We can all be fashionistas now. London fashion week kicks off today, with chain retailers cherry-picking some of the best new British designers to create collections for their stores.

The chill economic wind blowing down Britain’s high streets has forced shops and designers, who normally sell individual dresses as haute couture, into an unlikely pact. It means shoppers will be able to buy more affordable clothes from feted designers this spring than ever before.

Topshop now sends talent scouts to colleges such as Central St Martins in London to identify future fashion icons. It has teamed up with a new generation of British designers, including Christopher Kane and Marios Schwab, to create signature collections for fashion week.

The shop gets the kudos of selling designer clothing for as little as £55 and 50,000 extra customers at its London flagship store during fashion week. The designers get a cash injection to continue working on their own brands.

“The plan is to spot the best designers first and showcase them,” said Sir Philip Green, Topshop’s owner.

Kane, 25, from Motherwell, names Rambo and Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind as muses. He describes his clothes as “original, intellectual and very beddable”. Osman Yousefzada, who exhibits his own label today, also designs for Mango. He was a City banker before swapping Threadneedle Street for needle and thread.

Similar partnerships are happening in the US. Isaac Mizrahi, who exhibited his collection at New York fashion week last Wednesday, has also created a range for the Target chain.

Times recommends

• Live chat: Thrifty ways to update your winter wardrobe
• Is anybody out there really listening?
• Nutrition Q&A: Will eating late make me fat?