Men's suits have gone from more than half of the country’s M&S stores as home-working booms.
Marks and Spencer has had business attire as a core part of its product lines for more than 80 years.
The retailer has forked out for celebrities such as Bryan Ferry, David Beckham, Jimmy Carr and Rupert Everett to model its smart ensembles.
And it has been the England football team’s official tailor since 2007.
But now only 110 of 254 branches stock suits, after sales dwindled from five million a year a decade ago to two million in the past 12 months.
Wes Taylor, director of M&S menswear, said: “Covid hit fast-forward on the trend to more casual dressing that was already in train so our smartwear is now more focused on smart separates. However, we still want to be the go-to for a great suit.”
Mr Taylor added: “Lots of men want help buying a suit from an expert so during the pandemic we also launched online video consultations.”
But M&S said sales of women’s suits had barely dropped at all.
It sold 500,000 in the past year compared to 600,000 four years ago.
Home-working hit suit shop TM Lewin hard too. The chain closed all 66 of its UK stores last year.
