Crashing snob! It’s a one-stop shop for the middle-classes
WITH fashionable pleated midi-skirts, flattering bikinis, practical children’s clothes and beautifully packaged make-up, Primark has become a onestop shop for middle-class mothers.
Unlike M&S, which has floundered and grown increasingly out of touch with its customers, fashionable Primark lures in everyone from teenagers to middle-aged mums. Nor is it just for the budget conscious. A certain pride is to be had among the well-to-do for bagging a Primark bargain.
Primark is truly a store for the masses – 90 per cent of Britons own something from the shop.
So when Sir Bob Geldof lurched on stage at the family-friendly Brentwood Festival to sneer at those who buy its clothes, it only goes to show how spectacularly out of touch this millionaire rock star is.
Perhaps this crashing snob, who lives in splendour in Chelsea and is regularly seen dining on the exclusive Kings Road, isn’t familiar with Primark (there isn’t a shop local to him – his nearest stores are designer labels).
But he must be one of the only people in Britain who doesn’t have a Primark bargain lurking in his wardrobe. I, a former editor of a glossy magazine, own a whole raft of very serviceable Primark Tshirts while my teenage daughters have worked their way through piles of Primark shorts and tops throughout their childhood. And I often spot it being subtly worn among my middle-aged friends.
And no wonder. Because from its slinky £10 sun dresses to chic £10 saddle-bags, there’s almost no item in the shop that doesn’t merit a second glance.
The first Primark was opened in 1969 in Dublin and, after muddling along selling fairly bog-standard, mid-priced clothing, they hit their stride in the fast fashion crazy mid-2000s.
Primark started doing catwalk copies at implausibly cheap prices (£3 for a T-shirt, £8 jeans, £15 for a winter coat). It also benefited from the 2008 recession, when it became wildly crass to flash cash conspicuously on clothing. Smart career women openly boasted that they picked up ‘this wonderful dress in Primark’ as a way of showing off that they had a nose for a bargain, and the ability to make even the cheapest of clothing look good. Who cared that the quality meant it only lasted a few months? It was so cheap, it didn’t matter – and the quality often wasn’t noticeably different from the other High Street shops that charged ten times as much.
Fashionistas even took to calling it ‘Primarni’, a hybrid of ‘Primark’ and ‘Armani’ to make it sound classier. In 2007, the store opened its largest branch in Oxford Street and 3,000 women caused a stampede trying to get through its doors. Riot police were called.
However, when in 2009 it was revealed that Primark clothes were made in Indian sweatshops by children as young as 11, there was a huge backlash against the store.
Since then, it has committed to better ethical standards and has gone from strength-to-strength, stocking more upmarket lines.
For the families at Brentwood Festival, Sir Bob’s embittered abuse was a step too far. But knowing his track record, that snakeskin suit will be Tefloncoated. Perhaps next time he will pick his target more carefully.