Are they taking the St Michael? Cult brand's £70 tote... based on 1970s-style M&S carrier bag

Published: 22:00, 15 August 2026 | Updated: 22:07, 15 August 2026 This isn’t just any carrier bag. This is a £70 vintage-inspired Marks & Spencer tote in butter-soft leather – created in collaboration with a cult London label loved by Dua Lipa and Zendaya. The high street stalwart is taking a tip from high fashion and reviving its heritage St Michael roots with a nostalgia-filled collection designed by streetwear brand Aries in a bid to appeal to younger shoppers. The star of its 26-piece capsule collection – which contains quirky tailored outfits, knitwear and lingerie – is the bag, which is modelled on the retailer’s distinctive green and gold St Michael packaging. The in-house M&S label flourished from the 1970s to 2000, when it was scrapped in a corporate overhaul. But there has been a resurgence of interest in the label after Gen Z started snapping up items from its ranges on the Vinted site. The original plastic St Michael carrier bags – which used to be dished out free – are now collectors’ items selling on eBay for up to £10 each. M&S chose Aries, which was founded in 2012 and combines high fashion with skate culture and punk, to help reintroduce the brand to a new generation. The St Michael label was named in honour of M&S’s co-founder Michael Marks and boasted a ‘Quality Promise’ – delivering a standard of clothing some customers believe has not been matched since. St Michael was known for wool jumpers, school trousers, classic-cut jersey dresses, socks and nylon underwear with stitched fabric tags. The new collection will be updated for the modern, more discerning shopper. Items include cropped T-shirts, sportswear and knickers, and draw on familiar symbols from M&S history, such as the Penny Bazaar – commemorating the high street giant starting at Leeds Kirkgate Market in 1884, where all goods on the stall cost a penny each. This is a £70 vintage-inspired Marks & Spencer tote in butter-soft leather – created in collaboration with a cult London label loved by Dua Lipa and Zendaya The star of its 26-piece capsule collection – which contains quirky tailored outfits, knitwear and lingerie – is the bag, which is modelled on the retailer’s distinctive green and gold St Michael packaging Marks & Spencer is not the first designer label to take inspiration from a high street retailer. In 2024, luxury fashion house Balenciaga released its Antwerp tote – a £1,000 bag which looked similar to budget store Iceland’s £1.75 bag for life. And its Arena bag, right, looked remarkably like those used by Ikea shoppers. Heritage crests, coin motifs, sporting emblems and collegiate references feature alongside Aries’ signature logo.  New Aries collections tend to sell out almost as soon as they are released and whether its collaboration with M&S, which launches on August 20, will do the same remains to be seen. But for fans of Aries, it will be an opportunity to grab a bargain because the products in the collection will be markedly cheaper than Aries’ own items. While an Aries sweatshirt typically costs £200, a pink M&S version will be around £45. A white T-shirt featuring M&S’s Spencer Bear will cost £30 – while an Aries top will cost £85. It all means M&S’s courting of younger shoppers could finally be in the bag.