For years, Marks & Spencer felt like a relic—reliably British, undeniably beige. But lately, my friends and I can’t stop saying it: M&S are absolutely smashing it. So when the recent cyberattack brought down their website, halted online orders, and left their app unusable for over a week (and counting), it didn’t just feel like a technical hiccup; it felt like a threat to something far more meaningful: the unlikely renaissance of one of the UK’s most iconic high street brands.

It’s hard to explain just how uncool M&S used to feel. It was the shop for a certain older generation of women—the place for bras and tights, maybe, and Percy Pigs, posh microwave dinners and non-exciting jumpers and sensible shoes. But in the past year or two, something’s shifted.

Their collections have become sought-after. Sharper. More wearable. The styling is better. The price point? Still accessible, but with an elevated feel. And the shift hasn’t gone unnoticed—especially among women in their 30s and 40s who are sick of fast fashion, bored of Zara, and ready for clothes that look chic and grown-up.

Even scrolling Instagram, you’ll see influencers (the stylish, understated kind) proudly tagging M&S in reels and outfit posts. It’s no longer ironic to shop there. It’s aspirational. And I am not even exaggerating. We’re now proud to say we’re wearing M&S.

If I need anything now, I’ll visit Marksy’s website first. I’ll spend a good half hour on there, browsing the latest looks. I especially enjoy the ‘Ways to Style It’ grids at the bottom of each product listing. These curated guides inspire so many cool outfits.

I’m always gutted when something I’ve been eyeing for weeks suddenly sells out in my size. I’ll then hop onto Vinted to see if anyone has listed that thing I must have. Unthinkable just a few years ago.

Until recently, John Lewis was my go-to. It had great brands and reliable delivery, and it was where I first bought a designer handbag many moons ago. It had something all the other big retailers lacked: it was on-trend with the best website for browsing. Now the tables have turned. John Lewis has lost its way. Its online shopping experience is clunky and frustrating. Even its physical stores feel dated and tired. But M&S? I don’t bother looking anywhere else now. Cos, maybe. Arket. A little dash of Next for longer lengths. But M&S is where it’s at. And many of my female friends agree.

I didn’t realise how much I relied on M&S until now. I log on each morning, hoping to order those loafers I’ve had in my basket since this cyberattack began. But alas, it still reads: “We have paused online orders. Products remain available to browse online, and stores are open.”

If you haven’t yet heard, over the Easter weekend, the brand became the latest victim in a wave of coordinated attacks on UK retailers. Their online store and app went down, leaving customers unable to place orders or use gift cards. Stores struggled with contactless payments. Their entire recruitment platform vanished. Crucially, it’s taken days to resolve—longer than many expected from a company of this size and stature (unless you’re a software engineer, and so you fully understand the delay).

Even today, the issue is still ongoing. M&S will no doubt be working around the clock to rebuild everything from scratch. What choice do they have when they’re being held to ransom?

In a world where we live online, a full-blown digital outage isn’t just a serious technical problem; it’s potentially a brand problem. An incident like this raises an even bigger question: Can a legacy brand like M&S survive such an attack in a modern, digital-first world?

It’s got all the key ingredients for success: trust, heritage, recognisability, an enormous physical store footprint, and now, a genuinely great product offering. But for all its progress on the style front, could its digital transformation now feel fragile?

Yes, the attack exposed vulnerabilities in the company’s tech infrastructure and ability to respond to a crisis. But honestly, it could happen to anyone. Even if the disruption continues for another month, I don’t personally believe that it risks losing its hard-won momentum.

Some might argue that customers have short memories. And that might be true. But don’t underestimate the power of brand loyalty. M&S is a company that so many of us have grown up with. It’s a shop loved across all generations. We’re holding out for its glorious resurrection. Its second coming? Fitting that it should happen around Easter.

As it makes its comeback, I expect it will rebuild and come back stronger than before. One thing that has also worked in its favour is the lack of alternatives out there. If John Lewis had got its act together and overhauled its website and offering, M&S may have something to worry about.

But when you’re the indisputable cool kid on the high street, it’s unlikely a pause in online commerce will cause any long-term damage.

Besides, there’s something about M&S that makes me root for them. Maybe it’s the Britishness. Maybe it’s the fact that I love my new tailored M&S trousers more than any pair I’ve bought from anywhere else in years.

But it’s also because they’ve proved that reinvention is possible—even for a brand many had written off. And that deserves a chance to succeed.

They’ve smashed the fashion comeback. Let’s hope they can do the same with their digital one.