High shine leggings and the impact of the "young pound" may be the key to beating the recession, online fashion retailer Asos said yesterday as it reported a 68% rise in interim profits. Shares in Asos, which stands for As Seen On Screen, rose 6% as it posted profits of £4.1m for the six months to September 30.

Sales continued their upward trajectory at the start of the second half and were more than double in the seven weeks to yesterday, up 104%. The retailer targets 16-34 year-olds with clothing and accessories based on those worn by celebrities, and now has 1.88 million registered users.

Chief executive Nick Robertson said the company could put its "resilient" performance partly down to the spending power of its younger clients, who make up 50% of its customer base.

"In the last recession, it was the younger fashion that fared better and the younger demographic that were less likely to be made redundant," he said.

"They are less affected by what is going on in the wider economy because they are not affected by mortgages and utility bills."

Robertson added that high shine leggings were flying off the virtual shelves. "We have sold nearly 4,000."

He put the general increase in the popularity of internet shopping down mainly to choice, rather than cost.

The retailer increased the total number of product lines by 238% year on year to 19,400, with around 1,150 new product lines introduced onto the website each week.