by My alarm was set for 7am, laptop was fully charged, coffee was freshly made and my shopping list by my side. I, like thousands of other women across the UK, was primed and ready to shop the most exciting fashion collaboration of the year: M&S x Bella Freud.
I expected it to drop at 8am, but when I opened the M&S homepage at 7.30am on Thursday morning, it was already available to shop. I was lucky enough to get everything I wanted, the pin mini skirt bar, which sold out within minutes as did several other pieces. Who knew those high-end lines were fans of M&S? M&S have clearly done their homework.
It was one of two major high street collaborations launched on Thursday, the other being John Lewis x Mode AWAKE. But by 10am it was clear that one of them was a far greater commercial success than the other. While most of Bella Freud’s slogan knitwear and tailoring had sold out online, all of AWAKE Mode’s avant garde tailoring pieces were still available to shop in all sizes.
As a fashion editor, I saw this coming. In the days leading up to the launch, every woman I met was raving about the Bella Freud collection. There was the a topic of conversation at the office tea station. Friends exchanged messages about what pieces they planned to buy. Various Instagram influencers received items ahead of time, meaning my social media feed was full of models that showed it off. This frisson told me it was going to sell tickets as fast as Taylor Swift, hence my early morning shopping strategy.
Knitting the motto of the thinking woman
In an age where a new fashion collaboration is announced every five minutes, this is rare. I tend not to get caught up in the hype, except for Anya Hindmarch for Uniqlo this time last year. But like many British women, I’ve loved Bella Freud dresses, which cost up to £245, ever since I saw them on Kate Moss and Alexa Chung in the early to mid 2000s.
The designer – great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and daughter of the late artist Lucien Freud – developed a following for her sweaters with slogans that pay homage to the beatnik era. Jane Birkin, the poet Allan Ginsberg and the filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard – they indicate that the wearer of the name is also on these cultural references; the thinking woman’s motto knot.
“Even if you don’t know who Bella Freud is as a designer, you’ll want one of those jumpers, whether you’ve seen one on Kate Moss or Claudia Winkleman. They are for everyone, just like M&S,” says Virginia Norris, co-founder of PR agency Aisle 8, which works with high street giants including Mango, Reiss, Sezane, Missoma, as well as M&S at the time has passed.
“Most high street retailers have logo or wording trousers and sweatshirts that are best sellers year after year, which drives them big,” she explains. “People love logos and being able to wear things that are clearly recognizable and Bella Freud does this on so many levels.”
Taste and direction, but failed to sell out
In contrast, not a soul outside the fashion desk mentioned the AWAKE Mode collaboration to me before it launched. The brand is undeniably cool and has a loyal following, but it may have been too niche of a label for the John Lewis customer to appreciate.
Wearability and price point are also key. There’s nothing too complicated about wearing a jumper or suit – Bella has a good mix of fitted and oversized shapes for M&S, some in cashmere, some in wool, nothing too scary or overpriced £139. Some of the AWAKE Mode pieces are tempting, such as the £149 off-the-shoulder cable-knit red jumper, but the £399 Cape coat was something of a misfire – definitely not the exaggerated shape too big to get on a. fan base in John Lewis?
The AWAKE Mode collaboration and potential sell-out was not invented: it was founded by the British Fashion Council who, celebrating the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week, want to introduce younger contemporary labels to the high street audience – something important. mission.
It’s also a brand positioning opportunity for John Lewis, indicating that its creative team has some flair and direction, but it’s not working. “I love AWAKE Mode,” says Norris. “It’s an insider’s brand and does something completely different for John Lewis in terms of the company’s fashion credentials. [But John Lewis] It needs a more willing collaboration from the crowd right now to get that brand love it deserves.”
This battle of retail institutions comes at a time when the high street is saturated with collaboration. This season alone there are Barbour x Alexa Chung, Cult Gaia x Gap, Roxanda x George at Asda, Clare Waight Keller Reformation jewellery, Tabitha Simmonds x Next, Reiss x Les 100 Ciels, Farm Rio x Adidas… all someone trying to entice customers to buy something worthwhile, and now – these limited edition products may be gone tomorrow.
In the end M&S worked out what customers want
Indeed they are having such a moment, the high street collaborators are also making a comeback: Zara is launching a partywear collection with Kate Moss in November, harkening back to the glory days of 2007, when the a large model with Topshop in an address that closed half of Oxford Street in London.
To stand out now, collaboration needs to tick several boxes: expendability, affordability and desirability. M&S has all that, but the real X-factor with the Bella Freud slogans, the one I sold, is that they’re in the same font as the £300 versions; you can really pass them on as a designer.
“This is a real coup for M&S and a continuation of the brand’s recent fashion trajectory,” says Norris. “They’re working with the right people in fashion and they’re doing really well.”
Alas, they won’t be restocked, M&S tells the Telegraph, which only adds to the appeal. After years of trying and failing to find its fashion feet, the retailer has finally worked out what the customer wants. Now it’s up to John Lewis to try and achieve the same feat.
