Retail news: Marks & Spencer announces FA Collection for the England senior women’s team

Marks & Spencer has announced its debut FA Collection for the England senior women’s team. 
The European Champions continue to inspire multiple generations and change historic perceptions of women’s football. 

UK's Marks and Spencer has been announced as the Official Tailor of the England Senior Women’s Football Team, as it launches the FA Collection. The partnership builds upon the retailer’s longstanding relationship with The Football Association, dating back  2007 when M&S became the Official Suit Supplier to the England Senior Men’s Team. 

The Womenswear collection sees an in-house designed range of versatile, re-imagined tailoring pieces, that will be worn by the England women’s team in the tournament and in their official England team shot.

The collection allows M&S to hero the European Champions as well as what the players and the concept of women’s football stands for and is a celebration of individuality, made to be effortlessly mixed and matched for work, play and everything in between, according to a press release by M&S.

The supporting marketing campaign launches online and in selected stores from 6th July featuring England players Alex Greenwood, Lucy Bronze and Jessica Carter seen wearing a selection of pieces from the collection.
Above, left to right, Alex Greenwood wears tailored blazer, ribbed crew neck cropped top, pleat front relaxed trousers; Lucy Bronze wears tailored blazer, waistcoat and pleat front relaxed trousers; and Jessica Carter wear ribbed scoop neck cropped top and zip-detail straight leg trousers.

Maddy Evans, Director of Womenswear,  says: “We’re incredibly excited and honoured to be dressing the talented and inspiring England Women’s Team on their journey to this year’s most talked about tournament. We wanted to ensure the collection delivered on style and versatility, creating timeless pieces with individual styling was at the forefront of our minds and something that I believe underpins the whole collection. The styling options - dressing the pieces up or down - are endless!”

M&S says its womenswear design team have worked hard to integrate both style and comfort when creating the collection. In a contemporary tonal colour palette of navy and white, the carefully considered collection features smart separates that challenge the traditional idea of ‘power dressing’, and instead encourages an individual approach, styling pieces however one chooses. 

Making the most of the menswear-inspired trend of the moment and layer a waistcoat into a look, the tailored pieces in this new FA Collection are cut in a refined tailored fit, with mock pockets and neat button fastenings. To complete the outfit is a sharp cut single-breasted blazer or on-trend bomber jacket to elevate casual outfits.

Luxe satin shirts and sporty ribbed knitted tops can be effortlessly paired back with slouchy wide-leg trousers, cut to give a flowing silhouette or smart high-waisted tailored shorts that feature practical side pockets. 

Available in-store and on M&S.com, the range provides outfit inspiration to give customers the confidence to style individual pieces for a more relaxed tailored look.

The supporting marketing campaign launches online and in selected stores from 6th July featuring England players Alex Greenwood, Lucy Bronze and Jessica Carter seen wearing a selection of pieces from the collection.

The launch will be supported by an omnichannel marketing campaign across stores, PR, media, digital and social channels.

Anna Braithwaite, Director of Marketing, comments: “The England Women’s teams’ success in recent major tournaments has captured the attention of the nation. Their performance has showcased skill, determination and teamwork inspiring a new generation of footballers – and that's only set to continue throughout the summer. We’re so thrilled to be launching this campaign and collection – the mix and match, versatile approach allows the players to embrace their own unique style off-pitch, creating a confident, empowering and effortlessly stylish look. We couldn’t be prouder to be partnering with the Lionesses. We’ll be behind them every step of the way.”

Images from Marks and Spencer.

Marks & Spencer shortlisted three designers for its Texprint Fashion Textile Award

The winner to be announced at Premiere Vision Designs, Paris on September 20

Lucy Day.  Photo by Lucia Carpio

Lucy Day, pictured left, along with Olivia Qi and Roberta Fox are the three designers who have been shortlisted to compete for the new Marks & Spencer Texprint Fashion Textile Award.

They were selected by relevant heads of design at M&S in a selection process.

The winner of this new award, who will receive £1,000 and a paid three-month internship with the M&S print design team, will be announced at Première Vision Designs in Paris on September 20, along with those of other awards at this year's TEXPRINT competition.

Marks & Spencer has long been a keen supporter and foundation sponsor of Texprint. The new Award, according to Libby Allan, Trend Lead, Womenswear & Lingerie, at M&S, will allow the retailer to establish a relationship with a young designer that they hope will evolve beyond the Award itself.




All trained in Britain, the three shortlisted designers are among the 24 that TEXPRINT has selected following a rigorous interviewing  of over 230 applicants submitted by British colleges and universities at both BA and MA levels.

As in previous years, the 24 TEXPRINT selected designers showcased their work in London at a preview presentation earlier this year in July.

In an interview with TEXPRINT, Allan of M&S said “These days it’s not just about the work but also how the work is presented. When you’re in the industry you have so many people to convince – an ability to present your work effectively becomes really important. Textiles is such a good grounding for a designer because you learn all about texture and colour usage.”

Each year, TEXPRINT showcases 24 design graduates who have shown outstanding skill and artistry in their chosen discipline, and who have impressed the Texprint interview panels with their creativity and desire to succeed in the professional world.  Texprint’s aim is to promote their skills to the industry, to media, and to the related organisations that can help their career launch.

Photos © Lucia Carpio 2017 

Marks & Spencer CEO Marc Bolan to retire amid disappointing Christmas sales

As its general merchandise sales plummeted over the Christmas period, UK’s leading retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced that chief executive Marc Bolland will retire in early April and he will be succeeded by new director of general merchandise Steve Rowe.

General merchandise fell 5.8% on a like-for-like basis in the 13 weeks to 26 December.

On BBC's Radio 4 this morning, Bolan said he informed the board in the summer of 2015 that he was planning to leave in 2016. Bolland said he has completed core tasks such as restructuring the retailer's website in his six-year period at M&S.   He is set to stay in his position until the end of the current financial year.

Bolland said in a statement, "It has been a huge honour to lead one of Britain's most iconic companies." "I am delighted to handover to Steve Rowe as my successor. I have worked closely with Steve for six years and I am convinced that he will be a great leader for Marks and Spencer."

According to financial news reports, the retailer's share price has climbed over 15% under Bolland's regime, although sales in the current financial year have not taken off significantly yet. Merchandise was down 0.4% like-for-like in the first quarter.  M&S shares were up more than 1.5% in early morning trading.

Meanwhile M&S’ clothing rival and UK's second largest retailer - Next - also released disappointing Christmas sales figures earlier in the week while blaming it on unseasonal warm weather.   

“This quarter was unusual in that we didn’t have any cold weeks. There’s not a lot you can do. When it’s warm in winter people don’t buy T-shirts and shorts,” said chief executive Lord Wolfson. 

Next reported Tuesday revenue that missed analysts’ estimates, and, consequently, that profit will come in at the bottom of its forecast range.

Marks and Spencer and Lulu Kennedy collaborate on new capsule collection

Marks and Spencer is launching an exclusive capsule collection by Fashion East and Lulu & Co founder Lulu Kennedy MBE for Indigo Collection, my favourite brand at M&S.

Thus I have high hopes for this new 19-piece range which will hit 33 selective stores across the UK from 15 May 2015, featuring denims, bright Caribbean colours, washed-out fabrics and a selection of global-inspired accessories.

M&S had previously featured Kennedy as one of the celebrities  in its 2014 "Leading Ladies" campaign and referred to Kennedy as the British fashion industry's "Fairy godmother" for her knack of taking unknown designers and turning them into fashion stars through her non-profit venture Fashion East that mentors young talent including launching the careers of Henry Holland, Simone Rocha and Jonathan Saunders.  They are now top stars at London Fashion Week.