Fast Fashion and the
High End High Street
The high end high street sector focuses
more on quality than the need to
constantly bring out new collections.
For example, the mass market brand
H&M focuses on volume as they need
to produce large quantities at a
fast rate because they follow the
fast fashion model. They need to
design catwalk inspired products and
get them into stores each week as
quickly as they can to keep up with
the ever-changing fashion industry.
Whereas brands like H&M’s brand
child, COS, focus on quality, the
importance of investment pieces that
can be worn time after time. Upon its
arrival in the UK just prior to the
financial meltdown, what COS offered
was a long way away from the fast
fashion which was dominant at that
time. The brand proposed timelessly
classic but consciously current
pieces that don’t date or look tired.
COS brings out two collections per
year which are designed around 18
months before they reach the shop
floor. Unlike its parent company H&M,
COS states that it creates pieces
to last beyond the season. (COS, NO
DATE) By doing so, COS is trying to set
itself apart from other brands that
adhere to the fast fashion model.
Some of these include Mass Market
and Value Market brands such as Zara,
Topshop, Primark, H&M and Forever 21.
(COS, no date)
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