Who’s the king of the British high street? Let’s have a look at the companies who have be thriving forward and staying strong in this economic recession. First comes to no surprise comes from the current largest retailer Inditex is their money making brand Zara. Who have taken over the international retail market, with stores spanning through China and the US giving them increasing sales. The key to Zara is being fashion-aware but never too out there and priced affordably but not too cheap.
Next is a retailer who has probably taken a back seat in the British High Street for a while is Whistles but has come back since Jane Sheperherdson who was the former Topshop director took over in 2008 and creating a mature, minimal but feminine aesthetic. Whistles have then seen in a rise in their sales and by providing their consumer with a balance of clothes which are not too high fashion for the regular folk but at great quality.
John Lewis is one of Britain’s biggest department stores has also seen a nice increase in sales as we could tell with their lengthy endearing TV commercials. I guess it’s true you have to spend money to make money but it also helped being the official department store of the Olympics & Paralympics. John Lewis also benefited from the Diamond Jubilee but putting aside the nation’s celebrations which have helped them boost sales, they have moved forward with collaborating with London Fashion Week designer Alice Temperley on the Somerset range. Proven much success as the collection became the fastest selling brand launch in the store’s history.
Might not exactly be on the high street literally but there is no stopping the internet fashion powerhouse which is ASOS. Only having launched in 2000, the online store has been bookmarked by millions and with a 31% rise in this week sales proves that it’s still going strong and doesn’t seem like it will slow down as they have expanded worldwide shipping. Reason being ASOS presents their customers with affordable to luxury branded products with the mix of entry-level designers brands, high street and their own label. Basically having something for everyone is their success!
Another no surprise is H&M which is Hennes & Mauritz for short (for those who didn’t know) the Swedish brand is the second largest fashion retailer. Reasons being that H&M offers all the bases for the customers from very affordable clothing to then limited edition designer pieces. They keep up to date with fashion trends and have wide ranges to give and pioneer with high-street/designer collaborations which have seen sold out success nearly every time, like this year’s Versace range.
While Gap saw brighter days in the past seem they are picking it up again by going back to basics. The company are visiting its glory days by going back to their American classics and with the ne creative director coming in Rebekka Bay who was at COS it will hopefully continue to lead Gap back on its right path.
Now sadly brands and retailers who aren’t doing so well are Marks & Spencer who have seen a drop in sales. The cause is probably that they are slightly old fashion and out of touch in what their customers want. But there’s hope as the for Jaeger chief executive will be taking over as the New style director this month also their lingerie collection with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was its fastest-selling underwear collection ever.
French connection has definitely fallen off the radar and not doing so well due to the fact they aim for the middle age market and clothes are slightly overpriced and not a strong enough brand identity. Take their campaigns for example, FCUK campaign worked well for a cheeky 1990s consumer but new, almost philosophical tone – "This is the collection" – jars with stock that focuses on workwear and partydresses. Lower prices and a more cohesive ad-to-store identity would certainly help.
Finally a brand which rose quick might fall quick too, with only distressed hoodies and heavy logoed retro t shirts Superdry doesn’t seem like it can go any other way. It became the fastest growing fashion brands in the world by 2012 but with same designs pretty much maybe just in a slightly different colour just sort of gets boring and seem to have also caused their customers to grow tired of the brand. Not to ass one of the founders Theo Karpathios, left unexpectedly in August.
