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The man who headed the design team of England manager Gareth Southgate’s World Cup waistcoat says M&S sales of the infamous undercoat have since doubled.

England’s young and inexperienced team surpassed expectations at this summer’s 2018 World Cup after reaching the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1996.

But it wasn’t just the nation’s footballing exploits that were making the rounds but also the emergence of the most unlikely of fashion icons.

The image of Southgate, 47, sporting the smart navy waistcoat, blue shirt and striped tie on the touchlines gripped the nation with waistcoat fever and many fans duly followed suit in wearing the waistcoat to honour the man at the helm.

“It’s been great to see customers getting behind the waistcoat, and supporting the team by wearing it,” James Doidge, who is head of design at M&S Menswear, told KentOnline.

“Since the World Cup began, sales across all our waistcoats have doubled.”

Such was the media frenzy that it even led to the The Museum of London and the National Football Museum in Manchester squaring up to each other over who has the right to display the waistcoat. And on the eve of England’s semi-final defeat to Croatia, thousands of pupils across the country went to school wearing ‘Southgate waistcoats’.

“It’s been an exciting time. We are proud of the team, and it’s been great seeing our colleagues, customers and many across the nation wearing waistcoats in support of the team.

“We designed a three-piece navy suit, pure cotton shirt, pure silk stripe tie and brogues for the team to wear at this year’s World Cup.

M&S - who operate a host of stores across Kent including outlets in Canterbury, Westwood Cross, Ashford, Whitstable, Sittingbourne, Hempstead Valley and Maidstone - have been the official tailor of the men’s England football team since 2007.

“We wanted to keep the design simple, smart and classic,” he continued.

“Navy is always popular for tailoring, and for the jacket and waistcoat design we added subtle details such as a jacquard football lining, and red white and blue stitching inside.

“The pure merino wool fabric for the suit and waistcoat was woven in Yorkshire. There is a choice of fits including – tailored, regular and slim.”