List of Marks & Spencer brands


The following list of Marks & Spencer brands details the various brand names under which retailer Marks & Spencer sells or has sold its present and former product lines over the years.

Product line history

St. Michael

St Michael is a brand that was owned and used by Marks & Spencer from 1928.
The brand was introduced by Simon Marks in 1928, after his father and co-founder of Marks & Spencer, Michael Marks. By 1950, virtually all goods were sold under the St Michael brand. M&S lingerie, women's clothing and girls' uniform were branded under the St Margaret brand, until the whole range of general merchandise became St Michael.
In 2000, Marks & Spencer shifted to the Marks & Spencer brand. The St Michael name was subsequently adopted as a 'quality guarantee' and appeared as the St Michael Quality Promise on the back of food products, on the side of delivery vehicles and on in-store ordering receipts. The St Michael Quality Promise was phased out a few years ago .
Marks & Spencer were selling clothes under the St Margaret and St Michael label by the mid-1950s and launched their school uniforms in the early 1950s, but these would be shifted toward brands such as Autograph in the 2000s.

Major product lines

The company put its main emphasis on quality, including a 1957 stocking size measuring system. For most of its history, it has also had a reputation for offering fair value for money.
The synthetic fibre Tricell was first used in 1957 and lasted until the 1970s and another synthetic fibre called Courtelle was first launched nationally by Marks & Spencer during 1960 and also lasted well into the 1970s. Machine washable wool first appeared in 1972 and Lycra hosiery first came in during 1986.
M&S launched their own brands of domestic products, such as washing powder and aluminium foil in 1972, under the brand name of 'House-care'.
M&S has sold Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings since 1958. In an effort to improve the quality of their Swiss rolls, they hired the food expert Nat Goldberg, who made a major improvement across their entire cake range, which had lost the public's favour a few years earlier. As a later measure to improve food quality food labelling was improved and "sell by dates" were phased in between 1970 and 1972.
Boil-in-the-bag and sachet meals were first pioneered by M&S in 1972 and the award-winning Gastropub food range was launched in 2004. The 'Melting middle chocolate pudding' campaign of 2005 led to a remarkable 3,000% rise in chocolate pudding sales, something that has not re-occurred since.
The successful Autograph brand was launched in 2000 and was originally meant to be for men, but had now moved on to cover children and women by 2005. The 1996–1997 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was the first of numerous new brands, most of which were in feminine and children's clothes. The 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was part of the inspiration behind the 'Portfolio' brand. The men's Autograph brand was then launched in 2000 and continues to this day.
The Percy Pigs sweets were first created in 1995 and the billionth "Percy Pig" sweet was sold by the October 2007.
M&S's relatively successful interior design 'Homeware' brand was launched in 2005 and renamed 'Home' in 2006. It features products like vases, furniture, beds etc.
Plus range maternity – larger sizes of maternity clothes – were absorbed into the already existing 'Limited Collection Maternity', under the name of 'M&S Maternity' in 2008 to simplify administration.
The women's 'Perfect' and 'Essential' sub-brands were largely relaunched in 2009 as the 'Portfolio' range, but with out the high end designer blouses. Perfect still operates in men's rain coats and cookware. Perfect was relaunced in January 2010 as a seasonal sub-brand of Portfolio.

The firm's major clothing lines

M&S markets its major adult clothes ranges under the following brand names:

Limited collection

Per Una

Per Una is a range of younger female's clothing sold at M&S stores, launched on 28 September 2001 as a joint venture between M&S and Next founder George Davies. The brand name means for one in Italian. All Per Una items include the three hearts logo, inspired by a postcard seen by Davies while on holiday in Italy.
The Per Una brand has been a major success for the company, and in October 2004, M&S bought the brand in a £125 million, two-year service contract with George Davies. Davies was to stay on for at least two years to run the company, with 12 months notice required if he wished to leave.
The teenagers' line called Per Una Due was launched in early 2004, but sales were poor and it was discontinued in May 2004, while the adult lines flourished by 2010.
The Designer Discount brand was relaunched in the festive season 2008–2009 as Buy me now or lose me forever – limited stock.

Planned new Per Una sub-brands

M&S also announced it was planning to take over Twiggy's Twiggy international label during the winter of 2010 and merge it into Per Una.

North Coast

Portfolio

Portfolio
This is aimed at the core 40–55 businesswoman. It is meant to offer all that is close to her feminine side. The shoes, trouser suits, blouses and frocks will be UK sourced and the T-shirts will involve fair trade cotton from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has incorporated some products from the former Perfect and Essential sub-brands. Portfolio Cashmere had absorbed the other male and female M&S cashmere jumper lines. Portfolio recently began to issue Speziale fashion trousers and Jeggings in a final bid for customers in late 2010 The Portfolio brand is currently being phased out.

Indigo Collection

The Indigo collection
This is a new range, aimed at the core, 18–25, feminine casual-comfortable type. It is meant to offer all that is close to her feminine side. The shoes, trousers and jeans will be UK and Bangladeshi-sourced and the T-shirts will involve fair trade cotton from Senegal, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Beachwear may be added to the list if the success continues.
It has a sub-brand product range called Denim which deals with women's jeans.
Babywear was reduced to woolly hats, gloves, socks and bed linen after its baby clothes, blanket sleepers, Romper suits, cot blankets, babies' bibs, non-woolly hats, socks and cot linen were turned into the Indigo Baby line in January 2011.

Autograph

Autograph
Autograph celebrated its tenth birthday in January 2010.

Marks and Spencer

Linen shop is the department in larger stores which sells the various linen articles listed above along with some linen items from other lines and brands.

Classic Collection

Classic collection
This is a new seasonal range, aimed at the core 55+ retired woman. It is meant to offer all that is close to her feminine side. The shoes, skirts, blouses and frocks will be UK sourced and the T-shirts will involve fair trade cotton from India and Pakistan. It has 'Seasonal Classics' and 'Summer Classics' lines.

Blue Harbour

Blue Harbour is Britain's largest men's casuals brand, and includes the sub-brands Heritage, Luxury and Golf.

Other clothing lines

Other adult only clothes lines

M&S markets its miscellaneous and specialist adult clothes ranges under the following product ranges:
BrandLineCustomer genderProductsSource
Sportsware–FemaleCasual feminine sportswear
Bridal –FemaleWedding clothes–
Love Life, love leisure–FemaleCasual feminine sportswear-
Petite Collection –WomenSmall clothes–
Love Pink–WomenM&S periodically markets charitable clothes for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
M&S Maternity –FemaleMaternity clothes
Ceriso–WomenLingerie, night clothes and hosiery
Body-WomenLingerie, night clothes and hosiery
Post surgical, maternity and sporting-WomenAs their name suggests, it is a line of post surgical, maternity and sporting bras.
Stormwear–unisexWater-repellent clothing, includes denim, shorts, chinos, coats, footwear, thermal gloves and suits–
Big & Tall -MaleLarger sized clothing only available from marksandspencer.com–
Long & Tall -FemaleLarger sized clothing only available from marksandspencer.com–
Ultimate-MaleHigh end suits, trousers, shirts, ties and blazers
Ultimate-FemaleLingerie and hosiery
Brazil's–WomenBrazils and Tangas
Occasions-FemalePosh hats, bags and scarves-
Collette headed by Collette Dinnigan –FemaleSexy lingerie and nightwear
Cool & Fresh-MaleUnderwear and socks that keep one cool and fresh by absorbing excess moisture on the skin-
Climate Control–MaleUnderwear, hats and socks that keep one cool in the summer and warm in the winter using technology from NASA–
Wearing the waste-UnisexCoats and bags made out of recycled plastic bottles–
Collezione–MenFormal, Italian inspired clothing
The Sartorial Collection–MenFormal suits, inspired by Saville Row

Miami Issue
M&S Maternity
Perfect
Plus range maternity
Thermal luxury
Ultimate
Adored
Katy Livingston
The Zandra Rhodes collection
Party, Party, Party!
Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Essential
Plus range maternity
Limited Collection Maternity
Tailoring
Floor 1 discount brands
M&S markets its miscellaneous and specialist childrenswear under the following brand names:
BrandLineCustomer genderProductsSource
Skiware–UnisexChildren's ski wear
Essential-Value-Essential-Quality–UnisexChildren's cheap, utilitarian 'good value' clothes
'Living the Dream'-BoysThe successful 'Living the Dream' children's range of Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and Jenson Button memorabilia and merchandise
Bridal and confirmation –GirlsBridal and confirmation clothes–
World Cup\Football Shop–BoysPeriodical World cup and general footballing merabilia and merchandise for kids
School–UnisexSchool uniform, belts and bags.
Fair trade–UnisexFair trade cotton socks from India, Morocco, Bulgaria and Senegal.–
Dress-up–UnisexFancy dress
My Baby Mini World-UnisexNewborn size children's clothes
Character shop–UnisexChildren's cartoon heros' story books, merchandise and character clothing, etc.

Living the dream
World Cup
Plus fit
Party, Party, Party!
Ready to play
Sleep
Casual
Partyware
Denim
The Shirt-sleeve empire
Both Sleepwear, Twinkle toes, Casual Junior, The Shirt-sleeve empire, Partyware and Occasionwear were all merged into either Occasions, Indigo Junior or Autograph Junior over the Festive season of 2010–2011.

Other babywear lines

M&S markets its miscellaneous and specialist babywear under the following brand names:
Babywear was reduced to woolly hats, gloves, socks and bed linen- after its baby clothes, blanket sleepers, Romper suits, cot blankets, babies' bibs, non-woolly hats, socks and cot linen were turned in the Indigo Baby line, along with Romper-suit republic and Fashion in the January 2011.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer

M&S periodically markets charitable clothes for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
April 2013 saw the M&S lingerie chief, Janie Schaffer, quit after only months in the job.
15 May 2013 saw the launch of the 'Best of British range' as well as the overhaul of Per Una and Indigo.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne – currently M&S's corporate director of strategy implementation and business development became the new marketing director and wii succeed Steven Sharp in July. Mark Bolland also vowed to bring "quality and style back"
The chain already has 20 UK suppliers and is looking to increase that number.

Shoes

Men
Women
Unisex
Men
Women
Unisex
Skincare
Make Up
Bath & Body

Interior design, kitchen equipment, bedding and furnishings

Other products

Technology
In 2006 the company launched a range of domestic technology products. Over thirty-six stores offered this range. Additional services offered included television installation and technical help.
Satnav technology was launched in January 2010–
M&S Energy
In 2008 the company launched M&S Energy providing Electricity and Gas for the Home. This was followed in February 2010 with Home Insulation.

Own branded food stuffs

BrandLineProductsSource
Count on us–Diet food in general–
The cook range-Multi-ethinic Takeaway meals.-
The cook rangeCook ChineseReady-made Chinese takeaways.–
The cook rangeCook IndiaReady-made Indian and takeaways.–
The cook rangeCook EastReady-made Thai takeaways.–
Count on usSimply Fuller, LongerSpecifically designed diet food to help you either lose or maintain weight.
Simply Kids–Kids' biscuits, sweets and cakes–
Gastropub–ready meals inspired by pub cuisine for home cooking
GastropubBistro rangeBistro inspired ready meals.-
GastropubLunchtogoUpmarket and businessmens' grab bag and packed lunch meals..
Wise Buys–Discount and value food–
Fair trade–Fair trade food, tea, coffee and wine–
Free range-free-range eggs, Oakham chicken and field-bred pork.
Percy Pig and Penny Pig/Colin the Caterpillar–Percy Pig and Penny Pig/Colin Caterpillar sweets

Major brands

Free range
Gastropub
Percy Pig
Percy Pigs is a popular brand of pig-shaped raspberry-flavoured confectionery made under licence in Germany for Marks & Spencer. The sweets first appeared in stores in the mid-1990s. The name "Percy Pig" has now been trademarked by Marks & Spencer. More than £10,000,000 was grossed between June 2009 and 2010 in Percy Pig sales in Marks & Spencer's UK branches alone. They are made up of just under 3.5% fruit juice.
Percy Pigs were created in 1995 and were sold in strawberry and raspberry flavours. Until 2008, Percy Pigs were available in 100, 200 and 400 grams. The packaging has not changed size, but the middle size now contains 170 grams and the large size now contains 340 grams. There is also the related Colin the Caterpillar sweet that was first launched in the festive season of 2008–2009.

Alcohol

M&S has an extensive wine and beer range, which was first started in 1973.
In 2006 and 2007, M&S entered over a hundred of its own wines into two wine competitions, The Decanter World Wine Awards and The International Wine Challenge. Both years, almost every wine won an award, ranging from the 2005 Secano Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile to the Rosada Cava.
The gift shop sells cut flowers, greetings cards, Christmas hampers, jewellery, watches and upmarket chocolates. The 'Christmas gifts and ideas shop' is the Christmas version and sells gifts, toys and Christmas decorations. The online flower service was accused of unfair trading and using Google to piggy-back advertise on online searches aimed at Interflora online in 2010.

M&S BANK

Formerly M&S Money, M&S has offered financial services including ISAs, loans, credit cards, car insurance and holiday insurance through its financial services department since the 1980s. Since mid-2012 M&S has also offered two monthly paid for current account options. The current accounts offer a contactless Visa debit card designed by Conran, rewards and benefits including travel insurance, hot drinks vouchers and access to a high interest savings account.

M&S Energy

M&S Energy launched in 2008, in partnership with SSE. In 2018, M&S Energy switched from SSE to Octopus Energy

M&S TV and online services

Products could be ordered online since the mid-2000s, in response to some like Tesco launching their pioneering Tesco.com home shopping delivery service in the early 2000s. Tesco, M&S and others are expanding rapidly into this new niche market.
M&S TV is an online TV station to advertise goods.
The online flower service was accused of unfair trading and using Google to piggy-back advertise on online searches aimed at Interflora online in 2010.
The John Lewis shopping chain beat M&S to the title of the UK's best high-street website by late 2010.

Former clothing ranges and product types

Old labels

'St Margaret', 'St Michael' and 'Homecare' brands were the time-honoured brand labels that fell out of use in the company wide re-branding campaign of the early 2000s. The stylish 1996–1997 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was the first of numerous new brands, most of which were in women's and children's clothes. The 'Orient Express Tagged' brand was revived in 2007 as the year long 'Orient Express Platform 10' brand and was part of the inspiration behind the 'Portfolio' brand. The men's Autograph brand was then launched in 2000 and continues to this day.
'Plus range maternity – larger sizes of maternity clothes were absorbed into the already existing 'Limited Collection Maternity', under the name of 'M&S Maternity' in 2008 to simplify administration.
The women's 'Perfect' and 'Essential' sub-brands were largely relaunched in 2009 as the 'Portfolio' range, but with out the high end designer blouses. Perfect still operates in men's rain coats and cookware. Perfect was relaunced in January 2010 as a seasonal sub-brand of Portfolio.
Sir Stuart Rose axed both the ailing casual menswear brand SP Clothing, the View From sportswear range, the David Beckham children's range, DB07 clothes, the teenage range Per Una Due and several food lines in 2004, because he thought the business' stock inventory management had become 'too complicated'
The retailer had launched several brands, sub-brands and line of womenswear and Childrenswear in recent years such as Indigo Collection Junior, Indigo Collection and Portfolio. Indigo Collection aimed at women over 30s, while Portfolio 45s. Overall, M &S has ten womenswear sub-brands and sub-sub-brands, such as Per Una and Autograph, but only six menswear brands, such as Blue Harbour, North Coast and Collezione by 2010.

The 2008-9 restructuring plan

As part of the 2008-9 restructuring plan, nine sub-brands deemed to be unprofitable, unnecessary or superfluous were either discontinued, merged or relaunched in 2008, with further activity, including some store closures, occurring in both 2009 and 2010.
M&S also began to sell other branded goods like Kellogg's Corn Flakes from November 2008. and may ditch its own branded food in 2011 due to poor turn over beyond the 'Food to go', 'Lunchtogo' and 'Gastropub' lines.

The 2010 product audit

Another review and re-branding exercise was planned for late 2010 and 2011 after several years of declining sales in the womenswear department as born out by an audit conducted by the firm the Retail Knowledge Bank in the August 2010.
'PU Active' was a brief foray by Per Una into the casual sportswear lines in the September 2010, but it was scrapped during its infancy by the October due to poor sales figures.

The '2011 brand cull'

had considered axing several brands in early 2011 after an audit by the Retail Knowledge Bank in the August 2010, revealed that sales of M&S womenswear were at a ten-year low. The audit covered both the Limited Collection, Autograph, Autograph Weekend, Classic Collection, Per Una, Portfolio and Indigo.
In the summer of 2010, Draper magazine claimed that Per Una was the only clothing brand that was not at risk of being axed in Mr Bolland's shake-up of the plethora of clothing brands sold at M&S. Per Una was planned to stay due to its successful and distinctive flair, but Portfolio and Indigo were planned go due to poor sales. The Limited Collection, Autograph, Autograph Weekend, Classic Collection brands were being considered for the cull during mid-2010, but were later given a reprieve.
It was revealed in the November 2010, that there would be a major 3 year UK store revamp, which would cost between £850,000,000 and £900,000,000 and a cull of what Mr Bolland called "the often confusing" store layouts and "indistinguishable brands".
M&S also announced it was planning to take over Twiggy's Twiggy international label some during the winter 2010–2011.

The May–August 2011 Corporate revamp

Fashion guru Sara Bradley was reported in March as planning to take a 'senior role' within M&S's clothing business by mid-2011. The official goal was to be better at food than supermarkets and better at clothes and general merchandise than department stores.
Alison Jones, who is the daughter of Sir David Jones, joined M&S on 2 June, as the new brand director for general merchandise, under the leadership of marketing director Steve Sharp. She had gained previous experience at Topshop and Debenhams. The role has been created to give a more cohesive approach to M&S's branding and help develop and co-ordinate the brand and strategy for M&S's clothing division.

May 2013 revamp

15 May 2013 saw the launch of the 'Best of British' range as well as the overhaul of Per Una and Indigo.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne – currently M&S's corporate director of strategy implementation and business development became the new marketing director and will succeed Steven Sharp in July. Mark Bolland also vowed to bring back "quality and style"

The new 2017 seasonal collections

The 'Best of British' range had been discontinued by 2017.
Several new lines had started.
  1. Autumn 17 Preview
  2. Flattering Sleeves
  3. The Holiday Shop
  4. Occasionwear
  5. Online Exclusives
  6. Wedding Outfit Inspiration
  7. The White Collection
  8. Wedding Shop
  9. Altum collection

    The new 2017 seasonal collections

'The White Collection' was discontinued by mid 2018.
A new line was started.
  1. M&S Collection