M&S X Coco De Mer Is The High-Street Lingerie Collab You’ve Been Waiting For

One in three women buys her knickers at Marks & Spencer, where a bra gets sold every two seconds. Few retailers can claim such a foothold in our underwear drawers, but the rarefied world of luxury lingerie has remained some distance from the M&S shop floor, even if Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s long-standing partnership, launched in 2012, helped broaden its reputation beyond multipacks of cotton vests. Now, a collaboration with Coco de Mer, launching on Thursday 15 October, may be about to bridge that gap.

The 24-piece edit spans four silhouettes – Reverie, Belle, Enigma and Siren – with all the intricate detailing and sumptuous fabrics that have become Coco de Mer signatures since its launch in 2001. “It felt like a very natural partnership,” explains the brand’s CEO, Lucy Litwack. “M&S and Coco de Mer are both iconic British lingerie brands, but we each bring something different to the table. Together, we saw an opportunity to create something genuinely special: a collection that combines luxurious fabrics and intricate detailing with the comfort, support and inclusive sizing that M&S is known for.”

It is the latest chapter in the hallowed high-street institution’s much-discussed glow-up, which has gathered pace over the past 12 months through collaborations with cult British labels such as 16Arlington and Aries, and its first runway show at London Fashion Week. We’ve seen our fair share of lacklustre “rebrands” – particularly among heritage high-street labels – but this evolution has been steady and, most importantly, seems to have stuck.

While the Alva Claire-fronted collection belongs firmly to the Coco de Mer universe – where “the importance of female pleasure and sensuality,” as Litwack says, takes centre stage – the pieces deliver on the fit and function we’ve come to expect from M&S, with band sizes running from 30 to 42 and cups from A to H. Such breadth remains a rarity in luxury lingerie, the appetite for which is clear. See: the celebratory think pieces that followed the release of Off Campus, in which its full-busted lead, Hannah, wears bras that are sexy and supportive.

“Bodies are not static. Hormonal changes, stress, posture, travel, exercise habits, pregnancy, or simply time itself can subtly (sometimes not so subtly) alter our shape and support needs,” Litwack says. “The biggest challenge with lingerie sizing is that every woman’s body is different, and fit is about so much more than measurements. Two women wearing exactly the same size can have completely different body shapes, proportions and preferences when it comes to how they want their lingerie to feel.”

The timing is revealing, too. This collection isn’t arriving “just in time for Valentine’s Day”, as so many lingerie launches tend to – a reflection, perhaps, of the changing role of “sexy lingerie” in women’s wardrobes. “Traditionally, lingerie was often marketed through the male gaze, with the assumption that women dressed to be desirable to a partner,” Litwack explains. “Thankfully, that narrative has shifted. Today, sexy lingerie is increasingly about how a woman wants to feel, rather than how she wants to be seen.”

Marks & Spencer x Coco de Mer is available to shop from Thursday 15 October at marksandspencer.com.