Marks and Spncer attempts to woo young customers

Marks & Spencer attempts to woo young customers with minis and boob tubes

• Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion editor
• The Guardian, Wednesday 5 May 2004 11.24 BST
• Article history

This summer, green is the new black, wedge sandals are the new flip-flops - and as of tomorrow, Marks & Spencer is the new Topshop.

At least, that is the message from M&S, which tonight launches its youngest, most revealing range of clothing to date, in an attempt to boost flagging fashion sales with new teenage customers.

Per Una Due, which goes on sale tomorrow at 65 stores, features the shortest skirt ever to bear the M&S label - a mere 29cm (11in) from waistband to hem - and includes boob tubes, a style which M&S has never stocked before.

The range goes head to head with young fashion stores such as Topshop and New Look, with lower prices than the Per Una range which is targeted at thirty- and fortysomethings.

In keeping with the short attention span of the MTV generation, stock will be completely replaced every eight weeks.

Top of the Pops presenters, Radio 1 DJs and Bob Geldof's daughters are expected to attend tonight's launch party.

Text marketing - where text messages advertising the brand are sent to target customers - will be used by M&S for the first time.

There is pressure at M&S for Per Una Due to succeed. So far 2004 has been a bad year for the company. Clothing sales fell 2.5% in the 11 weeks to March 27.

There have been rumblings of discontent over the level of commitment shown by the part-time chairman, Luc Vandevelde, and over the lack of impact made by Vittorio Radice.

Mr Radice, the former Selfridges boss, was poached by M&S last year with a £1.2m golden handshake to breathe life into M&S homewares. He has since been given responsibility for clothing.

And most recently David Beckham, handsomely paid by M&S to be the figurehead for the DB07 range, has had his perfect family man image tarnished.

Per Una Due suggests a change of direction for M&S clothing. The idea of introducing a boutique area into the vast floorspace of an M&S store was launched with the Autograph range, designed by Betty Jackson and hats by Philip Treacy, among others.

Despite excellent reviews, Autograph failed to generate high sales. Many felt that the pricetags, which often stretched over £100, were too high for the M&S customer.

These mothers, it is hoped, will be impressed by the quality of fabric and manufacture, which is indeed far superior to most young fashion brands.

They may be less impressed with the micro-minis and hot pants.