The Interview: M&S Menswear Director talks F1 partnerships, Autograph growth, Good Move relaunch and star-studded ambassadors

Last month saw Marks & Spencer announce it had agreed a “multi-year partnership” to dress the Atlassian Williams Formula 1 Racing Team to and from races with its Autograph Performance collection - kicking off with 24 races in 21 countries across the F1 2026 calendar.

Then, last week it announced another motorsport partnership, this time with Silverstone Circuit. That will see M&S take a prominent role across Silverstone’s annual calendar of events – including a “world-class programme” of live entertainment, immersive experiences and interactive activities for fans across the four-day Formula 1 Pirelli British Grand Prix from 2-5 July 2026. Up to 60,000 fans will gather each night at the M&S Stage for “show-stopping performances” from some of the world’s leading chart-topping artists.

Of course, it’s not the first time that M&S has targeted sports to build cultural relevance, having maintained a long-standing partnership with the English Football Association dating back to 2007, when M&S became the official suit supplier to the England men’s team. With a World Cup this summer across the US, Mexico and Canada, that relationship with the FA is set to be reunited as England once again hunts for glory on the world stage, though in what capacity remains to be seen.

There’s also been a distinct focus on M&S’s Autograph mainline, including signing ‘This City is Ours’ actor James Nelson-Joyce as its latest brand ambassador in August last year. The rapid growth of Autograph menswear - quadrupling in value over the past three years and now accounting for nearly a quarter of M&S menswear sales - has helped to amplify M&S's presence across over 70 global markets.

Marks & Spencer Menswear Director Mitch Hughes tells TheIndustry.fashion all about the plans and his M&S journey so far...

How long have you been in the role of Menswear Director at M&S?

I actually started my career at M&S in 1997. I came up through the ranks in stores and then worked at the HQ, which was in Baker Street in London at the time. I left as a buyer in 2004. So, to come back into M&S three years ago as Menswear Director is a nice story for me personally. I’d had various roles across the UK with other brands in the 20 or so years in between, having left M&S for Matalan - with value retailing booming at that time. I was there for 10 years, leaving as Trading Director across all clothing and home. I then went to work for the Arcadia Group, ending up as Managing Director of Topman. Following that, I worked for Boohoo Group, running Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton for 18 months before returning to M&S.

Over the three years I’ve been back in the business, I’ve tried to return to what we used to do in terms of innovation, quality, value and style. Subsequently, the trajectory of menswear has been really strong. The high street has changed massively since I left M&S in 2004, and I think there’s a huge gap in menswear - that’s the exciting part of this job. We’re able to pitch in an area where men are trading down from premium brands into Autograph, because we’re offering similar designs and style but with great value.

What strengths does M&S have to help increase its market share?

The beauty of M&S is the customer insight unit we have in-house. It really helps my team and my suppliers. One of the first things we did when I came back in was to really focus on feedback from men, as both womenswear and M&S Food were doing really well. We did a lot of research around the male customer - finding out what he wanted, how he shopped, and what his wardrobe was for work and for the weekend. Since that has been embedded within the team, we’ve really seen a trajectory.

Also, the three big things that came through as important to our customers were Formula 1, football and cooking. We’ve now really responded to that with the partnership with Williams Racing. It’s the first time we’ve launched into F1. We’re trying to grow our global presence as well, so obviously it’s fantastic from an international point of view to be able to dress their F1 team with travel and special event options from our Autograph Performance collection.

Will that be carried through regarding Williams Racing associated product for customers as well going forward?

As we move forward with the partnership, we’ll look into that. The first point is to dress the team and then the partnership will build. We know Williams Racing is a strong brand, and our men’s customers particularly respond well to brands, so it’s something we intend to follow through on.

How has the Autograph Performance collection that launched last October been received so far?

It’s been doing well. We’ve seen Autograph perform very well in general over the last two years and we brought Performance in to really respond to that kind of day-to-night lifestyle look, incorporating commuting and travel. A lot of my new team have come from premium brands, and they’ve brought their global experience with them. The great thing about M&S is that we can buy premium fabrics from the best mills and then offer them to our customers, but still with our value credentials.

The Autograph Performance collection is now available in 10 stores and online. It revolves around that kind of mix-and-match wardrobe, such as Merino wool pieces, smart separates, lightweight Harrington jackets, Supima cotton T-shirts, elasticated-waist trousers, as well as four-way stretch, breathable and moisture-wicking fabrics. It’s very much based around key commercial pieces and ‘sharp casual’ looks - something that came back from our customer research as being sought after. We’ve also got some fantastic new footwear within that, including loafers and sneakers.

Are you now looking to expand the Autograph Performance offer then?

Yes, we will be expanding it, and when we open our new menswear floor in our Oxford Street flagship store in May, we will have a designated Autograph Performance zone, so I’m looking forward to seeing the response from customers.

Do you also have product plans around the World Cup this summer?

Yes, we do. We have a partnership with the FA, a long-standing relationship that dates back decades, so watch this space for this summer is all I can say for the moment.

With the football and now F1 connections in place, are you now looking at other sports to affiliate M&S with?

On own-brand sports, we relaunched our Good Move label for menswear in January, so that’s now gone into all stores that carry clothing. It’s inspired by fitness brands and is more about true fitness and activewear than Autograph Performance. It’s already very successful for womenswear. We start at £15 for a performance T-shirt and we do shorts in three lengths. We have around 100 options in total and we’ve seen fantastic sales since the relaunch.

We definitely see an opportunity in the market for our own-brand sports offer, alongside our third-party brands, which are sold online across our sports edit. Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the UK, and we have a padel range coming out through Good Move soon.

What other areas are you focusing on for menswear?

While we’ve seen rapid growth for Autograph, and we’ve seen new younger customers coming in for it as we grow our market share with under-35s, the big thing this year is to also really focus on our M&S Collection offer, which is our real value and volume business and represents about 70% of our overall menswear business. We’re seeing some fantastic sales in casualwear.

It’s really been part of our strategy to clean up all of the sub-brands, with the focus now on Autograph, Collection, and Good Move, as well as Jaeger at the premium end. The customer drives the sub-brands, so we’re very clear on age, profile, and target customer - that’s where it all starts.

David Gandy

What are the plans for Jaeger?

We’ve just signed David Gandy as the face of Jaeger. It’s a very strong, heritage British brand, and there’s nobody better to showcase that than David Gandy, in terms of being the first real male supermodel, really. He looks great in the new campaign, which launched the other week. We have Jaeger in just under 20 stores on men’s. As it’s our premium offer, it features top-end British and Italian fabrics. We’re seeing some great reaction, and there’s a lot more to come on that this summer.

In terms of suiting, how is pricing different across Collection, Autograph and Jaeger?

We start with suits at just under £100 for Collection, then our Autograph suits start at £199 and our Jaeger suits start at £299. It’s a clear structure, and as you step up, there are different fabrics, shapes and suit construction. We’re still a huge suit business and we’re really competent within our formalwear offer, but as we’ve seen, men are dressing differently. They want to look sharp, but they don’t necessarily want the overtly formal aspect of suits. We’ve also definitely seen more occasion suits selling, and we had our best-ever Christmas on evening wear. The Cheltenham Festival is coming up, so that will be the real kick-off for the season. We’ll definitely see suit sales start to pick up. The big thing for us is to keep formal and to keep casual, but to really own that middle ‘sharp casual’ area. That’s our true DNA in terms of brand direction.

How well has the M&S Man Instagram channel been received since it launched last August?

We’re now up to 50,000 followers, so it’s been a good trajectory. What’s great is the ambassador network we are now working with. We were doing a lot on food and a lot on womenswear, but menswear was lagging behind a bit, so we are now engaging a lot more on that too.

The number one conundrum for men, judging from our feedback, is how they dress sharp casual, or how they dress for a certain event. There’s an anxiety element of going into a room and feeling out of place, and I want to make sure that M&S can provide that destination to look good. M&S Man provides that focus on what’s best to wear.

Who are the main ambassadors across menswear now?

We’re still doing campaigns with Mark Wright and Spencer Matthews, as well as Oliver Proudlock, former footballer turned pundit Ian Wright - who has been phenomenal for M&S Collection - and Vernon Kay, who we did M&S: Dress the Nation with on ITV. We also do a weekly Love That marketing campaign with the Capital Radio breakfast team, including Jordan North, and we’ve got a whole host of other ambassadors coming through, including male stylists.

Add to that, actor James Nelson-Joyce came on board as the face of Autograph last August, and that’s worked really well. A second series of This City is Ours is due to be released soon, so we’ll run another campaign with him around that. He loves the clothes, and he looks great in them. It gives another edge to Autograph.