But with our exit from the EU looming and trade deals unconfirmed, who knows whether we’ll still be dashing to Zara for our high-fashion fix.
So, do we have a retailer on the High Street which can compete? Yes. At least on the fabulousness of its fashion and ability to get trends to us swiftly, if perhaps with a little bit less cachet…
I am putting forward the carefully considered proposition that the British fashion chain River Island is Zara’s equal at getting all the hottest and best runway looks into its stores (and online) in super-fast time, in excellent quality. Oh yes, and at very wallet-friendly prices.
And, yes, I’m aware I am going out on a limb here, because River Island does not have the same reputation as Zara. But stay with me. Let me convince you that, in the quest to look chic and on-trend without having to splash out the GDP of a small nation, a retailer’s reputation and cachet should matter less and the actual fashion should matter more. And, at River Island, it’s all about the fashion.
River Island happens not only to be British but it is Jewish, too. Well, Jewish-owned; it is part of the Lewis Trust Group, a major player in property and travel.
LTG was set up by the Lewis family whose first fashion offering was Lewis Separates in the 1950s (after fruit & veg in the ’40s). In 1965, Lewis Separates had grown to a 70-shop empire and Chelsea had become the heart of the nation’s pop-culture scene. Thus, Lewis Separates was rebranded as Chelsea Girl, becoming the UK’s first boutique chain offering fast fashion across the UK.
Chelsea Girl was again re-branded in 1988 to become River Island, now facing competition from Next, Topshop, et al, as well as High Street leviathans such as M&S re-positioning themselves to be more fashion forward.
The Sunday Times Rich List valued LTG at £2.125 billion last year, but it remains a family concern, with Ben Lewis, son of the late David Lewis (of Eilat and Isrotel fame) and nephew of founder Bernard Lewis, now 92, at the helm. He’s held the post of River Island CEO since 2010 and is investing heavily in online sales.
All of River Island’s design is done in house at its steel-and-gleaming -glass HQ on the western fringes of London, a practice that began decades ago with its precursor Chelsea Girl. Today’s 110-strong design team, led by design director Naomi Dominique, is one of the largest of any UK fashion retailer.
Setting aside the possibility that River Island (or Chelsea Girl) actually invented the process of getting runway trends into stores fast, we are left with the puzzling notion of why Zara is perceived as being “appropriate” for the, ahem, mature customer, while River Island is perceived as mainly for young customers. It is puzzling because Zara and River Island do largely the same thing, for largely the same market.
I suspect, therefore, that most of this gulf in perception lies with presentation; Zara stores offer a more age-neutral and up-scale environment (spacious and brightly lit with merchandise cleverly set out in “stories”), while River Island stores have a distinctly buzzy, slightly chaotic vibe.
The good news is that, despite this difference, there’s plenty at River Island (both in-store and online, especially online) to appeal to fashionistas of all ages.
The UK brand’s Spring/Summer 2019 collection features, of course, all the key trends. Most are perfectly wearable by a 50-plus woman as well as by a 15-year-old, depending on the styling, obvs.
Two of the biggest trends are Utility and Print. Utility includes jumpsuits, boiler suits, flared jeans and cargo pants, in denim, camo khaki and other work-wear fabrics/colours. And as print continues to be a key component in every chic wardrobe, there is pattern aplenty, with midi skirts, midi dresses, trousers, blouses and shirts crafted from an array of prints including floral, geometric, spot, paisley and animal. There are also Chanel-inspired boucle jackets, shackets (the shirt-jacket hybrid), trench coats and blazers (some of which have matching trousers allowing us to create a trouser suit, another of the season’s essentials).
All S/S19 details are there: frills, ruffles, buttons, sleeve-interest, paper-bag-waists, midis, pleats. And all S/S 19 colours, too, so there is lots of beige, plenty of paint-box bright shades and pastels and a generous dash of white and cream.
Everything is cut in the season’s “hot” silhouette, which is still a bit slouchy and oversized. Unless, of course, it’s skinny and fitted.
On the topic of cut, I should point out that River Island do not cut with generosity, so if you like a “slouchy” silhouette or just don’t like anything too close-fitting, buy a size larger. And at Zara, too.
Where River Island is unrivalled (even by Zara) is for its amazing arm candy and the perfectly on-trend pair of shoes, at a price that makes us happy to donate them to All Aboard after a single season. For S/S19, these include a circular, beige, woven cross-body bag (£28), a Versace-inspired, lion-head cross-body bag (£26), a bamboo handle lock-front bag in orange at £44, slip-on leopard-print trainers (£26), tan leather, block-heel mules with chain-trim (£48) and backless loafers in gold leather, (£50).
With this history and all this on sale, let’s admit that it might be time to reset the fashionista default button to our home-grown chain, River Island.
Jan Shure is co-founder of SoSensational.co.uk, the fashion website for 50-plus women
