Just what makes Primark Top of the Shops?

12 April 2012

Cheap: Primark's printed smock dress, £8

Primark, an Irish upstart in the rag trade that is now a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, revealed earlier this week that profits were up by 22 per cent in the first half of the year, at £111million, and that it takes a staggering £1 in every £10 spent on clothes in the UK.

Now, I know I am a bit of a fusspot when it comes to fashion, and admit I had been far too snooty even to set foot in Primark before last autumn, when news broke that the store had overtaken Asda as the biggest retailer of "value" fashion.

But for someone who is used to rifling through the rails at Gucci, Prada and Chloe, I was pleasantly surprised during that first sortie: cashmere sweaters that beat M&S for price and quality, really good trenches and winter coats, and great fake leather shoes, boots and bags, at a fraction of the price I'm used to paying in Stella McCartney.

I queried at the time how on earth Primark could turn a profit at these prices, and was assured that it was all down to the sheer volume of its orders, its no-frills (I notice the shop still can't spell "fuchsia") approach, and that in fact Primark uses the same factories as M&S and Tesco, to name just two.

Hmmm. Before I come back to the ethics of Primark, let's have a rummage through what is on offer for women this summer.

First of all, there is virtually nothing smart or tailored for work. There is nothing my mum could wear.

I would also say that, if you are over 40, you would feel pretty silly in most of what is on offer.

But if you are in your teens or 20s, well, Primark is almost as good as Topshop for on-trend pieces inspired by the catwalk, and definitely cooler than M&S.

My pick for a twenty-something who can only dream of Prada and Gucci includes a box pleat, knee-length skirt in cream linen with a striped hem (nicely nautical, and only £10), several Fifties strapless prom dresses for £12 in either a block colour or monochrome print (very Gucci), a pretty cap-sleeved pale pink floral sheer tea dress, that could be Kate Moss at Topshop but is a tenth of the price, at only £12, and even comes with a modesty-preserving cream slip.

Great, too, is the up-to-the-minute tie-dyed skirt, the navy star print sun dress (very Chanel), and I like an olive combat pencil skirt, nicely to the knee, which is very MaxMara and quite smart.

Teenage girls are obviously in seventh heaven in this store. The denim or khaki shorts are great, with a chunky belt, and only £8.

I like, too, a green combat jacket with short sleeves, at £15, and the colourful tank tops, at £5.

Although I hate this summer's ubiquitous leopard-print chiffon, I spot lots of young women bagging armfuls of the stuff (a top is £8), which just shows what I know.

This is definitely not a shop for sharp urban wear, but where it does score very highly is in providing all you could possibly need for a beach holiday.

I like the jewel-coloured, spaghetti-strapped Ts with a hint of stretch, for £1.50 each, the white cheesecloth kaftans, the sun dresses, hundreds of them, and the rattan wedges and comfy flats.

I find much of the swimwear hideous, though - it reminds me of Per Una's over-fussy offerings of two years ago - but I do find one bikini I like: a brown and blue halterneck, for £6.

What else is commendable? The promised organic, eco-friendly cotton T- shirts (£3; again, how do they do it?) are now much in evidence.

The sizing is great, too, going up to 18, and with lots of extra-short fittings.

One shopper, Elaine, who is in her 40s and a size 14, says the sizes are accurate, and the cut flattering for a fuller figure.

(I dispute this view, though, when it comes to the underwear. I am with a big-busted friend, and she pronounces the bras far too foamy and unflattering. But I do find the briefs and sports bras fab.)

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I love, love, love a pair of brown faux leather covered-front sandals that, at £12, make me feel very silly for having spent nearly £500 on a similar pair by Bottega Veneta.

I would steer clear of the knitwear, which is synthetic and shapeless and already going all bobbly on the hanger (when I ask where the cashmere has gone, I am told it is available only in the London stores), and the over- decorated maxi dresses.

I hate the summer coats, which are still doing the Sixties retro big-buttoned swing thing.

I'd avoid the faux leather bags, which all look quite nasty; far better are the colourful beach bags.

The casual menswear is great, with lots of oversized skater T- shirts, hoodies and giant combat shorts (£8), and great aviator shades for £2, but the tailoring is a disaster, all shiny and acrylic, and vastly inferior to that at M&S.

The shirts feel as cheap as they are - £3.

Most of the shoppers I speak to say they always buy jeans here, and so I try on an inky straight-legged pair with a low-slung waist, and I have to say they are lovely, and only £6.

"They really last, too," says my new friend Elaine. How long? "About a year."

Herein lies the rub. I still have Levis I bought in the late Seventies and Eighties: unlike me, they have become more gorgeous with age.

I wonder whether all this cheap, disposable fashion has skewed our idea of what is or is not good value.

I have a quick scoot round the childrenswear department, and although I find it hideous and appliquÈd, a mum I speak to says she now shops here rather than at Marks for her sons, given that the T-shirts are £1.25.

I ask if she feels guilty spending so little on her children's clothes, given that in all probability the woman who made them cannot afford to send her child to school, and why on earth doesn't she buy just buy one better-quality pair of jeans, say, and salve her conscience?

"Because with two pairs you can always have one pair in the wash."

So, Primark is pretty good, all in all, and a lifesaver in these difficult times.

But I have just returned from a fact-finding tour of garment factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where women are paid the equivalent of £3 a week for a 12-hour day, with typically two days off a month.

I visited the home of one factory worker. It consisted of two sheets of corrugated iron. She had left her children behind in their rural village in order to find work.

I am not saying that we should boycott Primark, but I am asking the big retailers to do more than merely adhere to the Ethical Trading Initiative.

The factory worker I met might be paid the minimum wage, but it is not a living wage.

How about earmarking some of that £111 million profit to build, ooh, I don't know, a school? You never know, even more harried mums might desert M&S and beat down Primark's door instead.

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