‘It’s a game changer for everyday underwear’: M&S says its new Body range bras and thongs will go viral
Marks and Spencer says it is making lingerie history with the launch today of its Body underwear for women collection, following research revealing that 99 per cent of women prioritise comfort for their daily bras and knickers.
After a century of selling bras, the new M&S Body range will be its most ambitious and game-changing lingerie collection to date, says the retailer, with 300 pieces “designed for comfort, confidence and ease”, and developed with real customer insight.
It declares that M&S Body will set new standards for everyday lingerie, combining “innovative fabrics with solution-led design” to create underwear that works for everyone, with bras, briefs, shapewear and essentials under one cohesive system that uses advanced fabric innovation and comfort-first engineering.
M&S is the UK’s lingerie market leader - one in three women buys her knickers there, and an M&S bra is sold every two seconds.
Marks and Spencer sold its first bra 100 years ago in 1926, a simple "free-run bodice" designed for comfort.
By the late 1930s, it was selling more than 30 different styles of bra. The Marks and Spencer Company Archive at the University of Leeds contains examples of bras and other lingerie pieces from across the decades.
The retailer started life in 1884 when Michael Marks opened a stall at Kirkgate Market in Leeds and built his success using the slogan “Don’t ask the price, it’s a ’Penny”. He teamed up with Tom Spencer, a cashier at Dewhirst, and the Marks & Spencer Penny Bazaar stores were born.
M&S says that its customers have themselves sparked this underwear revolution, with research revealing that 99 per cent of women prioritise comfort, while 89 per cent want lingerie that boosts confidence, 68 per cent cannot wait to take their bra off at the end of the day, and 45 per cent do not believe that stylish underwear should cost more.
The Body range, it says, has been designed to move, using 360-degree stretch; seamless, laser-cut edges; injectable boning that flexes with the body; sculpting, plus smoothing and minimising solutions.
It promises no-VPL knickers, padded and non-padded bras, and sculpting for bottoms, with prices starting from £14.
The Body Invisibles range brings “no-show lingerie solutions that are seamless, smooth, cooling and with innovative 360-stretch”.
M&S adds: “This is all-day comfort with a barely-there fit like you’ve never felt before.”
Body Sculpt, it describes as: “Totally transformative shapewear. Designed to smooth, sculpt and lift in all the right places, developed with advanced cooling technology for incredible 24/7 comfort.”
Then there is Body Soft: “The smoothest, buttery‑soft lingerie you’ll ever wear. With softness designed into every seam, stitch and detail, this range takes comfort to an entirely new level.”
The Body Lace collection “combines sleek, barely-there lace with seamless technology – these smoothing pieces are almost too good to hide”.
M&S predicts that the new range will create viral products, in particular the Body Invisibles Wired Demi Cup Bra, £18; and the Body Invisibles 3 pack No VPL Thongs, £14.
Also expected to be popular are the Body Invisibles Double Boost Bra, £24; Body Lace The Lace Body, £22; and Body Sculpt The All in One, £35.