How British Brand ME+EM Became The Surprising Sleeper Hit Of The Year
With boarded-up shop fronts, ever-present dregs of sales and a number of pandemic casualties, the British high street has been limping on for some time. Shoppers have rightly become tired of the endless churn of polyester, but with clothes becoming more expensive than ever, it can be difficult to know where to shop in 2024. ME+EM might not have queues snaking down Regent Street like a H&M designer collaboration or Kate Moss posed like a mannequin in the window, however it has quietly become its own shopping phenomenon and the sleeper hit of 2024.
The MO of the brand is to create functional, but stylish, clothes for busy working women, with a modern approach to office-wear. Lady Victoria Starmer, a fan of ME+EM, walked into Number 10 Downing Street the day after the general election in a Labour-red fluid crepe midi-dress, leading to a 300 percent spike in visits to the website.
Angela Rayner, meanwhile, wore a green trouser suit the day she was appointed deputy prime minister and an orange ME+EM dress to her first cabinet meeting. In a similar vein to the Princess of Wales selecting Reiss for her early royal days, ME+EM ticks a lot of boxes, making it a solid choice for a new labour uniform which will inevitably be scrutinised within minutes – it is classic, photographs well, is good quality, isn’t too expensive, isn’t too cheap, and is British.
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'Every piece we create is designed to be camera-ready, whether that's shirts crafted in a creaseless fabric, or pockets positioned so as not to add bulk, we don't want our customers to ever have to worry about their outfit not looking pristine,' a spokesperson said about why the brand is a reliable choice for those in the public eye. 'So whilst it’s always flattering to see any woman wearing ME+EM, there’s something very special about seeing prominent public figures, who really exemplify the values of the brand, choose to wear us for major public engagements.' The Princess of Wales has previously worn one of the crease-proof dresses to the Chelsea Flower Show, while Carole Middleton sported a floral dress to Wimbledon just last week.
The ME+EM woman who swears by the travel pants and bouclé jackets, will no doubt have Bamford soap, Farrow and Ball-coated walls, a Gail’s habit and shops at Waitrose. The pieces aren’t ever too flashy, however the overall aesthetic is elegant, polished and quietly posh. The store locations are an indication of this, as they have a number of West London boutiques in Chelsea, Westbourne Grove and Belgravia – the Mayfair outpost is as East as it gets.
However, following £55m in investment in 2022, ME+EM has been making a significant push to grow its audience in the US, with shops in New York and the Hamptons. The Princess of Wales will be a helpful brand ambassador for cracking this market, of course, however New York’s shopping catalyst Katie Holmes was also photographed in a navy knitted dress this summer – a clever marketing move given her ability to shift product.
It will never be directional or agenda-setting, but creates lovely clothes your mum, sister and grandmother would all like – and that is an impressive feat. In 2022 and 2023, it was named as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies in the Sunday Times 100 and in January 2024 the brand announced sales of £120 million, which was a 46% year-on-year increase. So why is ME+EM soaring, while a lot of the UK fashion industry is on its knees?
Founded in 2009 by Claire Hornby, the concept of ‘intelligent style’ and building-block outfits has proved a simple, but magic formula. This message is reiterated in everything they do – the collections are built up of pieces that are easily styled together, while the popular newsletters take the mystery out of styling for women who value direction and being told what to wear to what.
However the real selling point is the quality, at a time when even reputable designer brands can be guilty of blending polyester and viscose and taking short-cuts. 'You will find a lot of British brands have a similar price point that won’t deliver on quality,' explains author and fashion educator Andrea Cheong. 'We have had this massive surge of these cult brands from social media and a lot of them don’t have a physical presence, so it is hard to see the quality. We see a lot of hype, with no substance. I think people are tired of wasting their money quite frankly.'
ME+EM is positioned as a premium high-street or contemporary brand, where you will spend around £250 on a dress. 'In terms of being worth it, this one is interesting because we don’t know the costing and manufacturing, but I’m surprised to see the levels of details they have in their designs, particularly in the summer collection, given the price point,' explains Cheong, who notes they could easily charge what Joseph or Raey do.
'The quality of the construction is really high – you’ll see bias binding around zips, French seams, pin-tucking and things are lined. Obviously not every single piece will have that detail in it, but I’d say 85% of the time when I look at something and think that should be a silk blend with cotton, but think it can’t be, because this is premium high-street it will use lyocell or viscose, I will look at the tag and it really will be a silk mix. This is crazy to me when the prices aren’t that different.'
She notes that summer pieces are easier to use natural fibres in and have high quality production, and so the upcoming winter collection will be an interesting insight into how much they are committed to quality. 'Obviously 100% natural doesn’t mean sustainable, but it’s the better option out of two evils,' adds Cheong. 'I would say let’s wait and see how AW24 goes because it might not be the same. Polyester is used a lot in winter to add more weight and structure to coats and winter pieces.'
In terms of design, it does simplicity and classics very well. Best-sellers include wear-everyday T-shirts, tailored cargo pants, jersey dresses and utility jackets you could wear to the office or the park. This easy way of dressing has been popular in recent years, with the likes of Miu Miu, The Row and Loewe making a case for investing in beautifully-crafted, elevated basics. Little wonder, then, that a whole new crowd has started showing an interest in the brand of late too – think internet cool girls like Lindsey Holland, Claire Thomson-Jonville and Pernille Teisbaek.
'In some ways you could see it as a follow-on from the pandemic where there was a huge loungewear boom and then you had the big peak of dopamine dressing, and maybe this is just levelling out,' adds Cheong. Lots of these pieces can be chucked in the washing machine and don’t have to be ironed, but will see you through a busy work travel trip, a three-day wedding or a weekend of birthday parties. It is the opposite of the hype tactics we saw used on the high-street ten or twenty years ago, however items regularly sell out within hours of new look-books hitting inboxes. This solution-led shopping clearly works. Who needs Kate Moss in a window, hey?
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