M&S and ITV have announced the return of M&S: Dress The Nation, hosted by TV presenters AJ Odudu and Vernon Kay.
The series, which will be screened ITV1 and ITVX in the autumn, shows viewers what it takes to design stylish clothes for the food and fashion specialist.
In the new season, M&S’s nationwide style search will continue as it looks for the UK’s best emerging fashion designers.
The series will focus on womenswear and menswear, and documents the search process over the course of five 60-minute episodes, with contestants from all over the nation.
Nine candidates, ranging in age from 22 to 59, will compete to secure an exclusive mentorship with the retailer, where they will work with members of the industry across design, buying, merchandising and marketing.
In addition, the winner will be able to see their design sold exclusively in selected M&S stores and online for the AW25 season.
Throughout the show, the candidates will work individually and in groups to design and create garments for M&S customers.
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M&S CEO Stuart Machin said: “At M&S we’ve spent the last three years improving our womenswear and menswear to be more stylish, even better quality and great value.
“To do this, we have attracted some of the best fashion talent in the UK to join our team, as well as developing our own brilliant in-house talent.”
He continued: “With Dress The Nation, I wanted to show what our M&S designers look for and what it takes to create desirable fashion, with the aim of inspiring more would-be designers to consider a career in this wonderful world of fashion, no matter what their background or formal qualifications.”
The move comes after M&S revealed that it would be offering parents and carers a one-year quality guarantee on all its children’s clothing earlier this week, ranging from baby clothes to school uniform.
The business said that customers would be able to receive a full refund within 365 days if the clothing did not meet its high-quality standards.
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