faux – features on coats, minidresses and skirts as well as shoes. The store had a hit at the beginning of this year, selling 20,000 pairs of £55 loafers, which offered an affordable take on the key shoe of the “quiet luxury” era. Investment in loafers has been ramped up by 40% for the coming winter.
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In denim – where high-waisted styles rule – the under-£30 price point remains key, “although we’re seeing more opportunity at £45-£49, when the product is right”.
To respond more nimbly to demand, the company has substantially shifted production from China, Vietnam and Cambodia to “nearshore” manufacture in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt.