ERIN O’CONNOR’s military jacket, Twiggy’s cardigan and Laura Bailey’s culottes have been selling out across Britain as shoppers snapped up the trendy fashion items featured in Marks & Spencer’s latest adverts.

The three items, plus Laura Bailey’s cable-knit cardigan, had also sold out on M&S’s website yesterday, just a fortnight after the television and print advertising campaign was launched on September 12.

Supplier sources said that interest generated by the fashionable items had boosted sales of M&S’s women’s clothing to a point where they have been equalling last year’s in recent weeks. In the year to date, sales are thought to be down by about 4 per cent, while profit margins are up.

One analyst who declined to be named said: “If this is correct then it is a major coup for Marks & Spencer. Most of the rest of the high street has gone from low to high single-digit negative falls in sales. M&S looks like it is heading in the opposite direction.”

In the 14 weeks to July 9, the last period for which M&S reported, sales of general merchandise were down by 11.2 per cent. Most of general merchandise is made up of women’s clothing.

A spokeswoman for M&S, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of its flagship Marble Arch store today, said that she could not confirm how well the items from the Twiggy campaign were selling, but commented: “It’s fair to say the adverts have been very successful.”

M&S is thought to have sold more than 12,000 pieces of each item and is racing to replenish stock, which it expects to have in store in the next few weeks.

The campaign is M&S’s first clothing campaign on television since its ridiculed “I’m normal” advert five years ago, which featured a naked woman running around the countryside.

Devised by Steve Sharp, M&S’s marketing director, the “Twiggy” adverts follow his highly successful food campaign, which was rumoured to have increased sales of a featured chocolate pudding by 3,000 per cent.

Shares in Marks & Spencer have risen 3.5 per cent to 374¾p in the past week after a swath of analysts’ notes gave the chain some of its most positive recommendations in months and directors including Stuart Rose, the chief executive, Charles Wilson, the departing IT, logistics and property director, and Paul Myners, the chairman, bought large tranches of shares.

Analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston raised their profits forecasts for the year by 4 per cent, saying that M&S was likely to reduce markdown costs by more than its planned £100 million through tight stock control and focus on lower-priced, higher-volume merchandise.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs described M&S as “our favourite UK apparel retailer”.

In a note the analysts said: “M&S is focusing on improving margins in a tough UK consumer environment.

“It is now more competitive on price, its product offer is stronger and it has relatively easy comparisons for the rest of the year.”

Mr Rose must be hoping the analysts are right. This autumn season will be important for his credibility because it will be the first time the range of merchandise in M&S stores has been selected under his direction.

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