Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. clothes retailers are better positioned than U.S. chains to weather a spending slump because they take less time to get collections from the design stage to store shelves, fashion forecaster WGSN said.

British retailers produce ranges in 28.6 weeks on average, 11 weeks less than in the U.S., according to WGSN. It cited a survey of more than 480 client designers, manufacturers and retailers, including Gap Inc. and Hennes & Mauritz AB. U.K. firms also plan merchandising closer to the season’s start at 33 weeks ahead, compared with 42 weeks in the U.S., the survey shows.

New Look, Arcadia Group Plc’s Top Shop and other U.K. garment chains have shunned traditional two-season spring/summer and autumn/winter collections in favor of a regular flow of new products. Such “fast fashion” enables retailers to react more quickly to consumer preferences and reduce inventory holding times, Neil Bradford, WGSN’s chief executive officer, said in an interview in London before the report was released.

“The U.K. has really captured ‘fast fashion,’ and that is incredibly important when reacting to what’s happening in the marketplace,” the CEO said. “It’s rough out there, but what it means is the U.K. can probably recover faster” than the U.S.

New Look needs between four and six weeks to get new goods into stores, public-relations manager Frederique Tshibuabua said. That turnaround time means fashion-conscious teenagers can snap up budget copies of outfits worn by the likes of all-girl pop trio Sugababes soon after they first appear in the public eye. The chain charges 16 pounds ($23.63) for a black sequined top.

Retailers who follow “fast fashion” can reduce production times, according to Luca Solca, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London. That’s a “valuable advantage in a context of slowing consumer demand,” he said.

The brief response time required by Inditex SA, owner of the Zara store chain, to design and make clothes is one reason for Solca’s “outperform” rating on the Arteixo, Spain-based company’s stock.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Shannon in London at sshannon4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 22:37 EST