A model wardrobe: boho, boyish and Biba
www.telegraph.co.uk
Hilary Alexander has a sneak preview of Kate Moss's much-anticipated collection for Topshop, and gives her verdict on the style icon's first foray into design
So prominent is the spirit of Kate Moss in her first collection for Topshop that the only thing missing at the chain store's showroom in London yesterday was the supermodel herself.
As I previewed the clothes that are stamped with her rebellious rock-chick style, I kept expecting Kate to peep out from behind the rails.
There's the much-photographed kaftan and pirate boots she once wore to Glastonbury, the shrunken, tailored waistcoats and hot-pants she turned into trends overnight and the vintage-style featherweight chiffon dresses she wears at home in the Cotswolds. No range of Kate attire would be complete without her favourite cropped, skinny jeans, of course. And surely that's the bikini she was pictured wearing on the beach at the Chiva-Som spa in Thailand last year?
It is all there, just as promised when the collaboration was announced last September: the wardrobe that documents the life and times of one of the most talked-about, most slavishly watched and copied women of our time.
As Sir Philip Green, the Arcadia boss and the man who brokered the deal between Topshop and its most high-profile customer, puts it: "It's all the elements that put Kate Moss on the best-dressed lists and make her a style icon."
Whether photographed topless in Ibiza with her pop-star boyfriend Pete Doherty, or on the cover of thousands of glossy magazines, or for one of the advertising campaigns (Burberry, Belstaff, Rimmel, Versace and Longchamp) that have made her a millionairess several times over, Miss Moss makes news.
So, it stood to reason that a savvy retailer would syphon her style sooner or later, just as Kate herself would channel her knack for finding and wearing the next big thing (before even Planet Fashion had discovered it) into big business.
Customers cannot be blamed for tiring of the recent avalanche of high-street/celebrity collaborations: so many names, so little real value. Madonna's range for H&M, which was launched last month, is a case in point. Does anybody really believe the superstar singer would wear those market-stall clothes - or even want to?
But Kate Moss for Topshop is, to my mind, a nigh-perfect fit: an intriguing mix of boho, boyish and Biba, with elements of vintage and rock festival-chic. The signature pieces will work equally well added to your existing wardrobe as they do styled together as complete "looks". And it is not just the Kate-clone clothes that appeal.
There are pieces that even fiftysomething boho-hippies like me will lust after. I spotted a must-have, bias-cut, gold metallic jersey maxi-skirt; a silver-disc decorated vest without which I cannot live a minute more; and a truly beautiful, brushed cotton military jacket with the most incredible detail, from its tracery of rivets down the back seam to the covered buttons, quirkily arranged in five groups of three.
The prices are cleverly positioned between £12 for Kate's classic, white-ribbed vest and a high of £150 for a cream leather, raw-edge jacket.
In between are jeans embroidered with Kate's swallow tattoo on the waistband - £50 - tailored jackets from £60, the suede "Kate Moss" boots at £75, and pleated chiffon one-shoulder evening dresses - obviously inspired by a second-hand bargain she wore to a party in New York in September 2003 - at £120. Other designs will follow for high summer.
And everything comes in sizes 6 to 16, good news indeed for all those girls and women (and that's most of us) who do not possess Miss Moss's petite bone structure.
The collection is due to arrive in 225 Topshop stores around the country - many featuring special KM boutique areas decorated in purple and leopard print - from 7am on May 1; online customers can buy from 4.30am.
Over the ensuing days, the collection will launch in specialist boutiques in the key fashion capitals, including Paris, Tokyo and Milan, culminating in a major launch party at Barney's, New York on May 8.
A pragmatic billionaire, Sir Philip is not a man who is easily excited - unless there's a huge profit margin. But he seems ecstatic. "People can judge us on this," says Sir Philip. "I'm very comfortable. I'm not interested in a one-hit wonder and nor is Kate. This is about long-term brand-building. But even if I made nothing out of it, but thought it was right, I would still do it."
From the start, Kate was adamant she did not want to be "a designer", and Sir Philip says she contributed "heart, soul, passion, engagement and involvement".
She found pieces she liked and discussed how they could be improved: their colours, prints, embellishments and finishes. Under managing directors Karyn Fenn and Mary Homer, the Topshop team made all the samples in Kate's size and she tried everything on several times, quick to dismiss anything that wasn't right.
"She's excited, reliable and works hard," says Sir Philip. "And we've already got autumn/winter underway."
The two met up as the final samples came together a couple of weeks ago, and Kate told Sir Philip: "Now I'm really into it. Wait till you see my next ideas."
prices for pics below:
Left: Khaki cotton twill military jacket piped in red, also in cream, £60; white ribbed vest, assorted colours, £12; red denim hot-pants, £30; leather sandals, £30 (not shown). Right: Cream leather, raw-edge jacket, £150; Bumble striped T-shirt, also in khaki, yellow, £18; denim drainpipe cropped jeans, £50; silver flip-flops, £35 (not shown)
Chiffon swallow-print smock dress with open-bell sleeves, £60; denim hot-pants, also in red, £30. Leather sandals, £30.
One-shoulder pleated chiffon cocktail dress, also in cobalt, £120
Guatemalan-inspired embroidered kaftan, also in black, with mutli-coloured embroidery, £45; soft denim skinny jeans, also in cream, black, £50. Leather sandals, £30. All clothes from The Kate Moss Topshop collection, available from May 1, at Oxford Circus, London, W1 and branches; www.topshop.com, 0845 121 4519
www.telegraph.co.uk
Hilary Alexander has a sneak preview of Kate Moss's much-anticipated collection for Topshop, and gives her verdict on the style icon's first foray into design
So prominent is the spirit of Kate Moss in her first collection for Topshop that the only thing missing at the chain store's showroom in London yesterday was the supermodel herself.
As I previewed the clothes that are stamped with her rebellious rock-chick style, I kept expecting Kate to peep out from behind the rails.
There's the much-photographed kaftan and pirate boots she once wore to Glastonbury, the shrunken, tailored waistcoats and hot-pants she turned into trends overnight and the vintage-style featherweight chiffon dresses she wears at home in the Cotswolds. No range of Kate attire would be complete without her favourite cropped, skinny jeans, of course. And surely that's the bikini she was pictured wearing on the beach at the Chiva-Som spa in Thailand last year?
It is all there, just as promised when the collaboration was announced last September: the wardrobe that documents the life and times of one of the most talked-about, most slavishly watched and copied women of our time.
As Sir Philip Green, the Arcadia boss and the man who brokered the deal between Topshop and its most high-profile customer, puts it: "It's all the elements that put Kate Moss on the best-dressed lists and make her a style icon."
Whether photographed topless in Ibiza with her pop-star boyfriend Pete Doherty, or on the cover of thousands of glossy magazines, or for one of the advertising campaigns (Burberry, Belstaff, Rimmel, Versace and Longchamp) that have made her a millionairess several times over, Miss Moss makes news.
So, it stood to reason that a savvy retailer would syphon her style sooner or later, just as Kate herself would channel her knack for finding and wearing the next big thing (before even Planet Fashion had discovered it) into big business.
Customers cannot be blamed for tiring of the recent avalanche of high-street/celebrity collaborations: so many names, so little real value. Madonna's range for H&M, which was launched last month, is a case in point. Does anybody really believe the superstar singer would wear those market-stall clothes - or even want to?
But Kate Moss for Topshop is, to my mind, a nigh-perfect fit: an intriguing mix of boho, boyish and Biba, with elements of vintage and rock festival-chic. The signature pieces will work equally well added to your existing wardrobe as they do styled together as complete "looks". And it is not just the Kate-clone clothes that appeal.
There are pieces that even fiftysomething boho-hippies like me will lust after. I spotted a must-have, bias-cut, gold metallic jersey maxi-skirt; a silver-disc decorated vest without which I cannot live a minute more; and a truly beautiful, brushed cotton military jacket with the most incredible detail, from its tracery of rivets down the back seam to the covered buttons, quirkily arranged in five groups of three.
The prices are cleverly positioned between £12 for Kate's classic, white-ribbed vest and a high of £150 for a cream leather, raw-edge jacket.
In between are jeans embroidered with Kate's swallow tattoo on the waistband - £50 - tailored jackets from £60, the suede "Kate Moss" boots at £75, and pleated chiffon one-shoulder evening dresses - obviously inspired by a second-hand bargain she wore to a party in New York in September 2003 - at £120. Other designs will follow for high summer.
And everything comes in sizes 6 to 16, good news indeed for all those girls and women (and that's most of us) who do not possess Miss Moss's petite bone structure.
The collection is due to arrive in 225 Topshop stores around the country - many featuring special KM boutique areas decorated in purple and leopard print - from 7am on May 1; online customers can buy from 4.30am.
Over the ensuing days, the collection will launch in specialist boutiques in the key fashion capitals, including Paris, Tokyo and Milan, culminating in a major launch party at Barney's, New York on May 8.
A pragmatic billionaire, Sir Philip is not a man who is easily excited - unless there's a huge profit margin. But he seems ecstatic. "People can judge us on this," says Sir Philip. "I'm very comfortable. I'm not interested in a one-hit wonder and nor is Kate. This is about long-term brand-building. But even if I made nothing out of it, but thought it was right, I would still do it."
From the start, Kate was adamant she did not want to be "a designer", and Sir Philip says she contributed "heart, soul, passion, engagement and involvement".
She found pieces she liked and discussed how they could be improved: their colours, prints, embellishments and finishes. Under managing directors Karyn Fenn and Mary Homer, the Topshop team made all the samples in Kate's size and she tried everything on several times, quick to dismiss anything that wasn't right.
"She's excited, reliable and works hard," says Sir Philip. "And we've already got autumn/winter underway."
The two met up as the final samples came together a couple of weeks ago, and Kate told Sir Philip: "Now I'm really into it. Wait till you see my next ideas."
prices for pics below:
Left: Khaki cotton twill military jacket piped in red, also in cream, £60; white ribbed vest, assorted colours, £12; red denim hot-pants, £30; leather sandals, £30 (not shown). Right: Cream leather, raw-edge jacket, £150; Bumble striped T-shirt, also in khaki, yellow, £18; denim drainpipe cropped jeans, £50; silver flip-flops, £35 (not shown)
Chiffon swallow-print smock dress with open-bell sleeves, £60; denim hot-pants, also in red, £30. Leather sandals, £30.
One-shoulder pleated chiffon cocktail dress, also in cobalt, £120
Guatemalan-inspired embroidered kaftan, also in black, with mutli-coloured embroidery, £45; soft denim skinny jeans, also in cream, black, £50. Leather sandals, £30. All clothes from The Kate Moss Topshop collection, available from May 1, at Oxford Circus, London, W1 and branches; www.topshop.com, 0845 121 4519
Most of us do not look supermodels, but it does help to kind look like one....
