Editors’ Top Reads: News from Marks & Spencer, Levi’s, eBay and more… – TheIndustry.fashion

Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.

Marks & Spencer to open boutique-style fashion and beauty stores

It is testament to the strength of the fashion offer at Marks & Spencer that it now feels confident enough to establish boutique-style fashion stores that will go up against global behemoths like Zara and Mango in prime fashion shopping locations.

The first such boutique store will open at Battersea Power Station this autumn (it will also include a curation of its excellent beauty offer), with further openings planned. The move is being described as a trial, so presumably if it doesn’t work out, the retailer can shelve the plan easily enough. But I’m optimistic for its success.

It will be interesting to see its best clothing condensed into a store dedicated to that purpose and not spread out across a large store footprint next to a supermarket (albeit a rather high-end one). I’ve often found it a little difficult to find the best pieces in-store at my local M&S (which is a huge store in a retail park next to a giant Tesco) and I shall look forward to seeing how better the fashion translates in this new environment.

Apart from this, I’m just so pro-M&S at the moment. In all the misery we’ve endured in the market over recent years, seeing M&S rise again and innovate at every turn gives me hope. Let’s hope that positive feeling continues to rub off on its customers (and I’ve no doubt it will attract many new ones with this latest venture).

Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.

Everything you need to know about Digital Product Passports

This week my feature on Digital Product Passports (DPPs) went live on TheIndustry.fashion. Our News Editor Sophie is a big Nobody’s Child fan and we were discussing the barcodes (otherwise known as DPPs) in her new summer dress labels. I wanted to know what DPPs were and why retailers were starting to jump on the bandwagon.

Brands from Chinti & Parker to Nobody’s Child were early adapters of DPPs to showcase their commitment to providing transparent, ethical garment manufacturing. Marking a huge milestone for DPPs, earlier this month Tesco also announced it would be implementing them across all of its F&F Clothing range.

A Digital Product Passport is a digital record that provides information about a product and its value chain from its inception to landing on local shelves. Not only do they expose a retailer’s environmental impact, but they’re also expected to become mandatory for companies trading in the EU in the next few years.

Andrew Xeni is the founder of the fashion label Nobody’s Child as well as Fabacus, a tech company that provides supply chain and data services for digital passports. He said: “Our mission is simple: to close the gap between brands and their customers, whilst future-proofing against regulation, and growing value for both.”

Read here to find out exactly what DPPs are, why retailers should adopt them, how to go about it, and who can supply them.

Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.

eBay launches first ‘Pre-Loved Fashion Week’ in London and New York

A new report conducted by the Collective Fashion Justice has revealed that less than 4% of British Fashion Council member brands have any emissions reduction targets. This is a staggering statistic that I hope will prompt London Fashion Week to tighten its seams on sustainability.

Thank goodness for eBay though, which is launching its first ‘Pre-Loved Fashion Week’ in London and New York next month. Celebrating the marketplace’s endless inventory, a live, shoppable runway show will spotlight a number of pre-loved looks from designers such as Off-White, Christopher Kane and Simone Rocha.

The shows will precede the SS25 official New York and London Fashion Week schedules, followed by daily drops on eBay, with curated pre-loved fashion from top designers. Taking place in London on 12 September at 6pm, shoppers can purchase the pieces from archival collections and iconic designers as the models make their way down the catwalk. This sounds like such a fun initiative as eBay attempts to demonstrate how easy it can be to find high quality, authentic pre-loved designer fashion on the resale platform. Well done team eBay!

Levis launches Oasis t-shirts as Gallagher brothers announce band reunion tour

As timings go, Levi’s struck gold this week. Yes, they obviously already had a collaboration deal to produce some Oasis t-shirts in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the band’s debut studio album, ‘Definitely Maybe’, from 1994, but they surely couldn’t have been aware that the Gallagher brothers were going to announce a highly anticipated band reunion tour for 2025 in the same week. Quite uncanny.

That said, the actual t-shirts pretty much resemble bog standard Oasis “merch” tees, with the Decca band logo featuring on either a plain background, a swirling Brit Pop-esque Union flag, or a football pitch, which is meant to be a nod to their beloved Manchester City’s old Maine Road football ground – though you’d never guess that unless you were told it.

Of course, the quality will better than merch tees, the fit is also likely more considered – a loose fit I believe, and there’s a red and white Levi’s logo on the left sleeve, so they will probably now sell like hot cakes at £30 a pop. Also, no doubt easier to secure than a ticket for one of now 17 gigs planned – going on sale from tomorrow.

‘Some might say’ Levi’s should follow it up with a kagoule that Liam can “zip right up to the top” on stage in true 90s ‘Madchester’ fashion. Or maybe that’s one for the merch men, as no doubt it will be raining at some of those gigs – most likely at the ones in Manchester!

Tom Bottomley, News Editor & Senior Writer.