This winter, retailers Marks & Spencer and Uniqlo are collaborating with popular brands like British fashion label Ghost London and Finnish lifestyle design company Marimekko for limited-edition capsule collections.
Though holiday dressing usually calls for heaping doses of glitz and glamour, the global coronavirus pandemic will restrict social gatherings this season, leaving shoppers with little use for over-the-top frocks. M&S and Uniqlo respond to this new reality with collections that marry style with simplicity, whimsy with wearability.
The M&S collection of limited-edition dresses was designed in-house by Ghost London, a go-to favorite of Kate Middleton. Items in the capsule feature unique floral and star print designs created exclusively for the dress edit. Eye-catching fabrications feature throughout, woven in the high-quality viscose and finished with Ghost’s unique garment dye process, for a luxe silk-like finish. Ruffles and shirred detailing sit alongside peter pan collars and puff sleeves for “confident, feminine styles that are easy to wear and elevate the everyday,” the retailer said.
Of the capsule’s 10 dresses, three will also be available in kid’s sizes, all designed to coordinate back to the womenswear offering. The 10-piece capsule launches Thursday on M&S’s e-commerce site.
The styles “further elevate our dress offering this season and feature versatile designs that are extremely flattering, easy to wear, and can be dressed up or down, taking you through winter and beyond,” Maddy Evans, head of womenswear buying at M&S, said in a statement. “A confident, feminine aesthetic underpins the collection, celebrating modern silhouettes, luxurious fabrics and beautiful prints, synonymous with Ghost, and which we know our customer will love.”
Launching Monday, Uniqlo’s holiday capsule collection “celebrates a feeling of meaningful togetherness,” according to its collaborator Marimekko. The capsule continues in the vein of earlier limited-edition Uniqlo x Marimekko collections, combining Marimekko’s colorful and joyful prints with the Japanese retailer’s high-quality and functional LifeWear.
Inspired by northern weather and winter life, the collection features a selection of cozy ready-to-wear items for women and children in “iconic” Marimekko prints by Annika Rimala and Maija Isola. The collection will be available in the majority of Uniqlo markets around the world.