Cheap Monday

Quite rarely there is a brand in the market, which in all its products embodies certain concepts and ideas. The Cheap Monday store, based in the capital of Sweden, boasts an excellent combination of low prices and a pronounced policy. This is a simple, beloved by all European teenagers brand, which, despite its popularity, is not a representative of the usual mass market.

The Swedish company that produces men's, women's clothing and accessories Cheap Monday belongs to the well-known youth brand H & M (Hennes & Mauritz AB). The entire range of the brand has a pronounced anti-religious, rebellious orientation, which is what attracts the teenage audience, who is inclined to actively express its radical position.

Cheap Monday is designed mainly for non-formals and adherents of various subcultures, and an affordable price makes the brand assortment affordable and in demand in these circles.

The history of Cheap Monday began in the early 2000s, when two comrades from Sweden - Adam Friberg and Orian Andersson - decided to open a modest second-hand store called Weekend on the outskirts of Stockholm. Even in spite of the fact that their “boutique” worked only on weekends, it quickly gained popularity among metropolitan youth. The fame that has fallen upon the founders prompted them to start a larger store in the very center of the city. From this time on, multi-brand items, both used and new, from prestigious firms began to appear on the shelves. The store began to work daily and changed its name to Weekday.

Four years later, the founders launched their brand of jeans, which cost even less than they previously sold. At the same time, a corporate logo was developed - a skull with an inverted cross on the forehead (a symbol of Satanism) - as well as the first model of narrow stretch denim trousers. The company had no less staggering success, the company became more and more famous.

Let's go back to the logo. The idea belonged to the friends of Andersson - Bern Otldaksu and Karl Grandin. The inverted cross should have personified the negative attitude of the creators towards religion, because, according to Orjan, it was Christianity that was always the cause of all armed conflicts. However, in 2010 it was decided to remove the cross from the logo and replace it with the usual vertical line, however, loyal fans of the brand remember which concept the company initially supported.

The success of Cheap Monday in 2005 led to the expansion of the brand’s product range, and, apart from everyday jeans, the company started producing other clothes that became known already outside Sweden. Today, the stores of this youth brand are open in more than 30 countries, including Russia.

Although in our country the brand didn’t really catch on: the department of Cheap Monday was once opened in a shopping center on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, however, it was closed in 2014 due to its low profitability. The company failed to win any and Petersburg youth: in the northern capital, he managed to hold out for only about a year.

Since 2009, Ann-Sophie Buck, a true fan of the classic Swedish style, has become the chief designer of the company. Thanks to her, Cheap Monday collections were supplemented with cardigans, sundresses, dresses, T-shirts and even outerwear (coats, jackets). A special northern style of her things give dark "wiped" colors: black, gray, blue. Such models are particularly distinguished by their practicality.

Cheap Monday clothing is now available on the official online store of the popular multi-brand site Asos.com. Branded boutiques successfully operate in Paris, London, Copenhagen, Beijing.

As already mentioned, women's and men's jeans - the main direction of Cheap Monday. The brand offers mostly narrowed, cropped and skinny models, as well as trendy jeans with decorated pockets.

In addition, the brand produces its range of accessories - caps, jewelry, sunglasses, etc.

Cheap Monday clothing is in no way inferior to similar things of other representatives of the mass market, but does not exceed them. But, unlike many, the company does not sin with excessive branding: the logo is usually located on the fittings and does not catch the eye at all, and on the pants is closed by a belt.

Manufacturers do not pay special attention to detail, using simple but durable fittings. Now, Cheap Monday’s collections include both basic wardrobe items (plaid shirts, t-shirts, shorts), as well as bright, extravagant items with a print or original design. The most popular clothing of the Gothic or grunge-style - coarse, but at the same time stylish and extraordinary.

But in general, the brand specializes in casual style, non-trivial and suitable for every modern teenager, although non-standard products with asymmetrical cuts or unusual cut can be found.

With the development of the brand, its range is regularly updated with new interesting things, a different original cut. Along with skinny jeans, the company began to produce wide, flared models, as well as torn with a sloppy design. In addition, there were sneakers, pullovers and sweaters, underwear and home sets.

The range can not boast of a special premium quality: all things are made in China and other Asian countries. But the low price does not suggest this, Cheap Monday clothing is quite good for its level. The main material is cotton, often mixed with elastane or viscose. There are also shirts from 100% cotton, quite pleasant to the touch.

All production is carried out by machine, there is no manual work. The range is rather heterogeneous. With equal probability, you can find a high-quality, good shirt, and a senseless T-shirt with a huge brand logo on the chest. But, on the other hand, is it worth to expect something incredible from the products of the brand, which started as a second-hand?

Consumers sharply disagree about the brand. Some like the rebellious spirit and style, someone indifferent to it. Some people find things too banal and uninteresting, while others find the design of clothes bright and extraordinary. One thing is for sure: for supporters of the classics, Cheap Monday products are hardly suitable.

Loyal fans of the brand - teenagers, young people - leave positive feedback on acquired things. According to many of them, Cheap Monday items underline their young age and allow for the expression of individuality.. Of course, the main advantage of the brand’s products is the low price of its products.

Most buyers are unhappy with the ordinary, primitive quality of clothes. Many are not satisfied and catchy design. Another lack of clothes, noted by many, is that it is often small in size, and therefore a thing ordered from an online store is always a cat in a bag.

After reading a large number of completely opposite reviews, you can generally identify the main pros and cons of Cheap Monday products.

Advantages:

• modernity - Cheap Monday clothes are quite satisfying to the tastes of young people;
• availability - the average price category allows you to look stylish without high costs;
• simplicity - the brand specializes mostly in casual wear, simple and interesting at the same time.

Disadvantages:

• far from premium quality - buyers complain about sticking threads and uneven seams;
• secondary nature - the brand is not much different from other representatives of the mass market, and the produced models and styles can be found in any other youth store;
• inattention to details - rather cheap fittings are used in production.

But you shouldn’t strongly scold Cheap Monday for not fully meeting our expectations, sometimes too high. It is necessary to make a discount on the fact that the brand was founded by two simple young guys and was initially perceived by them as a kind of hobby, which, thanks to the ambitions of the creators, eventually turned into a fairly successful business project that challenges all popular culture and religious attitudes.

And although the range of the brand does not claim uniqueness and exclusivity, Cheap Monday is still popular among the younger generation. In addition, the brand philosophy directly says that a person creates his own unique style and expresses his individuality, and a trademark only gives him the opportunity to choose the necessary things for this. This is an example of a local brand that has grown globally.