I’m not going to mince my words here. Australian High Street fashion is lame.

Between Sportsgirl, Supre, Dotti and the Myer Basement all you get are generic garments that are at least three or four seasons behind real trends. Case in point, the rip-off rouche-sided shiney leggings stocked in all.

Comparatively, the Australian High Street is leagues behind international giants like H&M, TopShop and Zara, all of which produce both good quality and fashion forward designs season after season. From Zara’s current rock’n’roll blazers with margiela-esque shoulders to Topshop’s SS07 Balenciaga inspired structured skirts and tops, it’s no wonder the international High Street is considered such a goldmine by resourceful fashionistas and their more conservatively minded, frugally driven counterparts.

Moreover, designer collaborations are lacking the ‘wow’ factor here in Australia. I would expect such collections to provide fans of the higher brow Australian labels to be able to purchase abridged versions of their favourite designer’s works at heavily reduced prices, as they are overseas.

Instead, we see the label’s work being pillaged of all its uniqueness, and subsequently taking on the worst aspects of High Street fashion: poor quality, generic design and being behind the pulse.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater, I would love to see this turn around, nay, I hanker for this situation to get better, although I feel like the Australian High Street is up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Or sewing machine.

Our below par High Street is possibly down to the absolute brilliance of our local design talent. Countries like the UK and the US need huge corporate High Street chains because their local design is so painfully inaccessible. Their young design stars are impressively creative and trend-setting, yes, but the prices of their garments match those of established European fashion houses. For instance, you want that Alexander Wang blazer? That will be $1,500 US thanks. Or that Christopher Kane dress? Yep, OK, that will be 2,000 pounds. The international High Street compensates for the sheer expense of these pieces by democratizing fashion.

In Australia on the other hand, local designers give a taste of high fashion with a nifty little label for under AUD $1,000. And even that is a generous overstatement. Many of our top, young, innovative designers retail dresses at between $300-500. Labels like TV, Romance Was Born, Alpha60 and Antipodium offer both the classic and the avant garde at realistic prices.

It's precisely because these designers are relatively affordable that the High Street must perform better. High Street: a recession is the perfect time for you to shape up and snap up our few spare dollars with sharp, directional designs.

Have your say in the fora. Load a photo, leve a comment.
Best chain store fashion
Worst chain store fashion