How Topshop Changed Fashion

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Topshop's European rivals, on the other hand, have been quick to pile into the relatively untapped U.S. market--while fast fashion accounts for around 12% of the British clothing market, it is just 1% of the total in the U.S., according to Bain, a consulting firm. Spying massive opportunities, Spain's Zara has two dozen stores in the U.S.; Swedish chain H&M boasts more than 100. Not Topshop. Though it has sold individual collections in America--along with the Kate Moss range at Barneys, Topshop's Unique line sells in the Opening Ceremony boutique in New York City--it has not followed with any stand-alone stores before now. Until those locations are open, the Topshop brand will have a built-in test market in its chic department-store partners. Moss's 50-piece collection might seem cheap compared with most everything else Barneys has to offer--prices range from around $24 for a strappy tank top to $300 for a leather jacket--but these days, says Robert Burke, a retail consultant in New York, fashion retail's territorial lines are blurring. "Traditional categories no longer exist," he says. "There's almost a reverse snobbery today: people really like the idea of mixing a variety of price points." In other words, few fashionistas think twice about pairing a $1,000 jacket with a $20 T shirt anymore. Launching Moss's opening collection in Barneys, Burke says, makes "perfect sense."

However, with competitors like H&M and Zara already flourishing in the U.S., is there room for Topshop? "H&M and Zara are hitting the ball out of the park," says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a New York--based retail consultancy. But thanks to its broader customer appeal, Davidowitz says, the potential for Topshop "is better than either of these." Not that there isn't plenty of opportunity to occupy Topshop at home. The company is looking at ways of expanding its brand into new areas in Britain too, from confectionery to luggage to footwear. With Topshop stores already selling 35,000 pairs of shoes each week, says Green, "we've got a very good shoe business. Is there a Topshop shoe business in its own right?"

If it's to succeed in the U.S., Topshop will have to win over the American version of loyal shoppers like Caroline Dickinson. A few weeks ago in London, the 21-year-old student waited in line for four hours for the launch of Moss's collection at Topshop. She planned to buy a $100 white cotton dress to wear at her university ball. By the time she got inside, however, she was told that item wasn't available. Unperturbed, Dickinson emerged 15 minutes later and a few hundred dollars lighter with two other dresses and a couple of vests. She vowed to come back and track down that white frock another day. That is the kind of loyalty any retailer would envy.