Primark has launched an immersive social experiment designed to challenge perceptions of high street fashion, after unveiling a fictional premium label to showcase its latest spring womenswear collection.
Working with global experience agency Momentum, the retailer created a fake fashion brand called Kim Parr (an anagram of Primark) and invited fashion enthusiasts to a London townhouse on 19 and 20 March to view its supposed debut collection.
Guests were presented with a range of elevated spring pieces in a premium setting and asked to assess the collection on its style, quality and design, before discovering that the garments were in fact from Primark and priced from £12.
The activation forms part of Primark’s new spring campaign, Shockingly Chic, which centres on the “double-take” moment when shoppers realise a product that looks premium comes with a much lower price tag than expected.
Momentum UK executive creative director Jamie Davies said the experience had been designed to remove brand bias and let the product speak for itself.
“This was an immersive theatre experience designed to strip away preconceptions and let the product speak for itself,” he said. “By creating a fully believable premium fashion environment, we gave guests the space to engage genuinely with the quality and style of Primark’s spring collection.”
He added that the reveal captured the campaign’s central idea, describing the reaction as “that shift from assumption to surprise”.
Primark director of innovation Jermaine Lapwood said the Kim Parr concept had been created to test shoppers’ assumptions in a playful way.
“Kim Parr was created to challenge perceptions, tapping into that double-take moment when something looks high-end but is actually shockingly affordable,” he said.
“By removing the Primark name and allowing people to experience our collection in an unexpected destination, they could see our great style and quality first-hand, without preconceptions.”
The campaign comes as value-focused fashion retailers continue to look for new ways to reposition themselves with style-conscious shoppers, particularly as demand grows for affordable products that still feel elevated.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
