100 years of M&S Fashion

There are few names quite as woven into the British wardrobe as Marks & Spencer. From school uniforms and underwear to that coat everyone suddenly wants, M&S has spent a century dressing the nation. Now, for the first time, it is taking its place on the official London Fashion Week runway.

Today, 18 September, M&S will stage its debut London Fashion Week show at London's Design Museum, celebrating 100 years since the retailer first began selling clothing in 1926.
And rather than attempting to reinvent itself as something it isn't, M&S is looking back at exactly what made it successful in the first place.

The new womenswear and menswear collection has been created by the brand's 116 UK-based designers, who delved into the enormous M&S Archive in Leeds — home to more than 72,000 pieces of the company's history — for inspiration.

The result is less nostalgic remake and more clever reworking of the M&S wardrobe.
Think the 1960s twinset brought into 2026, wide-legged denim referencing the seventies, eighties-inspired velvet tailoring and a tan leather borg jacket taking its cues from an original St Michael design. There is also the beautifully simple combination of black tuxedo and crisp white shirt, recalling the tailoring worn by Christy Turlington for M&S during the 1990s.

Lingerie — something M&S has arguably made its own over generations — also moves out from underneath the clothes, with lace bodies and camisoles styled as part of the main collection.
But perhaps the most M&S thing about its Fashion Week debut is that you don't have to wait six months — or spend designer money — to wear any of it.

This is a see-now, buy-now runway. The collection will be available immediately following the show, with half priced below £50. It will be sold online and through ten flagship stores across the UK and Ireland, including Leeds Briggate — giving the North a direct connection to the collection as it lands.
And that accessibility feels important.

London Fashion Week has traditionally existed several steps away from what most of us actually wear. M&S arriving on the schedule brings something very different: clothes designed to work beyond the runway, at prices that put much of the collection within reach.

It also arrives at an interesting moment for the retailer. M&S says the number of under-35s shopping its fashion offer has increased 16% year-on-year, while its share of the UK fashion market reached 10.2% in FY26.
For a brand celebrating its 100th year in fashion, that perhaps tells the bigger story.
M&S doesn't need to become the newest name at London Fashion Week.
It may just need to remind everyone why it has lasted long enough to get there.

The full collection will be available through M&S’ 46 direct-to-consumer websites, while customers across the UK and Ireland will be able to shop it online and through ten flagship stores, including locations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow and Dublin.

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