Marks and Spencer has revealed a new clothing collection and a strategy that it hopes will reverse declining sales.
The High Street chain said that its new autumn/winter collection will put “quality and style back” into M&S clothing.
With clothing sales down, analysts and shareholders were awaiting news of M&S’s plans for this key arm of the business.
The group said the launch “will reassert our position as a leading, premium fashion retailer.”
Chief executive Marc Bolland said the new fashion ranges symbolized “a step in the right direction”.
He added: “We want to be very clear that this is a step-by-step approach. “The team will keep on improving. What is important is the direction, and I am very confident that the direction is in style and in quality.”
In April, M&S announced that sales in its general merchandise division, which includes clothing, dropped 3.8 per cent in the first three months of 2013, the seventh quarter in a row they have dropped.
Clothing, where the company still has an 11 per cent share of UK womenswear, has been the weak spot in recent years, despite countless initiatives and appointments of new executives.
M&S said its primary focus would be on improving womenswear with what it vowed would be “significant upgrades” in the quality of the fabric and finish. There would also be a new Best of British range, the group said.
Speaking at the launch, executive director of general merchandise John Dixon said: “It is the culmination of six months of extensive research that has seen us listen to our customers’ views on our brand and build on our heritage.
“This has reinforced that exceptional quality, and confident style should lie at the heart of our clothing proposition and provide the M&S difference that our customers expect from us.
“This is our focus going forward that will reassert our position as a leading, premium fashion retailer,” Mr Dixon added.
Mr Bolland carried out a vast restructuring of executives last year, but vowed that the impact of Tuesday’s strategy would not be felt until after this year’s summer lines, which were put together under the previous system.
Mr Dixon, former head of food at M&S, admitted much of the British high street had “changed at a faster pace than we have” and that the company was now concentrating on listening to consumers’ needs.
Dixon said customer feedback had said M&S “needs to improve its style credentials” – something the new clothing approach is intended to address.
It aims to present a more modern look to the stores, with a 10 per cent reduction in womenswear options and less cluttered stores.
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