Since the opening of its first Greater Vancouver store in 2007, H&M has been bridging the gap between “fashion-forward” and “affordability,” especially by offering designer capsule collections to further differentiate themselves as proprietors of “affordable high fashion.”
One of its major competitors, Zara also has its own point of difference in the form of a highly efficient supply chain. Because of the short amount of time in between drafting of new designs to the actual creation and supplying of stores with new inventory, Zara is able to provide where H&M falls short, dishing out new items weekly.
However, as of Thursday, a new fashion giant has entered the Vancouver market with both “newness every single week,” as well as being one of the few chain brands to have shown at London Fashion Week. As a fashion consumer, I would certainly agree that Topshop’s embodiment of both H&M and Zara’s major marketing factors has attracted my attention, positioning itself in my mind as “the best of both worlds”. Currently, being the only store in British Columbia, it also possesses the advantage of limited store supply, fueling market demand all the more.