When Topshop’s first runway show arrived at London Fashion Week in 2006, fashion critic Susannah Frankel wrote that the high street brand, “used to be so uncool, a byword for naff. Now it has become a catwalk star and is taking on New York.” In the following years, collaborations with Kate Moss and emerging designers fresh out of CSM elevated its status as a serious fashion player. Through its associations with high fashion, Topshop became the jewel in the high street’s crown, offering affordable, directional styles to teens and young adults who flocked there each weekend when IRL shopping was still worth reserving your Saturdays for.
Since then, collaborations between high street and high fashion brands have become commonplace. When H&M paired up with Mugler and Rabanne this year, no one was surprised. Zara’s recent collab with celebrity stylist Harry Lambert just launched at Dover Street Market. Pretty Little Thing teamed up with Naomi Campbell. COS now shows at New York Fashion Week. Even Shein has their own live-streamed runway show. In short, the high street has never felt more high fashion. Fast fashion brands are rushing to recreate the glitz and glamour of the luxury sphere with the hopes that some of its prestige will rub off on them, making their products more desirable to consumers who keep up with fashion weeks via TikTok and Instagram.
Indeed, these platforms have given Gen Z more access to the luxury fashion world than ever before. Live streams, BTS peeks and influencer-filled guest lists mean that everyone is invited to have a front-row seat online. “Fast fashion realised that luxury fashion is being increasingly exposed to a younger audience,” sustainable fashion expert Brett Staniland says. “We see TikTokers at fashion week now and that means their audience is watching runway shows.” The mid-2000s, when nascent high fashion collaborations from Topshop, H&M and Target were born, was a similar era of increased visibility for luxury fashion. Style.com launched in 2000 and a wave of style blogs followed, allowing access to fashion week for those outside the industry as had never been seen before.
This initial explosion of online fashion discourse in the 00s, which is only heightened today, has evidenced the value in being part of the conversation. Quietly dropping new collections online and in-store doesn’t cut it anymore. An influencer-filled runway show creates much more buzz. High street brands have watched fashion week become the subject of extensive social media discourse, and they want in. “Many mid-market brands have realised the importance of becoming part of the large and growing social conversations around fashion weeks,” trend forecaster Tiffany Hill says. “They’re keen to reach their audiences in new ways and engaging with influencer audiences is a way to increase sales and engagement.”
When high fashion brands go viral and reach beyond social media fashion communities, it’s often because a gimmicky runway or front row moment has been turned into a meme. Whereas, when fast fashion brands go viral, it’s usually because a new revelation regarding the poor treatment of their garment workers has been revealed. As such, high street brands are increasingly aware of the stigmas associated with their products and practices, and of the possibility of distracting consumers from these issues by deploying familiar high fashion marketing strategies, such as using glossy campaigns starring supermodels. “I think the easiest way to greenwash is by not saying anything at all and making your product look amazing,” Brett says, noting a recent campaign from one of the world’s largest high-street retailers “styled by one of the top stylists using all the world’s best supermodels. When you see it, you completely forget what the materials are. You forget where it’s made or how much it is. You just think it looks absolutely amazing.”
The prices are also reflecting this shift towards high fashion on the high street. Pieces from H&M’s Rabanne collection soared up to £549.99. Meanwhile, a leather coat from Zara could set you back £579. High street brands aren’t only collaborating with high fashion brands, they’re creeping up to their price points too. This might seem like an odd move in the midst of a cost of living crisis, but Tiffany notes that “nearly a third of consumers are spending the same amount on luxury as on non-essentials.” For those who can afford to invest, the draw of luxury is bigger than ever, as trends like ‘quiet luxury’ attest. “It’s predicted that around 30% of buyers will increase their spending on luxury items and Gen Z are outspending Gen X because they view luxury as currency,” Tiffany adds.
The high street’s attempts at imitating high fashion can be a form of greenwashing, but ultimately, investment pieces will always be slightly more sustainable, even if the materials they’re made from and the conditions in which they are made aren’t always that much different from the cheaper versions. “If you’re willing to part with a lot of money, you’re more likely to keep it and you’re more likely to resell it,” says Brett. “It’s more likely to stay in circularity longer.” There’s a rampant resale appetite for any H&M designer collaboration, for instance, so pieces are unlikely to get thrown away after only a few wears.
Clearly, there’s a hunger for these collaborations. Those who have the money are willing to invest in pieces from high-street brands that have that high fashion stamp of approval and this setup is mutually beneficial for the brands involved. “Collaborations create something totally unique and impossible to replicate,” brand consultant Elizabeth Stiles says. “They also serve as a great customer acquisition tool to broaden their audience by cross-pollinating each other’s communities.”
However, consumer expert Kate Hardcastle notes how maintaining a luxury image as a high-street brand can be a never-ending task. “You’re only ever as good as your last campaign,” she says. “There is a potential saturation point. The more it is done, the more commonplace it becomes. Unveiling the next Kate, Naomi or Kardashian collaboration can potentially leave consumers thinking this has all been done before.” In a bid to keep ahead of the tide, brands like Zara and H&M have been announcing luxury collaborations at an ever-increasing rate. In the past year, alongside Harry Lambert, Zara has collaborated with supermodel Kaia Gerber and photographer Steven Meisel. Meanwhile, H&M’s Mugler and Rabanne collabs were only six months apart.
Ultimately, high fashion collaborations are a smart business move for fast fashion brands and, as such, they’re going nowhere anytime soon. These collabs elevate high street brands and make them seem more desirable while still mostly offering more accessible price points. “This shift reflects an acknowledgment that consumers are seeking more than just products,” Kate adds. “They’re looking for an identity and a narrative that resonates with their personal aspirations.” As long as marketing and social media trends keep promoting conspicuous consumption and telling us that you can buy your way into a certain lifestyle, high street brands will continue to jump through hoops to appear more aspirational – all while sweeping the stigma of fast fashion under the rug.
