What is Lefties, the brand that owner – global fashion giant Inditex – is so keen to keep under wraps? 

Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti – Inditex’s roster of retail fascias is sizeable.

However, there is another far less familiar brand that Inditex has created that it seems keen to keep under the radar.

Lefties – so-called because it was originally established as an outlet for Zara leftovers – was founded in 1993 but has since been converted into a fascia in its own right.

However, it is not given the autonomy or recognition afforded to other Inditex brands.

It’s not mentioned on the Inditex corporate website, its financial results are reported within Zara’s and when Retail Week asked Inditex for details about Lefties we were met with stony silence.

However, it is a retailer that now has 130 stores worldwide. That might be small fry compared to Zara’s 2,213 stores – and to most other Inditex fasciae – but it is bigger than Uterque, which has just 78 stores yet is highlighted on the Inditex corporate website.

What is Lefties?

Lefties’ offer is primarily womenswear and its price point is between that of Forever 21 and Primark.

Sitting at the value end of the fast fashion market, it is not as trend-led as some of the etail players, such as Boohoo and Missguided, and its product is more reminiscent of New Look.

Its current offer centres around festival fashion and breezy, high summer dresses.

Denim hot pants, fringed tops and broderie anglaise sundresses mark it out clearly for a young, millennial customer.

It also carries kidswear and menswear, a denim collection and, with a nod to the vogue for athleisure, a sports collection featuring graphic print leggings and metallic jackets.

Could it be coming to Britain?

Lefties, which for the first 20 years of its life was limited to its Spanish homeland, has been expanding in recent years.

It now has branches in Portugal, Mexico and Russia and last December moved into the Middle East with a branch in Qatar.

“Are they going to put some oomph behind it and start growing it more quickly? I would be surprised if they didn’t.”

Richard Hyman, Richard Talks Retail

Rumour has it that further international stores are on the cards. Could Britain be its next port of call? 

Veteran retail analyst Richard Hyman of Richard Talks Retail believes the timing is perfect for Lefties to make a play for the UK market.

”Consumers are bit constrained and pressured economically. 

“I think the opportunity to buy Inditex product at lower prices would be a great attraction. It’s not like Inditex to miss an opportunity,” he says.

“Are they going to put some oomph behind it and start growing it more quickly? I would be surprised if they didn’t.”

But Global Data (formerly Verdict) group retail research director Maureen Hinton believes that Lefties would not stand up to the competition on the British high street.

“Perhaps the fact that they are not expanding across Europe as they normally would highlights the fact that it wouldn’t stand out in established markets,” she says.

She believes that Lefties would have trouble holding its own against competitors such as H&M and Primark and points to Lefties’ store on Madrid’s Gran Via, which neighbours the flagship Primark store.

“It is right next to it but is not a Primark by any means,” she says. “When I saw it I wasn’t particularly impressed. It doesn’t have as much investment to build up an identity as the other Inditex brands.

“But the fact they have one next door to Primark in Madrid means that they must be getting good business from it.”

Stop gap or growth prospect?

Kantar’s Anusha Couttigane believes that although the UK has been a very good market for Inditex, expansion is a “calculated risk”.

She adds that although Inditex could make a mark on major European high streets with Lefties she is “not sure they want to”.

“They are already experiencing leakage in Spain from people trading down from Zara and they could use Lefties to capture some of that leakage in other markets”

Anusha Couttigane, Kantar

“I think they are using Lefties as a slight stop-gap strategy,” she says. “They are already experiencing leakage in Spain from people trading down from Zara and they could use Lefties to capture some of that leakage in other markets.”

Hinton comes down on the same side of the fence and says, “I just get the impression they don’t have the appetite for it”.

Hyman meanwhile believes that Inditex may have bigger plans for Lefties.

“They’re very coy about it,” he says. “It’s like it’s a secret. Inditex is huge and they have a lot of plates to spin and a lot of opportunities but I would be surprised if Lefties was not quite prominent on their to-do list.”

The real question here is one of appetite for a global roll out, or whether Lefties will continue to be a “stop gap”.

Inditex is the most successful fast-fashion retailer in the world – if it wants to power Lefties with the same investment it has given its other brands then it could make an impact on the British high street. And perhaps it won’t be a secret anymore.