Cheap monday

Quite rarely there is a brand on the market that embodies certain concepts and ideas in all its products. Based in Sweden, the Cheap Monday store boasts a great combination of low price and strong policy. This is a simple brand loved by all European teenagers, which, despite its popularity, is not a representative of the usual mass market.

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

Designed for Cheap Monday, mainly for informals and supporters of various subcultures, and the affordable price makes the brand range affordable and in demand in these circles.

The story of Cheap Monday began in the early 2000s, when two friends from Sweden - Adam Friberg and Oryan Andersson - decided to open a modest second-hand store called Weekend on the outskirts of Stockholm. Even though their “boutique” worked only on weekends, it quickly gained popularity among the youth of the capital. The fame that fell upon the founders prompted them to establish a larger store, in the very center of the city. Since then, multi-brand items, both used and new ones, from prestigious companies 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 own brand of jeans, which cost even less than what they previously sold. At the same time, a company logo was developed - a skull with an inverted cross on his forehead (a symbol of Satanism) - as well as the first model of narrow denim stretch trousers. The company was no less stunning success, the company became more and more famous.

Let's go back to the logo. The idea belonged to Andersson's friends - Bern Otldaks and Karl Grandin. The inverted cross was supposed to personify the negative attitude of the creators towards religion, because, according to Aryan, 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 what concept the company originally supported.

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

Although the brand didn’t take root in our country: Cheap Monday department once opened in a shopping center on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, however, it was closed in 2014 due to low profitability. The company failed to conquer any 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 company's chief designer. Thanks to her, Cheap Monday collections were supplemented with cardigans, sundresses, dresses, T-shirts and even outerwear (coats, jackets). The dark "worn" colors: black, gray, blue give her special northern style to her things. Such models are particularly distinguished by their practicality.

Clothing from Cheap Monday is now available in the official online store, the popular multi-brand website Asos.com. Brand boutiques successfully operate in Paris, London, Copenhagen, and Beijing.

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

In addition, the brand launches its line 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 surpass them. But, unlike many, the company does not sin by excessive branding: the logo is usually located on the hardware and does not catch the eye at all, and closes on the pants with a belt.

Manufacturers do not pay much attention to details, using simple but durable fittings. Now Cheap Monday collections contain both basic wardrobe items (plaid shirts, t-shirts, shorts), as well as bright, extravagant items with a print or original design. The most popular gothic or grunge style clothes are 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 you can also find non-standard products with asymmetric cuts or an unusual cut.

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

The assortment cannot boast of 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 made of 100% cotton, quite pleasant to the touch.

All production is carried out by machine, no manual work. The assortment is rather mottled. With equal probability, you can find both a high-quality, good shirt and a stupid shirt with a huge brand logo on the chest. But, on the other hand, is it worth expecting something unbelievable from the products of a brand that started as a second-hand?

Consumers sharply disagree about the brand. Some people like rebellious spirit and style, someone is indifferent to it. Some find things too banal and uninteresting, while others consider the design of clothes to be bright and extraordinary. One thing is for sure: Cheap Monday is unlikely to work for classic fans.

Loyal fans of the brand - adolescents, youth - leave positive feedback about the acquired items. According to many of them, things from Cheap Monday emphasize their young age and express personality. Of course, the main advantage of the brand’s products is the low price of its products.

Most buyers are unhappy with the mediocre, primitive quality of clothing. Many are not happy with the catchy design. Another drawback of clothing, noted by many, is that it is often small in size, and therefore a thing ordered from an online store is always a pig in a poke.

After reviewing a large number of completely opposite reviews, we can generally outline the main pros and cons of Cheap Monday products.

Advantages:

• modernity - Cheap Monday clothes fully satisfy the tastes of young people;
• accessibility - the average price category allows you to look stylish without high costs;
• simplicity - the brand specializes mainly in casual clothes, simple and at the same time interesting.

Disadvantages:

• far from premium quality - customers complain about sticking out threads and uneven seams;
• secondary: 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 accessories are used in production.

But do not scold Cheap Monday for the fact that it does not fully meet our expectations, sometimes overstated. 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 developed into a rather successful business project that challenges the whole mass culture and religious beliefs.

And although the brand’s assortment does not claim to be unique and exclusive, Cheap Monday is still popular among the younger generation. In addition, the brand philosophy directly states that a person creates his own unique style and expresses his individuality, and the brand only provides him with the opportunity to choose the necessary things for this. This is an example of a local brand that has grown on a global scale.