Marks & Spencer will make its debut at London Fashion Week in September, staging a catwalk show to mark its 100th anniversary in the fashion industry. The move places the high-street retailer alongside luxury labels such as Burberry and Alexander McQueen, and signals how far it has come in shedding its long-standing reputation for "frumpiness". It matters because it caps a striking turnaround in which M&S has repositioned itself as a fashion destination for younger shoppers rather than a byword for basics.

Chief executive Stuart Machin, who took over in 2022, said the show would put the brand on "fashion's global stage"; it will be livestreamed and, unusually, the collections will be available to buy immediately. The revival has been driven by trend-led monthly drops, affordable takes on designer looks that go viral on TikTok, celebrity ambassadors including Gillian Anderson and Claudia Winkleman, and collaborations with figures such as Sienna Miller. M&S now holds just over 10% of national clothing sales and has 12 million female customers, recovering from dropping out of the FTSE 100 in 2019 and a damaging 2025 cyber-attack.