LONDON — Marks & Spencer has become the latest British brand to plant its flag in the U.S. market, partnering with Nordstrom to sell a selection of womenswear starting this week.

M&S said 60 bestselling styles from Per Una, M&S Collection and other in-house labels will sell online and through 30 Nordstrom stores from Los Angeles to New York.

The Nordstrom deal comes on the heels of a fashion wholesale partnership with David Jones in Australia and the success of M&S food, which has been selling at Target stores in the U.S. since 2022.

The British retailer said demand among U.S. customers for M&S food “prompted the opportunity to expand the global reach of M&S fashion into stores in the U.S.”

The retailer added that one in 10 customers in the U.S. is aware of M&S as a global fashion brand, with the highest awareness among women aged 25 to 34. It added that 51,000 customers shop on the M&S U.S. website every year. 

M&S said its ambition is to build a “trusted global brand, leveraging the infrastructure of others through simple, scalable, repeatable operating models.”

Mark Lemming, managing director of international at M&S, said that with “strong brand momentum as the U.K.’s most trusted retailer, now is the time to build our brand awareness in the U.S. fashion market and establish ourselves as a globally trusted brand.”

Lemming described Nordstrom as a “partner who shares our values and will support us as we accelerate our growth.”

Emily Crandall, general merchandise manager of women’s and men’s apparel at Nordstrom, said the store is “always looking for new ways to inspire our customers, and that starts with bringing them exceptional brands from around the world.”

Crandall added that M&S “is known globally for delivering quality and style at a value, and we’re excited to help introduce their bestselling items to U.S. customers. This partnership creates a meaningful opportunity for our customers to discover the brand when they shop at Nordstrom.”

M&S has ventured into the U.S. market before, testing small format, stand-alone stores in the 1980s and investing in large-scale retailers including King’s supermarkets and Brooks Brothers. The stand-alone stores didn’t survive, and M&S eventually sold its stakes in both King’s and Brooks Brothers.

Times are different now.

Since the pandemic, the U.S. market has become a land of opportunity for British clothing, accessories and lifestyle brands, with Me+Em, Marfa Stance and others opening stores, and brands such as Wiggy Kit, Really Wild and Edeline Lee doing trunk shows and high-end customer events in states such as New York, Texas and Florida.

Other British brands, including Radley, Monica Vinader, Astrid & Miyu, Toast and Missoma are also striking gold in the U.S. with stand-alone stores and wholesale distribution.

It wasn’t too long ago that the U.S. was considered a graveyard for British brands, especially those that opened their own stores. They moved too quickly, spent too much money, didn’t research or market themselves properly and opened in the wrong places.

But the U.S. is still the U.K.’s biggest export market, and a new generation has proven that if British brands can get it right in America, the payoff is potentially huge.