UK shoppers are spending more on the high street than ever before. With the coolest designers creating diffusion ranges for the likes of Topshop, Marks & Spencer and now New Look, consumers are choosing mainstream clothes over high fashion prices.

The British fashion industry, generally regarded as one of innovation and breeding ground for new talent, though coming in last place to New York, Milan and Paris for growth and development, is not so much run by designer brands as its US and European counterparts as it is by its competitive high street offer. Retailers such as Debenhams, Arcadia and M&S are showing us fashionable and affordable collections that have, in essence, never looked better.

Utilising their capability of fast fashion - translating catwalk designs to the high street in a very short period of time - retailers have been able to keep on top form in the market and reacting to consumer needs much faster than their designer contemporaries. Further more, with the ever-increasing improvement in quality, upmarket and image-conscious consumers are happy to buy their frocks on Oxford Street.

With a high street that exudes cool, hip and smart, retailers have recognized that the seasonal cycle of new designs is too slow to deal with the fast pace change in trends and fashions. What is called 'Quick Response' manufacturing means that the high street can respond to consumer demands in a very short time frame, encapsulating the current fads and needs and turning around fresh injections throughout the season.

More notably is that UK shoppers are increasingly moving away from the lifestyle packages offered by brands such as Armani and Gucci. Not wanting to be walking adverts for a certain brand, consumers are smarter and more selective, choosing instead to mix high fashion with high street product to be cool.