Today, M&S has announced it is welcoming contemporary fashion and lifestyle brands, Hush and Whistles to its ‘Brands at M&S’ online platform this season, as the retailer continues to go after growth in womenswear and drive style perceptions.
Hush and Whistles are the first dedicated womenswear brands to launch on the ‘Brands at M&S’ platform this year. They will introduce more than 300 new season womenswear products to M&S.com including day dresses, trend-forward denim, boho-style blouses, coords, outerwear, and a selection of bags, heels and sandals. The range will also include an exclusive 12-piece collection from Hush, which offers effortless summer separates and Hush’s best-selling barrel leg jean in leopard print, available only on M&S.com.
As M&S continues to reshape for growth, it has focused on continuing to drive style perceptions (+6ppts vs LY) whist extending its authoritative lead in quality and value. Now, as the retailer holds its highest market share in womenswear for years (10.4%), it is continuing to go after growth. Womenswear is a top performing category within ‘Brands at M&S’, making up nearly half (49%) of sales in the last 12 months, with sales +18% vs last year. Hush and Whistles will bolster the existing offer of stylish womenswear brands and sit alongside Chinti & Parker, Baukjen and Nobody’s Child, which was the first third-partner brand to launch at M&S in 2020, bringing the total number to 26.
As M&S continues to be more relevant, more often to customers, M&S will once again be welcoming back Nobody’s Child pop-up shops to store for the Spring Summer season. Last year, over 100k customers shopped the brand in store, so this year, the retailer is not only welcoming the brand back to stores which proved particularly popular – such as Trafford Manchester – but also expanding its store footprint to a further 28 new store locations including Kew, Merry Hill and Braehead, bringing the total number of M&S stores the brand is available in to 56. The 500ft pop-up shops will offer a capsule collection of 40 pieces from Nobody’s Child’s SS25 collection, including a mix of signature dresses, tops, blouses and trousers.
Nishi Mahajan, director of Third-Party Brands, Clothing & Home at M&S, said: “Four years ago we introduced a small selection of third-party womenswear brands to M&S and today, it continues to be our best performing category. We’re continuing to listen and learn from our customers; we know that in womenswear, they want highly credible, fashion-led brands which complement and enhance our core offer at M&S. We’re confident the arrival of Hush and Whistles as well as the return of our Nobody’s Child pop-up shops, will ensure we are the destination for womenswear this season as we continue to drive style perceptions and grow market share. I’m particularly excited to introduce our exclusive collection with Hush, offering customers effortlessly stylish pieces that can’t be found anywhere else.”
The ‘Brands at M&S’ online platform has now grown to over 100 third-party brands. The carefully curated approach is driving new customers – welcoming over 1 million to the platform in the last year – with 3 in 4 Brands customers also choosing to shop the core womenswear offer at M&S.
Hush will be available to shop on the ‘Brands at M&S’ platform on M&S.com from 12 March, followed by the arrival of Whistles in April.
