Marks and Spencer (M&S), the official suit supplier to the England team for 11 years, has seen a 35 per cent increase in waistcoat sales, since England’s first appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament just two weeks ago; thanks to what M&S has dubbed “the Gareth Southgate effect”.
The ‘effect’ in question was in relation to England manager Gareth Southgate’s look, after he wore a waistcoat for all three England matches during the tournament so far.
The announcement for the demand for M&S replica waistcoats, will no doubt add to the excitement and build up to the most anticipated match between England vs Colombia tonight at 19:00hrs GMT. A spokesperson from M&S said: “It’s been great seeing Gareth look so smart on the side-lines. Sales are up 35 per cent across all our waistcoats”.
M&S is selling a full replica of the three-piece suit for £265, plus an additional £25 for the red, white and blue tie to complete the Southgate look.
The British retailer, unveiled the new suit for the England football team in May, woven by the Alfred Brown mill in Yorkshire, the company which also supplied the fabric used for England’s 2014 World Cup suits and the uniform for Team GB for the 2012 London Olympics.
Southgate, who has since been praised for his fashion sense responded in amusement, “I’m not David Beckham”, and joked in an interview with the BBC saying, “I’m slightly concerned, because as a centre-half that took a lot of knocks to the head, I’m not normally synonymous with fashion icon”. Nonetheless, the popularity of the Southgate-inspired waistcoat has earned him a reputation as one of the more stylish football managers of the 2018 World Cup tournament.
It appears for this tournament at least; England football fans have set a new trend; by rushing to buy replicas of Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat instead of the usual replica football shirts.
Retail analysts also predict that in the world of business other companies that could potentially benefit from 2018 World Cup may include, Dixons Carphone from anticipated sales of new TV sets, ITV which could benefit from stay-at-home viewers and takeaway firms like Just Eat.
