Tuesday 27 May 2008

The Devil Wears Primark

I love my fashion and I like good quality garments that are reasonably priced. Shops like Mango, Zara, Oasis, H&M and the divine asos.com are my cup of tea. I will put my hands up and say honestly that I have never been a fan of Primark. What with their cheap and dubious quality products. Last year I was very bemused and shocked when thousands of so called fashionistas or bargainistas hysterically descended upon Oxford Street to get their grubby mitts on items in the new store. The launch of what is now the flagship store of 'Primarni' became a pivitol of cheap and throw away fashion with chains such as TK Maxx and Peacocks following suit. However as we all know, with every success comes a backlash and boy did it sting when the eco tree huggers came out in full force demanding to know exactly how these shops could sell clothes at such cheapo prices and still make a profit. Accusations of child labour and sweat shops in Asia were bandied about around the same time as every Tom, Dick and Harry became very concerned about the plight of the Ozone layer. Pretty soon every council in the country had a green agenda that told us to recycle, recycle and recycle. Celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman and Gwyneth Paltrow attached their name to eco causes and books such as Green is the New Black by Tamsin Blanchard sold by the bucket loads. Pretty soon ethical fashion was cool and the bargain basement clothes were not. Channel 4 are hot on the heels of this amazing transition with a new show called The Devil Wears Primark, where they send the over exposed and over rated model cum presenter, Alexa Chung to investigate the goings on at Primark. They even go as far as to set up a fashion sweat shop in the West End that is staffed with volunteers to see how they cope under such conditions. I have only seen the adverts for this show but it looks like a corker.

The Devil Wears Primark airs this Sunday at 9.00pm on Channel 4.

7 cool comments:

MsQuiche said...

Ooooh I'm soooo scared to watch this show. I adore Primark. Admittedly the quality is cheap, but I hate the idea of spending copious amounts of cash on throwaway faddish fashions, so for this very reason Primani is just up my street. But I always suspected there was some kind 'sweat shop' activity behind the cheap prices, just didn't want to admit it, Lol...I'll be watching this Sunday... reluctantly.

Brown Girl Gumbo said...

I've never heard of Primark, but the show sounds interesting. I guess they won't be showing it over here in the states. :-(

MsQuiche said...

Brown girl, you don't know what your missing girl... Imagine being able to pick up all the season trends for on average £8-12 ($16-24). Okay so it might fall apart two or three washes later, but like I said - I don't really believe in paying over the odds for clothes that will only last a couple of seasons at best.

Ondo Lady said...

I think Primark is associated with your store called Pennys.

Anonymous said...

i'm not convinced that shops which sell at higher prices source their products that ethically either.

i can remember shops like dorothy perkins, top shop, etc being targeted in campaigns against sweatshop labour.

this was some time ago now, things *might* have changed...

if we're talking ethical, using less of the earth's resources and also creating an individual look, i prefer to buy secondhand (charity shops or eBay) and customise

i used to love primark tho, especially the undewear

The Indignatory said...

I think it's interesting to note that msquiche seems to be fully aware that what she is buying is a throwaway fad, yet she continues to do so. Why not spend a little more money on something that you can wash and maintain, which acutally costs less in the medium term. I'm entirely sick of people choosing to look the other way about where these products come from so that they can indulge in the selfish luxury of cheap shopping thrills and throw-away clothes.

Ondo Lady said...

Thedevil, you are entitled to your opinion and I take your point but on the otherhand people are allowed to purchase whatever garments they wish without being rebuked by others. Anyway migratingfish raises a good point when she states that more expensive shops are no more ethical than the cheaper ones.