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Britain's supermarket giants have become one-stop shops for every consumer whim... if you need a paddling pool, a printer or a jar of pickles tout-suite, then you'll find them all under one enormous roof. 

Supermarket clothing too has become big business in the UK, with high profile names – from Yasmin Le Bon at Asda to Abbey Clancy at Tesco and Heidi Klum at Lidl – helping grocery stores enjoy a lucrative slice of the fashion pie. 

Yet, not everyone is keen to admit they snapped up their latest look in the aisles at Sainsbury's or the 'middle of Lidl'... with a certain snootiness still surrounding garments you've put in your basket alongside the loo rolls and the bin bags. 

How to buy supermarket fashion that has a little je ne sais quoi then?

Easy, pick them up at supermarches across the Channel, where you'll find chic ensembles at the same high street prices, only with a French label disguising your cut-price purchases. 

A pair of elegant espadrilles for this heatwave summer? You'll find them in almost every colour in the larger outposts of Super U, Carrefour, Auchan, E. Leclerc and Intermarché. 

And in city centres, there's Monoprix, a high-end grocery store that goes big on fashion and beauty. 

The company's own-brand clothing, under labels Inès and P, is designer-led and majors on capsule wardrobes dedicated to simple silhouettes, basic tees and seasonal dresses and trousers – plus lingerie and socks – in quality materials. 

Unsurprisingly, timeless Breton stripes are everywhere you turn on French soil, with almost every variation you can think of – even the service stations get involved, doing a nice line in waterproof macs, in hues of classic yellow, red and navy, with a Breton striped lining. They retail at around €35 (£30).

There's also French favourites such as the filet à provisions, literally meaning 'shopping net', which manages to look much more sophisticated than the string bags you might pick up here. 

Look out for designs that incorporate the country's red, white and blue Tricolore flag. 

Another reason it's worth loading an extra empty suitcase in the car before you board LeShuttle or the ferry this summer is that French supermarket fashion has an increasing ethical conscience. 

Many of the garments are French-made, as supermarkets have committed to home-grown designers and manufacturers. 

Système U, which has nearly 1,700 Hyper U, Super U and U Express stores across the country, first launched its 'Origine France' collections in 2022, vowing to use better fabrics, including linens manufactured at home. 

Collaborating with fashion house Façon de Faire, the French-made lines carry a QR code that explains the item's entire journey, from where the fabric was cut and dyed to its journey from the warehouse. 

Over at Carrefour, there's a similar commitment to ethical fashion. 

In January this year, the supermarket brand announced it would inform customers of the environmental score of textiles on nearly 70 clothing products in its own brand Tex range.

Its organic cotton T-shirt, the brand says, has almost half the environmental impact of a branded non-organic equivalent. 

After residing in the French capital for four years, London-based writer Erin Waks, 25, needs no persuading on just how elegant supermarket clothes across 'Le Manche' can be.

She says: 'I lived in Paris for four years, and in that time I've come to know my way around the best places to buy clothes à la Parisienne – especially if on a budget. 

'Little comes close to the combined value for money and style factor of French supermarket clothes. 

'Unlike their British equivalents, where you might get great style but with a sub-par quality, shops such as Monoprix really deliver. 

'On a recent trip to Bordeaux, I was strolling past a string of shops with my [British] pal when she came to an abrupt halt in front of a particularly glamorous display of bikinis, sunhats, sandals and linen ensembles. 

"Ooh, let's have a look in there," she exclaimed. I smirked to myself – little did she know she'd stopped right in front of Monoprix, a supermarket that I'd liken to M&S, with quality products and, as she discovered, a far above-average clothing selection.'

The sure sign that French supermarket fashion is already a hit on UK soil? There's plenty of second-hand supermarche garments for sale on Vinted, from summer swimwear from Auchan to shirts and shoes from Monoprix.