Once a bastion of affordability and accessibility, the high street is now in the throes of an identity crisis. Where shoppers once popped in for polyester dresses and trend-led basics they’re increasingly met with limited-edition collections designed by luxury creative directors and price tags creeping into four figures.
As aspirational shoppers tighten their purse strings amid a luxury slowdown, mass brands are racing to court them — offering elevated design and heritage-adjacent storytelling. As a result, we’ve suddenly entered “the era of the £1,000 high street coat”, as highlighted by British Vogue, which noted various styles on the market, including Cos’s shearling-lined nappa leather jacket (£1,000) and Mango’s fur-effect coat made from sheep leather (£1,110). While high street coats may have set us back a couple of hundred pounds in the past, these elevated price tags more readily resemble those of premium players like Toteme, Khaite and Max Mara.
High street prices have reached a new high, thanks to the popularity of oversized leather jackets and big fluffy coats — with some priced at £1,000 or more. But are they worth the price tag?
The message is clear: the high street is trying to level up. Over the last year, we’ve seen a surge in high street labels tapping luxury creative directors. Uniqlo appointed Clare Waight Keller, formerly of Chloé and Givenchy, for its Uniqlo : C line in 2024. Gap named American fashion designer Zac Posen creative director last year. And just last week, Other Stories announced former Diane von Furstenberg designer Jonathan Saunders as its chief creative officer. Even Forever 21 is angling for an upgrade with Luxe XX1, a new capsule influenced by TikTok’s office siren aesthetic. Topshop is also eyeing a revival, with mysterious Instagram posts stating “We missed you too” and “We’ve been listening” hinting at a return.
“Premiumisation is increasingly being used to justify price increases and set brands apart in a discount-heavy market,” says Krista Corrigan, retail analyst at retail intelligence firm EDITED. H&M increased its premium offering via its Studio Line, a limited-edition, fashion-forward capsule collection first launched in 2014. Designed to showcase elevated design and higher quality materials, Studio Line has since expanded significantly: its offering grew by 98 per cent between Spring/Summer 2024 and AW24, with average prices rising by 66 per cent year-on-year, according to EDITED data. H&M has also invested heavily in huge-scale talent-led activations, partnering with Charli XCX during the peak of Brat summer, for example. Zara, meanwhile, has taken a collaboration-heavy approach, releasing high-profile collections with the likes of Stefano Pilati, Harry Lambert and Kate Moss. The result? Collaborative pieces cost, on average, 59 per cent more than standard Zara items in 2024, per EDITED.
But while the high street may be dressing the part of a more premium player, this transformation doesn’t arrive without tension. If you’re spending £1,000 on a coat, are you looking for elevated quality — or emotional connection? If the latter, do these brands really have the cultural cachet or aesthetic resonance of direct-to-consumer labels like The Frankie Shop or Toteme? For many high street customers, price, size availability, seamless returns and decent service still trump the presence of a marquee designer or a Charli XCX-fronted campaign.
There’s also a risk of alienating their core bases. As ultra-fast fashion brands PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo attempt their own ‘elevated’ pivots — framing their rebrands around “timeless essentials” while keeping prices competitive — the battle for the former high street shopper is intensifying.
Why the shift and is it working?
“What we see happening in retail today is a direct reflection of the socioeconomic changes we are witnessing in society. From about 1980 onwards, we’ve seen incomes among the bottom 80 per cent of earners remain relatively stagnant relative to inflation, while incomes among the top 20 per cent have grown disproportionately,” says Doug Stephens, founder of consultancy Retail Prophet.
This widening income gap has hollowed out the once-thriving middle market. Mid-tier retailers, once staples of the high street, have been squeezed from both sides: budget-conscious consumers gravitating towards ultra-fast fashion giants like Primark, Shein and Temu, while the affluent splurge on luxury brands with little overlap in customer base.
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Caught in this liminal space, many brands have faced a strategic crossroads: drop down-market and fight for margins in the discount arena, or push upmarket in a bid to align themselves with luxury. On the high street, this pivot has materialised as ‘premiumisation’, which manifests as a shift in pricing, aesthetics, store experience and marketing tone. Mango has invested in upscale lines like Selection and Capsule, in addition to its own rebrand, H&M catapulted its minimalist sister brand Cos into more prominent retail positions, and even M&S has revamped its fashion ranges with sleeker silhouettes and influencer partnerships with Lauren Bakewell and Tara Griffin, alongside capsules with supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Yet many of these upgraded collections still exist in a blurry middle ground — neither affordable enough to attract price-conscious shoppers, nor prestigious enough to win over luxury consumers. The challenge is further compounded by Gen Z’s contradictory demands, including ethical sourcing, timeless style and sustainability, but at TikTok-trend speed and low price points. While premiumisation might signal quality or exclusivity to older millennials or Gen Xers, for younger consumers, it can feel like mere performative polish — more branding than substance.
It’s why for all the marketing polish, the commercial returns are mixed. H&M reported a dramatic 53 per cent drop in profit in March, attributing the decline to recent store closures and continued pressure on consumer finances. Zara also had a slow start to 2025, with sales growth well behind analyst expectations at only 4 per cent compared with 10.5 per cent during the same period a year prior.
Mango, by contrast, saw an 8 per cent increase in sales for fiscal year 2024, citing strong performance from its more premium lines; as did Gap, with sales growing every quarter. The differing results can be attributed to Mango’s historically refined aesthetic, while H&M traditionally operated further from the luxury space, making its efforts a tougher sell to an older consumer. Whereas Gap has succeeded thanks to a viral campaign with Parker Posey, Timothée Chalamet’s custom Gap Studio look for the Oscars nominees dinner, as well as successful collaborations with Dôen and Harlem’s Fashion Row.
So how can more high street players justify elevated price points? And what can they do to capture aspirational shoppers when they’re at such a scale? The answer lies in offering something online can’t.
Rethinking the high street
“The problem facing most retailers today is finding something to offer consumers that they can’t find elsewhere,” says Retail Prophet’s Stephens. “Whether that be the product or the experience of buying the product, all retailers today are facing an ever-expanding wave of commodification. Retailers who manage to carve out a unique and clearly defined offering for shoppers that can’t be had anywhere else will thrive while others fall by the wayside.”
The high street isn’t just about shopping; it’s about place. And place, unlike products, cannot be commodified. “High streets serve a different purpose,” says Clare Bailey, founder of industry consultancy Retail Champion. “They provide community facilities and services you can’t do online. You can’t get your haircut online — well, not yet anyway.”
As a result, the stores that are thriving are offering presence, experience and personalisation, says Bailey. Whether it’s in-store styling, made-to-order items, or even on-the-spot tailoring, successful retailers are finding ways to make the in-person visit feel worthwhile. Take Uniqlo, for instance, which has rolled out free tailoring services in select stores, or Nike’s experiential concept stores, which offer customisation, workshops and community events. These experiential elements also help brands connect and build loyalty with less affluent consumers by lowering barriers to entry. It’s a clever strategy as high street labels elevate their prices. While some shoppers may not be able to afford the premium prices, they can still grab a coffee, attend an event, or purchase an entry-level item and enjoy the space. It’s a page straight out of luxury’s playbook, as seen through Prada Caffès or Louis Vuitton Murakami pop-ups.
What’s more, “a £1,000 coat feels more justifiable in-store where you can try it on and even be offered free alterations, compared to buying it online where that physical engagement is lost”, says Bailey. “People buy for people,” she adds, emphasising that feeling special and being known by a store adds emotional value to a purchase.
This demand for more participatory retail aligns with the work of Fashion Roundtable founder and CEO Tamara Cincik. She co-authored a report on Prosumption; the idea of building community agency through the purposeful use of underutilised retail space. “A consumer survey by PWC suggested that the responsibility to revive the high street shouldn’t fall solely on traditional retail,” she writes. “Meanwhile, the Centre for Retail Research proposed that repurposing large, obsolete stores into hubs for services like clothing repair, cafés and concessions could provide a solution.”
What emerges is a vision of the high street that is not just a commercial zone, but a civic one that reflects and responds to its people. “A lot of big retailers forget that global is the sum of many locals,” says Bailey. “Each place uniquely serves its catchment, whether that’s people who live there or people who work there. Each place must have its own identity.” Indeed, there’s a vast difference between a flagship store on Oxford Street and one in a smaller city like Lincoln or Nottingham. Demographics differ. Footfall patterns diverge. Consumer needs and expectations are shaped by hyperlocal context. The idea of ‘one size fits all’ no longer applies.
“Retailers could still operate megastores or chains with thousands of outlets,” Bailey explains, “but each one needs to reflect the community it sits in. The storefront might look different. The product mix might change. The way it markets itself might shift, too.”
Branding also matters not just for stores, but for streets. “People visit a place when they understand what it’s known for,” says Bailey. “Think about Manchester’s Northern Quarter — it’s cool, funky and happening. Hatton Garden in London is known for jewellery. These places have identities.”
The future of the high street may not lie in chasing luxury or replicating e-commerce’s conveniences. Instead, it may depend on becoming something that can’t be digitised: a destination with personality and a space that reflects the people who move throughout it.
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