How fashionistas fell for our online clothes club

Consumers still want top quality clothes in a recession - but they have to pay less. This is the secret behind the phenomenal success of online discount clothing retailer Secret Sales set up by brothers Nish and Sach Kukadia.

Things may be grim for many high-street shops, but some online retailers have thrived as thrifty consumers search for bargains. Brothers Nish and Sach Kukadia are prime examples.

"Our dad was one of the founders of Pepe Jeans," says Sach, "so I guess it was always likely we would do something in clothing." In 2006 they were approached by Silvia and Michael Cody, two former partners of their father. The couple had seen the success of Vente-Prive a French firm that acted like an "online factory outlet" and wanted to start a British version. The couple thought that Nish, who was working for advertising giant WPP, and Sach, who was selling branded clothes to large shops, had "the skills needed to make it work".

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.