Today the high-street is dominated by brands like Topshop and H&M that cater to the constantly changing trends of young people. Its easy to see the appeal of this market, especially during the current recession. A recent article in The Independent newspaper, evaluates how certain brands have fared during the first crucial months of ‘The Credit Crunch’ – “Retailers such as H&M typically cater to a younger customer base with fewer financial constraints… [Similarly] New Look, Peacocks and TK Maxx, are understood to be trading robustly nationwide” (Thompson, 2008).
This relationship between brands and young people has radically changed the speed of fashion cycles. Previously, youth-instigated trends like Teddy Boys, Mods, Hippies, Punks and Grunge all developed over a number of years, becoming fully fledged sub-cultures. Now trends are snapped up by brands and remarketed for the mainstream in a very short period of time. Thus, rendering them no longer ‘cool’, and the whole process starts again.
The residing appeal of collecting vintage clothes is that it is still the most effective way to create a totally independent, unique look. Although the high-street provides much in the way of bland mock-vintage fashion, it’s still possible to source original clothes in charity shops for half the price. High-street brands haven’t quite achieved the monopoly on that front just yet. Infact, better still, the ability to swap clothes as promoted by Covert Candy, sidesteps the capitalist nature of high-street fashion altogether.
Here endeth the long and ramblesome history lesson I’ve doled out over the last few posts. Hopefully thats provided some insight into the development of certain trends over the last fifty years and the current vintage trend.
The Modern High-Street
Today the high-street is dominated by brands like Topshop and H&M that cater to the constantly changing trends of young people. Its easy to see the appeal of this market, especially during the current recession. A recent article in The Independent newspaper, evaluates how certain brands have fared during the first crucial months of ‘The Credit Crunch’ – “Retailers such as H&M typically cater to a younger customer base with fewer financial constraints… [Similarly] New Look, Peacocks and TK Maxx, are understood to be trading robustly nationwide” (Thompson, 2008).
This relationship between brands and young people has radically changed the speed of fashion cycles. Previously, youth-instigated trends like Teddy Boys, Mods, Hippies, Punks and Grunge all developed over a number of years, becoming fully fledged sub-cultures. Now trends are snapped up by brands and remarketed for the mainstream in a very short period of time. Thus, rendering them no longer ‘cool’, and the whole process starts again.
The residing appeal of collecting vintage clothes is that it is still the most effective way to create a totally independent, unique look. Although the high-street provides much in the way of bland mock-vintage fashion, it’s still possible to source original clothes in charity shops for half the price. High-street brands haven’t quite achieved the monopoly on that front just yet. Infact, better still, the ability to swap clothes as promoted by Covert Candy, sidesteps the capitalist nature of high-street fashion altogether.
Here endeth the long and ramblesome history lesson I’ve doled out over the last few posts. Hopefully thats provided some insight into the development of certain trends over the last fifty years and the current vintage trend.