As students we’re naturally drawn to a good bargain, so I can imagine there were mixed views when ASOS announced the expansion of their Primark collection.
The site sells designer products – pieces from Love Moschino, Paul Smith, Current/Elliott and Orla Kiely – alongside high-street brands such as River Island and its own-branded ‘value’ line clothing, providing by far the biggest range for price and quality across the internet. Personally, I tend to use ASOS as a ‘compare the market’ for fashion, taking advantage of flash sales that include upper High Street and boutique brands such as Whistles and Five Floor, but financial reports state that it’s the cheapest catwalk-mimicking styles that are making the most money.
If you’ve read me before you’ll know I value quality over quantity when it comes to fashion: what’s the point in wasting your money filling your wardrobe with the latest styles when the season changes every three months?
It’s much better value for money to either stick to one style that flatters your figure and lifestyle ; nobody needs Balmain’s leather trousers and spiked Louboutins in the countryside, or to purchase less daring transitional items that might last you at least two fashion weeks, not to mention the moral grey area that comes with purchasing from shops like Primark – remember the factory explosion in Bangladesh in April that killed 300? These brands can offer you a cheap way to copy the catwalk styles, provided you’re willing to skip silk tailoring for polyester blend and a generic fit.
Saying that, it’s not too hard to go designer on a high street budget; H&M’s 2011 collaboration with Versace went down a storm, offering customers premium-quality pieces of the brand at a fraction of the price and mirroring the success of previous collections with Lanvin, Matthew Williamson and Jimmy Choo.
Egotistical golden-boy Tom Ford recently lost his cool with Zara after they released several “cheap knock-offs” of his Rihanna-inspired SS13 collection mere weeks after it appeared on the catwalk. If you’re not sure you’d ever want to buy anything Tom Ford-inspired – you need to bring your passport and a bottomless Amex to even enter his London flagship, hello?! – then there’s the Designer Outlet, the Mulberry outlet, and York’s fantastic vintage scene to check out. Priestley’s is a little overpriced, granted, but there’s plenty more to go around; I purchased a Lanvin satchel last year from the British Heart Foundation for £29.
All it takes is a little dedication (and a hell of a lot of patience) but, if all else fails, you could always give up Willow for a term and see how much you save…