news release
Experian unveils UK’s most fashionable towns
• London’s fashion ‘triangle’ is home to the UK’s most fashion conscious
• Men from Wandsworth the best-dressed in the UK
• Richmond has the most fashionable women
• Birmingham home to the UK’s best-dressed children
• Manchester and Cardiff come top for ‘budget image’ men
Nottingham, 26 February 2010 — As London Fashion Week 2010 draws to a close, new insight from Experian has identified Britain’s most fashionable towns and areas. Drawn from Experian’s Fashion Segments, which classifies every adult in the UK based on attitudes and behaviour towards fashion shopping, the research focuses on the four most fashion-conscious segments for women and men.
London’s ‘fashion triangle’ from Kensington to Richmond in the West and Wandsworth further East is home to the most fashion conscious men and women in the UK. Overall, 63% of Putney’s residents fall into the most fashion conscious segments of the UK, as do 24% of Richmond’s female residents and 51% of Wandsworth’s male residents.
Outside of London, Birmingham and Manchester are home to some of the UK’s most fashionable people, with Winchester and Maidenhead (13% each) featuring strongly for fashion conscious women and Glasgow (25%) and Manchester (24%) for fashionable men.
Female fashion categories
The Kings Road in Chelsea takes the top spot for Best Dressed Fashionistas, women with a strong sense of style and the money to spend on it, according to Experian’s analysis – enduring in its fashionable status since the 1960s with more than 5 per cent of women using their wealth to purchase high-end clothing. Richmond, however, is home to the UK’s Big Spenders, with an incredible one in five women (21%) falling into this category, which has the highest average spend per item.
According to Experian’s analysis, Birmingham is home to the UK’s best-dressed children. Central Birmingham, Gravelly Hill, Erdington and West Bromwich are all in the top five for the Kitted Out Kids category, with nearly one in ten women (9.59%) likely to spend as much on their children’s clothes as they do on their own, highlighting their fashion status and credentials through their children.
Hounslow has the highest single concentration of High Fashion For Less shoppers in the UK (3%) – women who are keen to follow the latest fashions, but at the right price.
Male fashion categories
In terms of the UK’s male population, Functional Fashion Seekers are most likely to be found in the East of London, where more than a third of those in Cheapside (31%) and more than a quarter of those in Stratford and Liverpool Street & Bishopsgate (25%) fall under the category for those who are very fashion conscious, but are not fashion victims. The men who are the highest fashion spenders, Dressed In The Best, are most likely to be found in London’s outskirts of Wandsworth, Putney and Hammersmith.
Central Manchester (6.5%) and Cardiff (5.2%), meanwhile come top for Budget Image - men that don’t have a lot of money to spend but take the way they look very seriously. Leicester however leads the way with Brand Boys, who spend their disposable income and time seeking out brand labels.
Experian’s Fashion Segments links qualitative information on fashion shopping motivations and attitudes with quantitative information on shopping behaviour and overall demographics to provide a unique insight into consumers within the fashion market. The Segments classify all adults into 20 female types and 15 male types, describing typical attitudes towards fashion and brands, and typical behaviour towards types of clothes purchased, stores visited and the value and purpose of shopping trips.
Nigel Wilson, Managing Director of Experian Business Strategies, comments: “Knowing what type of people live and shop each location across the UK allows retailers to decide how to offer a different range of merchandise in different towns and cities to best meet the local demand. In extreme cases where the range is aimed at a narrower group of people - the poorest, the very affluent, high fashion or the oldest people in the country - Fashion Segments helps the retailer to target the offer into key hot spots where there are enough people of a particular type.
“Similarly a brand that aims at only a part of the population can tailor their marketing to the best places, the best publications, the best web sites and spend their promotional money in the most effective way.”
Most fashionable categories – UK hotspots
High Fashion for Less is a type for whom fashion is very important and who are very keen to be dressing in the latest trends. However they are restricted in choice by their level of income.
• UK hotspots: Hounslow, Ilford, Slough, Harrow and Leicester
Kitted-out Kids consists of women who dress their children aspirationally as a statement of self-image. They buy as many items of clothing for their children as they do for themselves.
• UK hotspots: Birmingham Central, Birmingham Gravelly Hill, West Bromwich, Bradford and Birmingham Erdington
Best Dressed Fashionistas is a type with a strong sense of style and the money to spend on it. They come from wealthy families and often still live at home with parents.
• UK hotspots: King’s Road Chelsea, Kensington, Putney, Queensway and Richmond
Big Spenders have the highest total spend on clothes of any female type. They buy a lot of clothes and they buy the best quality, resulting in a very high average spend per purchase. They are often traditional dressers preferring a classic or tailored look to high fashion.
• UK hotspots: Richmond, Kingston, Barnet, High Wycombe and Epsom
Men – most fashionable categories – UK hotspots
Functional Fashion Seekers are young men who are very fashion-conscious, but not fashion victims — it is very important to them that they wear the right brands and have the right look.
• UK hotspots: Cheapside, Stratford, Liverpool Street & Bishopsgate, Victoria Street and London West End
Budget Image do not have much income to spend on clothes but are conscious of the way they look. They try to buy clothes that are in fashion and will actively search out new trends.
• UK hotspots: Hatfield, Manchester Central, Cardiff, Bournemouth Central and East Ham
Brand Boy is a type for whom brand and styling are extremely important in clothing. They have a reasonable disposable income as they are likely to still be living at home with their parents.
• UK hotspots: Leicester, Bristol Broadmead, Harrow and Hounslow
Dressed in the Best have the highest spend of any male type but surprisingly make fewer than average purchases. Their high spend is a function of the fact that each item they buy is very expensive.
• UK hotspots: Wandsworth, Clapham Junction, Putney, Liverpool Street & Bishopsgate, Cheapside and Hammersmith King Street
ENDS
Contact:
Stephanie Dobson
Experian Public Relations
0115 9922515
stephanie.dobson@uk.experian.com
About Experian
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