M&S Announces New Aries Streetwear Collaboration

M&S x Aries Collaboration: Why it Matters 2026

Marks & Spencer has unveiled a new collaboration with cult London streetwear label Aries, launching a 26-piece capsule collection that resurrects St Michael, the retailer’s dormant heritage label, for menswear and womenswear.

Aries founder and creative director Sofia Prantera worked with the M&S archive, pulling design details and symbols associated with St Michael and reworking them through Aries’ own graphic, subculture-inflected aesthetic. Reimagined St Michael crests featuring the brand’s angel motif appear alongside Aries’ Temple logo across tailoring, knitwear, sportswear and everyday staples, while coin motifs nod to M&S’s Penny Bazaar origins. Heritage crests, sporting emblems and collegiate references are also given a bold remix.

The clothing spans sharp pinstripe tailoring, striped shirting and ties through to tracksuits, hoodies and graphic sweatshirts, plus preppy knitwear, slip dresses and cardigans, including a matching cardigan and brief set. Accessories include brooches, hair clips and an oversized Spencer Bear bag charm, alongside a version of M&S’s green carrier bag reworked in soft green leather. Prices run from £10 to £150, with pieces including a £50 graphic crew sweatshirt, a £30 Spencer Bear graphic T-shirt, a £25 silk tie and a £70 bag. The collection launches at M&S.com and in selected stores on 20th August.

Why it matters

This is a case study in how heritage retail is mining its own archives rather than chasing trends from outside. St Michael, retired by M&S in 2000, has spent the past few years gaining a second life through resale platforms and vintage sellers, with younger shoppers picking up decades-old pieces largely for the label itself. Aries spotted that appetite and, rather than proposing a wholly new design, pushed M&S to reopen a name it already owned. That is a shrewder move than a standard logo collaboration: it hands Aries a genuinely rare piece of British fashion history to work with, and it gives M&S a way to signal cultural relevance without diluting its own current identity.

It also reflects a broader shift in how designer collaborations are structured. Where high-street tie-ups have traditionally meant an established label lending its name to accessible pricing, this one runs the logic in both directions, pairing Aries’ small, cult following, built on self-published books, art shows and niche collaborations, with M&S’s scale and reach. For Aries, it is a chance to put its aesthetic in front of an audience it would rarely meet on its own terms. For M&S, aligning with a genuinely credible independent label, rather than a mass-market name, is what makes the collaboration land with a fashion audience rather than reading as a marketing exercise.

The emotional pitch matters too. Prantera has spoken about shopping at M&S as a child on family trips from Italy, and about the Spencer Bear charm referencing a toy given to her by her grandmother. That personal framing, alongside the reintroduction of a genuinely nostalgic brand name, sets this apart from a purely aesthetic collaboration and taps into a wider trend of fashion mining personal and collective memory rather than novelty for its own sake.

Maddy Evans, M&S Womenswear Director, said: “Whilst Aries and M&S come from different corners of the fashion world, both brands have built strong identities through distinctive design codes and a loyal following. Bringing those worlds together created an opportunity to offer something familiar yet entirely fresh, translating Aries’ iconic creative handwriting through the lens of St Michael and making it accessible to a broader audience at a high-street price point.”

Sofia Prantera said: “M&S is a true British institution that has played a role in so many people’s lives and memories. To be invited to work with such an iconic brand, and to bring our own perspective to its heritage, has been a real privilege.”

Aries was founded by Prantera, also known for Silas and Holmes, as a luxury streetwear label made in Italy and created in London, built on an interest in trash culture, outsider art and graphic design, alongside a steady output of books, exhibitions and collaborations.

The M&S x Aries collection launches on 20 August and available to shop via Marksandspencer.com and in selected stores.

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