M&S makes London show debut to woo new shoppers after 100 years in fashion

By James Davey

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Marks & Spencer made its London Fashion Week debut on Friday, using the high-profile event to showcase its style credentials and broaden the British retailer's appeal to shoppers at home and abroad, both in-store and online.

With signature pieces ranging from a tuxedo and white shirt to twinsets, knitwear, outerwear and floral prints, one of Britain's biggest high street names marked 100 years in fashion with archive-inspired womenswear and menswear collections.

Under Stuart Machin, its CEO since 2022, M&S has prioritised restoring its reputation for value, quality and style as it seeks to attract younger, fashion-conscious shoppers, with half of the collection on show priced at below £50 ($67).

Unlike many of the global designers and brands also showing at the London event, the 59 M&S runway looks were available to buy immediately after the show, online in Britain and Europe and in 10 flagship stores across the UK and Ireland. 

"This is a showcase of our latest collection to all of our current and loyal customers, but it's about broadening our audience as well," Maddy Evans, M&S' womenswear director, told Reuters at the event.

Celebrity guests at the M&S show included Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, actress Joan Collins and former Arsenal soccer player Ian Wright. It will be streamed later on the websites of M&S and its European partner Zalando.

M&S, which has a more than 10% share of Britain's fashion market and whose fashion, home and beauty division serves 23 million customers, is revamping its supply chain while investing in stores and strengthening data and digital capabilities.

Machin is aiming to make M&S a truly omnichannel retailer, by targeting a doubling of FH&B's online sales over the long term from about £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and increasing online's share of FH&B sales from about 34% to 50% in the medium term.

In May, M&S forecast a return to profit growth this year after it slumped 24% in 2025/26 as a result of a cyberattack.

Shares in M&S are up 8% so far this year, helped by strong growth in food sales.

($1 = 0.7487 pounds) 

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alexander Smith)