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Home / Business / Companies / Retail

Social media user reveals fast fashion giant names products after loyal staff members

By Alexis Carey
news.com.au·
28 Apr, 2018 08:32 PM2 mins to read

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ASOS names certain products after staff members.

ASOS names certain products after staff members.

If you've ever spent a minute or two scrolling through ASOS' huge range of products, you'll know lots of them bear human names.

Take, for example, these "Heidi" heeled sandals, or the "Sabrina" mid heels.

But who is Heidi, and Sabrina, and the countless other names attached to products sold by the popular online fashion retailer?

A Twitter user named Lucy Gedney has finally solved the mystery — and the story behind the names is ridiculously cute.

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It turns out the company names items after staff members who have been part of the team for a certain amount of time.

It is essentially a way of rewarding staff for years of loyal service.

So apparently on ASOS, if an item of clothing has someone’s name at the start of it, it means that person has been at the company for a certain amount of years so they are rewarded with having something named after them, who knew🤷🏻‍♀️

— lucy (@lucy_gedney) April 16, 2018

But don't just take Ms Gedney's word for it — after her tweet went viral, ASOS employee Chloe O'Keefe, an ASOS menswear established branded buyer, confirmed that Lucy's theory was true.

Ms O'Keefe responded: "Loads of products have style names but the odd one is a staff homage".

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In another tweet, she revealed she had worked at the company for a decade: "Ten years! Haven't named mine yet but you can pick anything and any name".

Last year, the meaning behind Ikea product names was also revealed, after the flatpack retailer confirmed most item names were based on Scandinavian influences, including flowers and plants, bodies of water, animals and places.

Rugs — like the Ådum, Stockholm and Silkeborg — are named after locations in Denmark or Sweden, while outdoor furniture draws its titles from Scandinavian Islands, like Äpplarö and Västerön.

Children's products are named after mammals, birds and adjectives, names for bathroom items come from Swedish bodies of water and kitchen accessories are derived from fish, mushrooms and adjectives.

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Although there are exception, with the famous Billy bookcase named after employee Billy Likjedhal.

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