Fashion article -- group cut it (4,3,5)

I believe the answer is:

make the grade

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'cut it' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'fashion article group' is the wordplay.
'fashion' becomes 'make' (fashion can mean to make or create).
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'group' becomes 'grade' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'make'+'the'+'grade'='MAKE THE GRADE'

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(Other definitions for make the grade that I've seen before include "Reach the desired standard" , "Succeed" , "Come up to scratch" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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