M&S debuts new denim collection for spring

There’s no time like the present to press the reset button.

Just ask the high street, which — like many of us — has rolled into the new year in less than the best shape of its life. So it’s apt that M&S has chosen this morning’s January press preview as a chance to take stock and figure out which areas of its ailing fashion offering it needs to flex and which are dead weight.

It is through this detox of its clothing rails that the retail veteran has resolved to streamline its divisive trend-led offering and focus much of its energy into its hardworking denim category. Remarkably, M&S has the biggest market share for denim in womenswear — a fact which may surprise even the most clued-up customers. In 2018 the brand sold a whopping 10 pairs of jeans every minute, and sees an average 13 million pairs of jeggings walk out of its stores each year. For spring, though, the offering extends well beyond spray-on skinnies.

“We sell a lot of jeans,” says Jill Stanton, trading director for womenswear and kids, “but we want to become an authority on denim.”

Hoping to entice a more fashion-forward jeans shopper into the M&S fold, next season spans perfect wide-leg crops to high-rise tailored cuts made from sustainable fabric.

Democratic fit comes into play too, with collections ranging from sizes six to 24, with selected styles in its Curve line up to 32, plus three leg lengths.

Come February, the fourth collection of Holly’s Must-Haves — the highly lucrative edit of items cherry-picked by the nation’s golden girl and ultimate M&S ambassador Holly Willoughby — will also hang on denim. Highlights include two button-down shirt dresses — one A-line and mid-length, the other with a shorter, straighter silhouette — along with a series of style-conscious Western-inspired shirts with a ruffle trim or puff sleeve.

“Holly has been hugely successful for us,” Stanton says. “Our biggest ever day online was the first day she launched.” As a result, her latest edit will be rolled out to 70 stores. “Previously it was just our top 32, but we felt this collection was so accessible.”

At a time when high street stores are battling to establish what it takes to steer its digitally driven, Marie Kondo-worshipping customer to the tills, this approach of doing one thing really well should hold M&S in good stead. It’s also one it has invested in for some time. Just ask anyone who’s been pleasantly surprised at the support given by its high-spec sports bras, or been delighted to discover that the lovely but impractical neon zebra-print coat is also available in 10 other, more sensible, shades.

This is because, after some 135 years in business, M&S’s dedication to understanding its customer has led to the conclusion that quality wardrobe staples retain higher value than seasonal impulse purchases, and that basics at their best need not be boring. High-street stores that can churn out trends faster than Instagram’s poster girls can wear them are ten-a-penny. It is M&S’s job to offer a point of difference. Nowhere is this more true than where denim is concerned.

But the emphasis on good jeans also references a more casual mood in the modern woman’s wardrobe. Or as M&S calls it: “hi-lo dressing”. The rest of the looks showcased at today’s event mirror this movement, with sweatshirts layered under suit jackets and tailoring teamed with trainers. It isn’t radical but it is really nice. And isn’t that all we really want from M&S?