London - Marks & Spencer has launched The Sports Edit on M&S.com. It follows M&S’s acquisition in the fast-growing sports platform at the start of 2022, and the retailer’s ongoing investment in growth categories, including sportswear.

The launch welcomes over 200 sportswear and apparel products across women’s activewear and apparel from third-party brands including Beyond Yoga, FP Movement, Girlfriend Collective and YMO as well as footwear brands Veja and Hoka – with more leading brands to follow throughout 2023.

The brand partners have been carefully selected to sit alongside the retailers’ activewear brand, Goodmove. Identified as a growth category, the dedicated sports platform is described as combining the best of The Sports Edit; featuring expert sports content curation where you can shop by brand, activity or product type, with all of the advantages of shopping with M&S.

Katie Bickerstaffe, Co-Chief Executive at M&S, said: “This year, we’re backing our growth categories with confidence and going into battle on sportswear. Building on the strong foundation of Goodmove, we’re combining our brand loyalty with the expertise of The Sports Edit to offer our customers an online sports retail platform which is a one-stop-shop for health and wellness.

“The launch of The Sports Edit as an integrated hub on M&S.com demonstrates the strength of our leading omnichannel platform; which continues to make M&S an increasingly attractive brand partner.”

The launch comes at a time when health and wellbeing is front of mind for consumers; the latest insight from the M&S Family Matters Index shows that 44 per cent of consumers are planning to do more exercise and take their physical health more seriously in 2023.

The global sportswear market is estimated to be worth £8.6 billion, with 56 per cent of the market dominated by brands, the company said. The curation-led approach on M&S.com offers the M&S customer a new way to shop sportswear apparel - from fitness and performance wear to athleisure. The launch continues to build on the retailer’s position in full price women’s activewear sales, with third-party brand partners complementing the core range and filling gaps in product areas.

Nick Paulson-Ellis, CEO and Founder at The Sports Edit, added: “At The Sports Edit, we have a proven capability in brand curation and emerging brand identification – we’re experts in curating product and content, relevant to our customers lifestyles. We have worked closely with the team at M&S, to understand their customer lifestyles in order to hand-pick the very best of The Sports Edit for M&S.com. The launch builds on M&S’s foundation in sportswear to take it to the next level, filling gaps in areas that require specialist product, such as trainers to offer a platform equipped for the future.”