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Taken from the Sunday Times (www.timesonline.co.uk)
High street fashion takes to catwalks
Maurice Chittenden
THEY were once looked down upon as the tawdry poor relations of the fashion industry. Now, Britain’s high-street chains have finally breached the world of haute couture.
The supermodel Erin Wasson, the Texan face of Maybelline cosmetics, is to be transformed into the torso of Topshop when she sashays down the catwalk at London Fashion Week next month. The event will be the first held by a mass-market clothing chain in one of the world’s fashion capitals.
Previously, chain stores have been accused of copying catwalk fashions and rushing them into their stores at cut prices. Tesco has even used the supermodel Naomi Campbell in television advertising.
The move by Topshop is the first time a high-street retailer has come at fashion from the opposite direction to compete with the likes of Julien Macdonald, Paul Smith and John Rocha.
Claudia Croft, fashion editor of The Sunday Times, said: “A lot of people think the high street is just about ripping off designers, but Topshop does have a good design team and generates its own trends.
“The crocheted shrugs we have seen people wearing over the summer didn’t come from the catwalk or from being worn by Kate Moss. It was a trend generated by the high street.”
Topshop’s entry into the designer elite, which has appalled some fashion purists, comes courtesy of its Unique brand, which is considered cutting edge enough to be sold in New York boutiques. It sells at the more expensive British branches of Topshop for £50-£200.
Topshop has paid a far heftier price to gain a foothold on the catwalk. Over the past eight years, it has ploughed at least £500,000 into sponsorship of a new generation of designers who are showing at London Fashion Week, which has acted as a springboard for designers such as Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.
Next month’s stroll by Wasson wearing a leaf-print dress will also mark a growing rapprochement between two of Britain’s shopping tycoons.
Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, is chairman of the British Fashion Council, which runs London Fashion Week and vets those allowed to take part.
He and Philip Green, the owner of BHS and Arcadia group, which includes Topshop, fell out last year over the latter’s second abortive bid to buy M&S. Rose moved there from his job as chief executive of Arcadia after Green snapped it up three years ago.
The row degenerated into an alleged street scuffle between the two, in which Green is reported to have grabbed Rose by the lapels.
Next month, however, it will be the quality of Topshop’s clothes rather than the rivalry between Green and Rose that will take centre stage in a show that is expected to cost at least £50,000 to stage.
Green, who became a billionaire faster than anybody before him on the high street, said last week: “Basically this is the first time a retailer has taken the step of showing a collection at fashion week. I didn’t discuss it with Stuart but our relations are good.”
He added: “We plan to do fashion week properly by erecting a marquee in Berkeley Square and bringing in supermodels from New York.”
Among the models being lined up are Wasson; Jessica Stam, a former face of Prada; Diana Dondoe, a Romanian who has balanced university courses with catwalk turns for Balenciaga; and Tasha Tilberg, a freckled Canadian who models for Versace.
Green has yet to see the collection but insiders describe it as “incorporating beautiful high-tech fabrics with metal fibres to hold shape”.
Some of Topshop’s celebrity customers will be invited to the show. They include Jade Jagger, the jewellery designer daughter of the Rolling Stones singer; Denise van Outen, the actress; and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Hollywood star, who told one interviewer: “I get such a lot of stuff from Topshop. I love the fact that people say ‘Where did you get that?’ and I’ve spent 13 quid on it.”
Jane Shepherdson, Topshop’s brand director, said: “Our debut at London Fashion Week is very significant. It is a blurring of the boundaries between high street and haute couture.”
She added: “We haven’t experienced any bad feeling from any other designers so far and I hope we won’t, but you can never tell how people will feel.”
But one designer exhibiting in fashion week, who asked not to be named, was more reserved. He said: “Topshop are a big sponsor of the show and I think giving my honest opinion would be a little foolish.”
Lorna Hall, features editor of Drapers, the fashion industry magazine, said: “Topshop has been involved with fashion week for years so I am not surprised they are getting their pound of flesh by doing something else.
“Stuart Rose has said he wants to draw the strength of the British high street into fashion week. He wants the high street to get involved in the emergence of new design talent. This could be part of that.”
A spokeswoman for London Fashion Week said: “Stuart Rose’s relationship with Philip Green is perfectly good, but it is unconnected with the show.
“Topshop has a separate designer range and we love it.”
Picture: Erin Wasson, credit to Models.com
High street fashion takes to catwalks
Maurice Chittenden
THEY were once looked down upon as the tawdry poor relations of the fashion industry. Now, Britain’s high-street chains have finally breached the world of haute couture.
The supermodel Erin Wasson, the Texan face of Maybelline cosmetics, is to be transformed into the torso of Topshop when she sashays down the catwalk at London Fashion Week next month. The event will be the first held by a mass-market clothing chain in one of the world’s fashion capitals.
Previously, chain stores have been accused of copying catwalk fashions and rushing them into their stores at cut prices. Tesco has even used the supermodel Naomi Campbell in television advertising.
The move by Topshop is the first time a high-street retailer has come at fashion from the opposite direction to compete with the likes of Julien Macdonald, Paul Smith and John Rocha.
Claudia Croft, fashion editor of The Sunday Times, said: “A lot of people think the high street is just about ripping off designers, but Topshop does have a good design team and generates its own trends.
“The crocheted shrugs we have seen people wearing over the summer didn’t come from the catwalk or from being worn by Kate Moss. It was a trend generated by the high street.”
Topshop’s entry into the designer elite, which has appalled some fashion purists, comes courtesy of its Unique brand, which is considered cutting edge enough to be sold in New York boutiques. It sells at the more expensive British branches of Topshop for £50-£200.
Topshop has paid a far heftier price to gain a foothold on the catwalk. Over the past eight years, it has ploughed at least £500,000 into sponsorship of a new generation of designers who are showing at London Fashion Week, which has acted as a springboard for designers such as Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.
Next month’s stroll by Wasson wearing a leaf-print dress will also mark a growing rapprochement between two of Britain’s shopping tycoons.
Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, is chairman of the British Fashion Council, which runs London Fashion Week and vets those allowed to take part.
He and Philip Green, the owner of BHS and Arcadia group, which includes Topshop, fell out last year over the latter’s second abortive bid to buy M&S. Rose moved there from his job as chief executive of Arcadia after Green snapped it up three years ago.
The row degenerated into an alleged street scuffle between the two, in which Green is reported to have grabbed Rose by the lapels.
Next month, however, it will be the quality of Topshop’s clothes rather than the rivalry between Green and Rose that will take centre stage in a show that is expected to cost at least £50,000 to stage.
Green, who became a billionaire faster than anybody before him on the high street, said last week: “Basically this is the first time a retailer has taken the step of showing a collection at fashion week. I didn’t discuss it with Stuart but our relations are good.”
He added: “We plan to do fashion week properly by erecting a marquee in Berkeley Square and bringing in supermodels from New York.”
Among the models being lined up are Wasson; Jessica Stam, a former face of Prada; Diana Dondoe, a Romanian who has balanced university courses with catwalk turns for Balenciaga; and Tasha Tilberg, a freckled Canadian who models for Versace.
Green has yet to see the collection but insiders describe it as “incorporating beautiful high-tech fabrics with metal fibres to hold shape”.
Some of Topshop’s celebrity customers will be invited to the show. They include Jade Jagger, the jewellery designer daughter of the Rolling Stones singer; Denise van Outen, the actress; and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Hollywood star, who told one interviewer: “I get such a lot of stuff from Topshop. I love the fact that people say ‘Where did you get that?’ and I’ve spent 13 quid on it.”
Jane Shepherdson, Topshop’s brand director, said: “Our debut at London Fashion Week is very significant. It is a blurring of the boundaries between high street and haute couture.”
She added: “We haven’t experienced any bad feeling from any other designers so far and I hope we won’t, but you can never tell how people will feel.”
But one designer exhibiting in fashion week, who asked not to be named, was more reserved. He said: “Topshop are a big sponsor of the show and I think giving my honest opinion would be a little foolish.”
Lorna Hall, features editor of Drapers, the fashion industry magazine, said: “Topshop has been involved with fashion week for years so I am not surprised they are getting their pound of flesh by doing something else.
“Stuart Rose has said he wants to draw the strength of the British high street into fashion week. He wants the high street to get involved in the emergence of new design talent. This could be part of that.”
A spokeswoman for London Fashion Week said: “Stuart Rose’s relationship with Philip Green is perfectly good, but it is unconnected with the show.
“Topshop has a separate designer range and we love it.”
Picture: Erin Wasson, credit to Models.com
