As we see many more supermarkets branch out into the clothing market, we're starting to wonder as consumers whether this greater accessibility to fashion is doing great things to the industry or instead just adding further saturation with these new 'not so fashion associated' brands.
This time it is Lidl who is causing a stir on the high street with their introduction of the £5.99 pair of jeans, putting major pressure on fellow supermarket clothing brands such as Tesco and ASDA (F+F and George) who sell their jeans just over double the price of Lidl's new fashion revelation and are therefore, facing some great competition.
It comes to something when even Primark, a mass market brand that attains the value of being accessible to everyone are selling their jeans at just over ten pounds and are more expensive than Lidl's denim product. There must be a catch surely?
As shiny coated and dream like this may seem, because to be fair who does not love a bargain when it comes to clothing, it is found that in fact these jeans are being sold at such a low price because the workers in Bangladesh, who are creating these garments, are only being paid a disgusting two pence for every pair of jeans that they each make. Therefore, believe it or not LIDL are making a great profit with their £5.99 jeans when these workers do not even see more than six pounds within a working week. Just like other popular high street brands such as Zara, H&M and Uniqlo, Lidl is among those that follow the concept of 'Fast Fashion' and actually have their clothing manufactured and created in Bangladesh where the minimum legal wage for a garment worker is 23 pence an hour. Therefore, due to these unbelievable laws, these brands, and now Lidl, are able to get away with such an act of day light robbery in the blink of an eye without their consumers even wondering why their clothes are so cheap and where they even came from. However, when Lidl's success is built on bringing their customer's the cheapest prices possible and they see an opportunity in the market to reflect this success in the clothing industry, it is obvious that the brand is going to jump on the fast fashion bandwagon. Whether I agree with the matter or not, at the end of the day what brand wouldn't take the opportunity to expand their consumer loyalty and move into different markets?
Another thing I will warn you before you think about going out and purchasing a pair of these 'denim jeans' is that they are actually in fact jeggings and are labelled to have a 'stylish denim effect' instead of being made from actual denim fabric. Therefore, the fact that they are only jeggings also offers another reason behind why they are so low priced and of low quality.
Lidl's £5.99 jeans
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