H&M may have started the fast-fashion explosion, but Ireland’s Penneys — known everywhere else in the world as Primark — comes in a close second. Trading in up-to-the-second style on the cheap, the department store has expanded from a little clothing retailer founded in Dublin in 1969 into a juggernaut that now spans 13 countries and 390 stores — at last including one in Chicago. In March, the 12th U.S. shop (and only the second in a downtown area) took over what was once the Gap, thus filling an actual gap on State Street, where shoppers are starting to trickle back after a long year of lockdowns. The nearly 37,000-square-foot space provides plenty of excuses for a postpandemic purchasing spree: You can find $14 faux-leather mules to pair with a $6 faux-leather crossbody bag, or $25 men’s skinny check trousers with their $45 bomber jacket partners, and fulfill pretty much all your beauty, home, gift, and baby desires. Browse online all you want, but you’ll have to come in to purchase. The reason? By keeping shipping costs down, Primark can ethically produce all those Batman onesies and sustainable jeans without driving up the prices. Look for exclusive Bulls merch (the black sweatshirt dress is to die for) and Disney-branded kidswear that could pass as edgy fashion on a grownup any day (we see you, Thumper sketch sweater). 35 N. State St., Loop
$25
Men’s trousers
$13
Kids’ trainers
$12
Youth Bulls T-shirt
$17
Swim cover-up
$2.50
Jasmine jar candle
