After years of falling clothes sales, new collection is make or break for M&S boss Marc Bolland
The most significant detail on the first womenswear range overseen by Belinda Earl, the new style director at Marks & Spencer, isn't the nod-to-Celine sorbet pink of the £85 coat that will hit stores in August, or the very-Victoria-Beckham just-below-the-knee-length dresses, or the on-trend kilt-styling of a tartan skirt.
In fact, it isn't visible at all, until you look at the inside of the clothes, and find that the overlocked seams usual on mass-produced clothing, and used by M&S until now, have been replaced by French seams in which the raw edges have been fully enclosed. The bold fashion message on which Belinda Earl is pinning her hopes of turning around the fortunes of Britain's biggest clothing retailer is about quality, not trend.
Earl's decision to pursue higher standards rather than high fashion is a big moment for M&S. While rivals Next and Primark are growing their sales, M&S is struggling – and its chief executive, Marc Bolland, hired three years ago with a £15m golden hello, is on the ropes.
M&S's clothing sales have been in decline for almost two years and if these new ranges don't fly off the rails his job will be on the line. Shareholders have given him until this winter to show his turnaround plan can work. There have even been rumours that an overseas buyer, possibly from the Middle East, will move in on the business.
Last night, the retailer revealed the collections to City analysts. Their reaction was just as important as that of the fashion press, which was given an early view. "We spent months in focus groups talking to customers," said Earl, "and the message was very clear. Women want quality, and they are encouraging us to reassert our leadership in bringing that to the high street. Often with focus groups you have to spend a long time unpicking the findings to work out what people are trying to say, but what was remarkable was how consistent the message was. Of course they want style, they want to look modern and relevant – we all do these days. But they still care about quality."
Earl, the former head of Debenhams and Jaeger hired to breathe new life into the ailing M&S clothing business, selects as her personal favourite from the collection an off-white single-breasted cashmere coat. At £229 it is far from cheap, but with the quality of fabric, fit and finish bearing up well in comparison with designer coats priced in five figures, it represents value for money for a customer prepared to invest.
The premium Autograph range, which had shuffled confusingly close to the main collection out of fear of higher price points, will now be premium once again: "Three-quarters of the fabrics in Autograph have been upgraded," says Earl. Cashmere in the main collection has been upweighted by 9% – but the price will be lowered by an average of £4 an item by ordering more and selling cashmere in more stores.
Bolland's future is now in Earl's hands – and those of the former head of the M&S food business, John Dixon. The store's upmarket food range, unlike its fashion, has been performing well. In January, Bolland also hired a new head of lingerie – Janie Schaffer from US chain Victoria's Secret – but she quit last month after falling out with Bolland.
In an industry driven by a constant desire for newness and a dizzying merry-go-round of trends, relying on relatively under-the-hood tinkering to turn around a crisis of the scale of the one facing M&S – which has reported a fall in clothing sales for seven consecutive seasons and is set to unveil a second consecutive year of declining annual profits next week – is a brave move.
But Earl insists the strategy "plays to the strengths of M&S. The quality of the shopping experience – from the shopfloor to how the clothes last – is what our heritage is all about. It's our DNA."
At ground level, the way the clothes are displayed is being updated to reflect how women now shop. There will be more outfits on mannequins, showing outfit ideas, and fewer crowded racks. "Three weeks ago we launched a 'Fashion Academy' so that the fashion messaging behind the collections is explained to the sales assistants, so that they can help customers."
Behind the scenes, M&S is trying to update its out-of-date distribution systems, which still rely on shop assistants counting clothes on the shop rails to assess stock levels. Three giant new clothing warehouses are being built so that online orders don't have to be gathered from 50 warehouses around the country before they can be sent. But the new behind-the-scenes systems won't help M&S if shoppers don't like the clothes.
Earl has overseen a leaner edit of catwalk trends. There are fewer pieces directly inspired by catwalk standouts, and more items designed with "wardrobe-building" in mind. "Our prints had become a little garish," admits Frances Russell, trading director for M&S womenswear, "so we have toned them down a little this season. We are thinking in a holistic way about what the customer already has in her wardrobe – monochrome pieces from last winter, for instance – and building on those."
Functionality and fit are as central to the notion of quality as fabric. "High heel tights" with a gel pad in the ball of the foot are a genuine lightbulb moment, while a "no-peep" white blouse with added buttons is a no-brainer. A washable silk blouse for £60, from the Autograph range, is a sound investment.
Success in womenswear is vital for M&S, because giving women a shopping buzz has a "halo effect" on homewares, childrenswear, food and menswear. Earl aims not only to shore up the traditionally strong categories of trousers, knitwear and underwear but to extend reach into coats and dresses, both of which are strong in this collection.
It remains to be seen whether customers deliver on their promise to prioritise quality over a fast fashion fix. But if they do – and it's a big if – this collection could be a high street gamechanger.