Fast fashion prices to rise
We've never had it so good when it comes to fashion shopping. For more than a decade we've enjoyed snapping up ultra-cheap clothes and filling up our wardrobes in the process.
But it's unlikely our wardrobes will get any bigger, as the era of fast fashion at rock-bottom prices could be coming to an end.
Shoppers are being warned not to expect to continue seeing the dramatic falls in price they have witnessed in the past. Indeed, some items will get more expensive.
This is partly because we've all got too many clothes, according to retail consultancy firm Verdict.
It says UK shoppers are "saturated" with clothes, with the average woman now buying twice as many items per year as she did in 1995.
For this reason retailers will find it difficult to keep ramping up the volume of clothes they sell, Verdict says.
Instead they will start making clothes which cost more but which are "aspirational or different".
And Verdict warns that prices are likely to rise anyway because all the savings from moving production to countries such as Bangladesh and China have already been had.
Clothes prices in the UK dropped by an average 10 per cent between 2003 and 2007.
This was largely due to the success of budget fashion on sale in supermarkets and value retailers such as Primark. Traditional high street chains responded to the competition by pushing their own prices down, according to Verdict.
These rock-bottom prices were underpinned by retailers sourcing cheap products from abroad.
Verdict predicts the 12-year period of clothing price deflation will end by 2010.
Womenswear is expected to bear the brunt of inflation, with average prices increasing by 4.7 per cent between 2008 and 2012, although menswear still has potential to get very slightly cheaper.
Have we got too many clothes? Is your wardrobe out of control? Contact Maria Cusine at m.cusine@expressandstar.co.uk or write to her at Express & Star, 51-53 Queen Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1ES.
