UK Marks & Spencer celebrity ads

Helen Mirren has joined celebrity group of women for English department store, Marks & Spencer’s new autumn campaign.

Rather than using typical models, the English department store has decided to celebrate a selection of the best of English women.

Like a list from a fantasy dinner party, the store’s autumn campaign they have enlisted women from the art, fashion and a couple of ‘real women’, all photographed by superstar photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Included in the list are artist Tracey Emin, actress Helen Mirren, English TV presenter Katie Piper, boxer and gold medalist Nicola Adams and novelist Monica Ali.

Added to this list are fashion insiders, American Vogue creative director Grace Coddington and model Karen Elson, as well as “real women” – Helen Allen, the 2011 Nurse of the Year, and Jasmine Whitbread, CEO of Save the Children.

Subtitled “Britain’s leading ladies”, the delicate balance of fashion heavyweights, national treasures, wholesome pop stars, real-life heroes, and the slight edge provided by Emin, tells you everything about where M&S wants to position itself now: as a serious fashion contender, one that appeals to cultured, cool and creative women.