Designer fashion at High Street prices

Fashionista is looking forward to the summer in the knowledge that she will be able to add some desirable designer pieces to her summer wardrobe without the designer price tags - and given the continuing credit crunch this has to be a good thing.

Next week Fashionista is poised to visit H&M to snap up items from the latest collaboration between the high street cut price giant and Matthew Williamson and has now pencilled in 7 May in her diary too as a key shopping day. Why? Because that is when, courtesy of Marks & Spencer, Fashionista will be able to spruce up her summer wardrobe with a few more choice designer items at bargain prices. Zandra Rhodes is the latest designer to join forces with a high street store to produce a capsule collection for exclusive sale by the high street store.

These collaborations must, Fashionista thinks, be a successful formular for all involved. The designers benefit from publicity for their brands and additional revenue (to be welcomed at any time but especially now), the stores get increased footfall and takings and the kudos of being associated with a designer and Fashionista and her friends feel less guilty about supplementing their wardrobes with designer pieces. But one of the key features of a successful collaboration of this type is that the capsule collection is time limited and this enhances its exclusivity. This also means that realistically a designer cannot do repeated collaborations with different stores. The alternative may be to have a long term association with one store, but that is likely to have more downsides than upsides for the designers - in particular for their brands.

So, a one off short term collaboration may well be the best way to go and this means both designer and high street store have to use care when choosing who they work with. But for now Fashionista says "roll on May!" and wonders which designer will appear in the High Street next . . . . .