The paradox of high street luxury

The paradox of high street luxury.

.... Disposable fashion may seem fabulous with prices that are often cheaper than a Grande Caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks, according to Vogue but there is no escaping its brutality

Affordable yet Designer; enough to blow fashion fans of their feet. Being able to afford Varscae, Marni, Richard Nicoll and Alice Temperly for a discounted price tag is enough to create long queues in front of H&M and Topshop. Disappointingly the hype of these collaborations usually overshadows the product.

With H&M announcing the launch of their very own luxury label called '& Other Stories' i have come to question whether it is possible to have high street luxury with affordable prices or not. Until this range hits the rails it is impossible to judge the quality of the garments; will it be made in the same sweatshops in Bangladesh, Turkey and China or in Fashion forward cities as Italy and France? 

Disposable fashion may seem fabulous with prices that are often cheaper than a Grande Caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks, according to Vogue but there is no escaping its brutality. As most people should be aware of, the consumer demands for 'cheap yet chic' has risen, making brands such as the Swedish fashion retailer, H&M, to promote 'high fashion, low cost' ethos for years by producing cheaper clothing even by the standards of fast-fashion. It’s a wonder as to how H&M manages to make a profitable business with price tags lower than a bottle of mascara. With endless hours of labor in these sweatshops its not yet possible for major labels to offer a 'living wage' yet still demand for mass production for their garments. However there has been little progress towards the payment of a living wage although Labour Behind The Label's 2011 report, Let's Clean Up Fashion has stated that the progress was not 'significant'. 

With the financial difficulties everyone has been forced into we have to think twice about what we spend our hard earned money on and being able to buy luxury items for less is a dream come true. It is not surprising that we dip into high street stores looking for designer knock offs at bargain prices and not worry about not being able to pay the bills. This new attitude towards fashion has made it possible for smaller business to survive as the demand for designer has dropped due to financial reason although it still is rather hard for new talents and business to survive the fashion market due to the likes of Sir Phillip Green and the constant hype Topshop receives by name such as Kate Moss and Nicola Roberts. 

For those who refuse to compromise between their consciousness and fashion, there are better alternatives such as up-and-coming designers like d.RA and Not Just A Label, where each garment is handcrafted. This is fundamentally about your consciousness, will you be willing to be a victim of fashion or be unique and not support the herd mentality of having 'designer labels'?