Fast Fashion Proves it's an Effective Strategy as H&M , Zara make Top 5 Most Valuable Fashion Brands of 2014 List

David Beckham x H&M Bodywear Spring 2014

H&M following an impressive year where they've focused on an aggressive expansion plan especially in the US and China come only second to Louis Vuitton of the fashion brands on Interbrands best global brands of 2014 list. Another high street giant Zara are behind H&M and Nike in the 4th place further proving that fast fashion is an effective strategy that sets design-driven brands on a highway to business growth. 

H&M expanded its offering in the last couple of years to include H&M Conscious Collection, H&M Studio (which shows in Paris every year)and H&M Sport where they collaborated with tennis player Tomas Berdych on an active-wear line. It's designer collaborations which is in it's 10th year and has featured work from Karl Lagerfeld to most recently Alexander Wang fulfills the brands promise of quality clothes at affordable prices.

Zara Man May 2014 Lookbook

Zara's parent company Inditex recently posted it's lowest profit for the year since 2001 but this brand put the 'fast' in fast fashion through it's vertically integrated supply chain which is only second to H&M in terms of size globally. 

However it has made significant investment in infrastructure and updating its stores this year which might be a pointer as to the low revenue levels since stores had to be closed for renovation loosing millions daily in sales. This investment would definitely pay off as the brand sees it's physical stores as the hallmark of its selling strategy, avoiding large scale advertising or celebrity collaborations.

Zara.com

Both H&M and Zara have focused a lot on e-commerce recently and these have started to pay off and continue to ensure sustainable demand and brand loyalty which are some of the key factors interbrand used in its evaluation. See the full list here. 

Zara Man Soft October Collection

Zara has released a slew of flowing silhouette looks instore and online. To be honest this time last year, I'd walk into Zara stores and not find anything to buy but in the past 2 months I've bought about 4 sweat bottoms from their soft collection.

In my opinion they come closest to giving you that luxe feel of all the other high street brands.

Zara Men May Lookbook

One of my weekly rituals is walking into the Zara Flagship store on Oxford street on my way back from uni. They are on point this season with their range of witty, uber cool excellent copies. I've marked out a couple of pieces i would be adding to my fashion week wardrobe.

These Zara Leather Sandals are Pushing all My Buttons

New in at Zara this week, this baby has got me swooning and jumping from pole to pole like a monkey. Going absolute bananas for these shoes and i can see them fitting well into my Milan Fashion Week wardrobe. As i sit here, munching some tasty commercial Walnut cake from Tesco i'm already looking past my exams which ideally should just come so i can get it over with and properly plan my trip.