Spotlight on the Showroom II: Marks & Spencer's 'Best of British' Collection

I've been intrigued by Marks and Spencer's latest tailored collection ever since I first heard that it was being designed way back in June. Finally, yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to pop into the Marble Arch store and view the complete 'Best of British' collection first hand.

The collection is significant because it is the first collection that a large British retailer has ever produced, to be manufactured largely by hand, using British materials, by British companies. The collection reflects this in its prices; the coats range from three to six hundred pounds, jumpers are one hundred and twenty, and the suits retail at eight hundred pounds. This is justified however, given that the collection employs such a high-quality degree of fabrication and manufacture - as truly British products, the collection marks itself as a luxury range of clothing - and the prices match this.

Personally, I feel extremely proud of what Marks & Spencer have done with the collection - to advocate and promote luxury British manufacturing and craftsmanship in such a way is a remarkable thing to do, and the collection has not been given enough recognition. With this collection, Marks & Spencer (and the British manufacturers commissioned to produce it) have shown that Britain has the capacity to produce luxury products on a large scale, and more competitively than has often been given credit for. But let's not get tied down in my vastly over-simplified understanding of British economics. My interest is quite simply whether the tailoring is up to scratch; have Marks and Spencer done what the firm set out to do - produce Savile Row quality suits for a fraction of the price.

Unfortunately, much as I like the collection, there is no escaping the fact that these are not bespoke suits. Although the jackets use traditional tailor's canvass in their chests, a quick pull at the lapel and chest cloth reveals that they're fused, not hand-padded or shaped and evidently a significantly smaller amount of hand-production has gone into this collection than a bespoke suit; the buttonholes are machine made for example. Having said that, there are some very impressive features; the sleeveheads appear to have been roped-in by hand (in Savile Row tradition) and have a lovely neat construction and the tall standing sleeve-rim synonymous with roped, hand-set sleeves. Top-stitching on the jackets is also visibly fine and finished by hand too. The almost unique use of fine real silk twill to line the suits is also an inspired choice. In fact, cloths are a lovely quality across the board, particularly the Moon coating and jacketing fabrics and the Alfred Brown flannels that make-up a couple of the suits (although it would be nice to know their yarn counts).

The collection holds together well, the suits are complimented by handsome casuals (the corduroy trousers and knitwear are lovely pieces) and the overcoats are truly fantastic things to behold and well worth the money. The Prince of Wales check chesterfield coat is an exceptional piece, as is the dark cotton trench coat, which boasts a sharp, modern style, beautiful rainproof cloth and a similarly lovely lining. For £299.00, this is well worth the money.

So, positive reviews then. The concept of the collection is marvelous and its fabrication is well-executed. However, very fine though they are, the reality is that the suits are not Savile Row bespoke quality and at £800.00, one also has to think about whether these suits will match the wealth of personal tailoring services available from other retailers. When a suit by Moss Bespoke or  Reiss's personal tailoring service starts at around £600.00, buying off-the-peg at £800.00 doesn't, on the face of it, make much sense. Fortunately, I can offer a perspective on this; having owned a Moss Bespoke suit, I'd much rather have one of the 'Best of British' suits even though they aren't personally tailored. The quality of fabrication and cloth is simply superior, and the use of tailors canvas in the jacket structures ensures that they are exceptionally comfortable too - and I did try a couple on.

For me, the greatest attraction of the collection is that it represents a masterful technical exercise, which must make owning a 'Best of British' garment a uniquely pleasing experience. The satisfaction of knowing that you're wearing a hand-finished suit (which it seems has benefited from more hand-work than even most 'personally tailored' suits), made in Britain, from British cloths, is truly a prospect to relish. In this sense, these suits are very close to those of Savile Row, being the only suits in Britain, outside of the bespoke world, which are actually manufactured in Britain in their entirety. All in all then, I'd suggest that ultimately, Marks and Sparks have pulled-off the coup, and have presented, for the first time in British retail history, the crème de la crème of sartorial British off-the-peg tailoring.