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Marks & Spencer affectionately known as M&S
Michael Marks and Tom Spencer established the business in 1894, however hosiery did not appear on the company's inventory lists until the 1920s. The initial items were chiefly camisoles and bloomers, and were promoted to customers who linked M&S with economy and value.
The low prices charged by the company were the result of dealing direct with manufacturers for cash. The St Michael trademark first emerged on pyjamas and knitwear in 1928 and soon became a guarantee of reasonably priced high-quality merchandise.
A core principle of the business early on was to persuade suppliers of the benefits of using the most progressive techniques of production of the day, which allowed Marks & Spencer's to develop and promote new products via collaboration. Such as the invention of a machine for attaching straps to lingerie and consequently vastly increased the company's output.
Marks & Spencer was one of the very first shops to introduce Art Silk garments. The success of the "Artificial Silk Rayon Knicker" led to Art Silk lingerie and nightwear in the thirties, and included French knickers, camiknickers, and slips as well as nightdresses, pyjamas, and dressing gowns.
After WWII, and like many other underwear manufacturers, Marks & Spencer was making extensive use of nylon. Their first nylon slips, briefs, and nightgowns were presented on a sale-or-return basis and by 1954, the company had a huge range of twenty seven assorted types of nylon slips, with notable examples such as, the "superior lace design" and "trimmed applique on lace."
Adjusting to the revolution in fashion during the 1960s, Marks & Spencer again encouraged new manufacturing techniques and modern materials, for example crocheted elastics to produce neater edges. At the same time, it developed new cottons, better satins, and experimented with chiffons and georgettes, in addition to more colours and decorative items.
Lycra had a major impact on lingerie in the 1980s, but Marks & Spencer had already employed it in their "Waistline Brassiere" as early as 1970. As Lycra grew in popularity, M&S intermixed it with natural fibres such as cotton for snug, close-fitting panties. Because its revolutionary impact, designers working for the company experimented more and more widely, resulting with the "highleg" cut on panties and swimwear. Soon, matching sets of bras and briefs were on sale, and taking their bras out of conventional boxed packaging they displayed them on hangers close to the matching "highlegs".
It was during the eighties when Marks & Spencer underwear hit its peak, with vast areas of their shops dedicated to fashion-led lingerie.
Typically a British retailer, Marks & Spencer expanded into the overseas
market, with huge success. The St Michael brand secured an international
reputation, with people of every age and income bracket buying their products.
By the late nineties, 566 Marks & Spencer stores were established
globally and in addition eighty-five St Michael franchises. Marks &
Spencer's American expansion has taken place through the Brooks Brothers'
chain of clothing retailers, which it acquired in 1988.
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