Since then hardly a day has gone by without a mention of the store in the papers. Autograph' is the beginning of a badly needed makeover. But this venture is not just about clothes - it's also about a new way of working. The retailer is seen as rather slow and bureaucratic. That may have been okay once, but today fashion retailing is fiercely competitive, fast and furious.
Consumers look for constant change and excitement.
For 'Autograph', Marks and Spencer has put together a small team which selects and co-ordinates the collection from designers ideas and then commissions manufacturers. This is completely different from way they usually buy clothes - off the peg from manufacturers own designs. Everyone's learning like the designer, Betty Jackson. Betty Jackson and Julien Macdonald's clothes along with Katharine Hamnett and two other anonymous designers will be sold under the 'Autograph' brand. Consumers who like to flaunt a designer name will be disappointed.