Marks & Spencer taps Aries to revive historic St Michael label Leave a comment
Marks & Spencer is partnering with London luxurious streetwear label Aries on a 26-piece assortment that reworks its historic St Michael label following renewed curiosity on social media and resale platforms.
The M&S x Aries limited-edition capsule, launching on 20 August, will characteristic womenswear, menswear and equipment, with costs starting from £10 for socks and £30 for a Spencer Bear T-shirt, to £120 for a silk costume.
In response to the retailer, Aries has reinterpreted the heritage label’s design codes, infusing the brand new vary with its personal distinctive visible language to to create a group that “feels wealthy in heritage but unmistakably up to date”.
The gathering blends the heritage of the St Michael label with trendy streetwear, pulling from the label’s archive – together with its crests, angel motif and the Penny Bazaar imagery and iconic Spencer Bear – alongside Aries’ signature codes, together with gothic lettering, Ionic columns, Roman cash and the model’s Temple brand.
The ensuing vary combines each tailoring and sportswear items, that includes striped shirts, ties, pinstripe tailoring, tracksuits, hoodies, graphic sweatshirts, knitwear, slip attire and an identical cardigan and temporary set.
The collaboration additionally extends to equipment, together with a gentle inexperienced leather-based purse (priced at £90) that recreates the form and look of a well-known M&S service bag, in addition to brooches and hair clips.
The retailer stated the partnership responds to renewed curiosity within the St Michael label throughout social media and resale platforms, the place classic items have attracted youthful consumers.
A fast search on Vinted reveals over 500 search outcomes for ‘Saint Michael’, with attire, footwear, coats and skirts accessible on the market for round £25.
In response to Aries founder and Artistic Director Sofia Prantera, the gathering attracts on private ties that she has with M&S. Prantera, who began the streetwear label out of a love of trash tradition, outsider artwork, graphics and illustration, stated that “M&S was a part of household life.
“Each summer season we’d go to from Italy, and it was the place I purchased my lambswool jumpers. Working with the archive introduced again loads of these reminiscences,” she stated.
“A few of my favorite items within the assortment come from private references. Spencer Bear was gifted to me by my grandmother once I was a baby, so it was enjoyable to reintroduce him in an sudden means. The collaboration gave us a chance to revisit issues that felt genuinely acquainted and have a look at them via a special lens.
“M&S is a real British establishment that has performed a task in so many individuals’s lives and reminiscences. To be invited to work with such an iconic model, and to deliver our personal perspective to its heritage, has been an actual privilege.”
Maddy Evans, Womenswear Director at M&S, added: “While Aries and M&S come from completely different corners of the style world, each manufacturers have constructed sturdy identities via distinctive design codes and a loyal following.
“Bringing these worlds collectively created a chance to supply one thing acquainted but completely recent, translating Aries’ iconic inventive handwriting via the lens of St Michael and making it accessible to a broader viewers at a high-street worth level.”
St Michael label historical past
The St Michael label was first launched throughout M&S clothes in 1928 by the son of the retailer’s co-founder Michael Marks, and it remained one of many retailer’s fundamental own-brand labels throughout clothes, equipment and homewares till it was discontinued in 2000.
It briefly returned on two menswear merchandise – a males’s rugby shirt and sweatshirt – in 2021, however the Aries collaboration marks the right return of the label.
The brand new collaboration can be accessible via the M&S web site and chosen shops.
The capsule arrives as M&S marks 100 years of style in 2026, with the retailer additionally getting ready for its London Trend Week debut in September, the place it should current a shoppable womenswear and menswear assortment.
