Topshop has revealed the truth behind its bombshell announcement that sent shoppers into a frenzy today, fuelling hopes of a comeback by the firm.
The beloved fashion giant vanished from Britain’s high street five years ago, following a tumultuous financial storm that forced it to close all its stores.
But a dramatic social media post by the clothing house sent fans into meltdown. It showed a couple standing on an industrial rooftop below a huge Topshop sign, followed by a message: ‘We missed you too’.
Captions spaced out across three posts on the company’s official Instagram added: ‘We’ve been listening’.
And its website also teased a huge return for the beloved fashion retailer, with the homepage of www.topshop.com simply saying: ‘Topshop coming soon.’
Brits went wild at the news ‘Topshop announcing they’re returning to the high street is a joy only millennial girlies will understand. We’ve missed you x,’ one person wrote.
‘I feel like my parents just got back together,’ another fan said on Instagram, while a second one joked: ‘Millennials everywhere are screaming, crying & throwing up… I’m one of them.’
But now the company has revealed the post was not, in fact, about a new store opening – but about plugging an ‘audacious fan-fuelled art installation and treasure hunt’.
In a dramatic social media post, the once-clothing giant showed a couple standing on an industrial rooftop below a huge Topshop sign
Cutting to black, a message said simply: ‘We missed you too’
And the website www.topshop.com also hints at a major comeback for the fashion retailer
In a statement this afternoon, the company said it had joined forces with London artist Russ Jones to create ‘We Missed You Too’ art exhibit in Soho.
The exhibit – which may come as a disappointment to fashion fans – features 21 mirrors with comments from Topshop’s army of followers.
And it has launched a ‘treasure hunt’ across the capital, where winners can bag a £1,000 Topshop voucher and an invite to the exhibit, when it launches later this year.
Moses Rashid, Topshop global director of marketing, said: ‘We’re excited to see the love for Topshop and Topman on social media.
‘Supporting local talent, sharing the stage with creatives, and bringing London’s unique energy to our fans has always been part of Topshop’s heritage.
‘This activation, featuring the hugely talented Russ Jones, is our way of giving back in a truly Topshop way.’
In a statement in November, Topshop owners ASOS said it was looking to ‘re-launch’ Topshop.com, giving the brand ‘an opportunity to further expand its customer base’.
While Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, head of ASOS, hinted he would ‘not ignore any option to grow Topshop and if that includes a physical presence then we will not ignore it’.
Topshop was once the undisputed queen of the British high street.
With its trendy clothes, sell-out designer collaborations and 100,000 sq ft Oxford Street flagship store, the brand attracted everyone from tourists and teenagers to ‘It Girls’ and fashion editors.
During their heyday in the early noughties, celebrities and fashion icons flocked to be a part of the retail leviathan – owned by Sir Philip Green.
Supermodel Kate Moss even launched her own Topshop range in 2007. She went on to do 14 collaborations with the company.
With its trendy clothes, sell-out designer collaborations and 100,000 sq ft Oxford Street flagship store, Topshop attracted everyone from tourists and teenagers to ‘It Girls’ and fashion editors in its heyday. Pictured, Kate Moss and Sir Philip Green at the launch of the first Kate Moss x Topshop range in 2007
British supermodel Cara Delevingne was the face of Topshop’s a/w 2014 campaign. Topshop, along with the rest of the Arcadia Group, is now on the brink of collapse
Topshop lost its younger shoppers to aggressive digital e-tailers like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing. Pictured, a Topshop social media post shared in September
Attracting the ‘It Girls’ of the day, British supermodel-turned-actress Cara Delevingne was even the face of Topshop’s a/w 2014 campaign.
At its high, Topshop seemed a true titan of the British high street, raking in £100million in profit, with hundreds of stores spread across almost every large town and city in the UK.
But the store’s popularity waned as it struggled to compete with fast fashion online, losing its younger shoppers to aggressive digital e-tailers like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing.
In 2018, former owners Arcadia revealed it was haemorrhaging cash, reporting a £93.4million pre-tax loss compared with £164.6million profit in the year before. And sales slumped 4.5 per cent from £1.8billion.
As well as the financial woes, there was also the problem of image with Sir Philip Green himself. Retail experts, including Topshop’s former brand director, pointed at how the BHS pension scandal and accusations of sexual harassment tabled at Sir Philip – which he denied – had tarnished the brand, putting off female and Gen Z shoppers.
Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Arcadia was forced to shut 550 stores and furlough 14,500 employees. The move spelled the end of the shop’s physical presence on the high street.
By 2021, all Topshop stores had closed after the brand was bought by online behemoth ASOS in a £295million deal.
ASOS acquired Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT from the administrators of Arcadia, two months after the struggling group collapsed with a £750million deficit.
Topshop started life in 1964 as the ‘Top Shop’ concession within the now defunct Peter Robinson department store in Sheffield.
The company had spotted a growing need for fashion made specifically for teenage girls who wanted to embrace modern, forward-thinking design.
Under the leadership of buyer Diane Wadey, Top Shop stocked styles by young British designers including Royal College of Art graduate Jane Whiteside, Jeff Cooper and Ronnie Stirling.
The idea was a success and a concession in the Oxford Street branch of Peter Robinson soon followed, marking the start of the brand’s decades-long presence in the West End.
Topshop started life in 1964 as the ‘Top Shop’ concession within the now defunct Peter Robinson department store in Sheffield. Pictured, shoppers queue outside the entrance to the Peter Robinson Oxford Street store in 1978
Peter Robinson had spotted a growing need for fashion made specifically for teenage girls who wanted to embrace modern design. Pictured, the Rag Doll Boutique in the Peter Robinson Sheffield store in 1966
By 1974, Peter Robinson, which had been a mainstay of British retail since the 1830s, was floundering and reduced its 22 branches to just six. Meanwhile its Top Shop offering was booming. Pictured, a Top Shop and Top Man store in Liverpool, 1984
In the early 1970s, parent company the Burton Group split off Top Shop into its own independent chain of stores focusing solely on shoppers aged 13 to 24. Peter Robinson would continue to focus on shoppers over the age of 24.
But by 1974, Peter Robinson, which had been a mainstay of British retail since the 1830s, was floundering and reduced its 22 branches to just six.
Meanwhile Top Shop was booming. Within two years, Top Shop had 55 standalone branches and was reporting annual profits of £1million.
Its next major image revamp came in the 1990s, the same decade that the Oxford Street flagship opened in its current location.
Under the stewardship of Jane Shepherdson CBE, who was Topshop brand manager from 1999 to 2006, the brand went from teen clothing store to a serious fashion brand with industry clout.
‘It was a time when we were trying to prove Topshop had its own design credibility compared to a cheap high street retailer that used to copy everyone else,’ Shepherdson told the Evening Standard.
In 2001, Topshop launched its own label, Topshop Unique, and in 2005 became the first high street label to show at London Fashion Week.
The move cemented its place as a brand worthy of the coolest names in British fashion, with It Girls including Zoe Ball, Sara Cox, Donna Air and Jemima Khan sitting front row.
Denise Van Outen launches Bikini Line at Topshop Oxford Street in 1999
In 2005, Topshop became the first high street label to show at London Fashion Week, left. Right, Sara Cox and Zoe Ball at a Topshop party in London in 2005
Shoppers queued to get their hands on the first ever Kate Moss x Topshop collection in 2007. The model made 14 collections with the high street store
At the same time, Shepherdson focused on collaborations with young British designers like Christopher Kane, and turned the Oxford Street store into a must-visit destination for schoolgirls, tourists and fashionistas alike.
Shepherdson added: ‘We wanted to make it everything that a young girl wanted from a fashion store and for it to feel like a real luxury, special experience. I think for a time we achieved that.’
In 2005 Topshop reported profits of £100million.
After Shepherdson’s departure came another great Topshop milestone: the first Topshop x Kate Moss collaboration.
The 2007 release was a hit with shoppers and graced the pages of fashion magazines. The supermodel would go on to produce 14 collections with the retailer up until 2014, with each one selling out within hours.
Sir Philip Green with models (from left) Suki Waterhouse, Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Sienna Miller and Naomi Campbell at the Kate Moss x Topshop launch in 2014
‘The Kate Moss collaboration cemented the Topshop brand and allowed it to expand worldwide piggybacking off the name of the world’s most famous supermodel,’ noted pop culture commentator Nick Ede.
‘It was the biggest fashion breakthrough and led to his products being featured in magazines that would normally turn a blind eye to his designs in a snobbish fashion.’
Other high profile designer collaborators include Mary Katrantzou, Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders and Meadham Kirchhoff.
The idea was replicated at Arcadia’s other brands including Dorothy Perkins, which launched a Kardashian Kollection in 2012.
Mr Ede added: ‘These iconic collaborations were the top of their game. Many imitated but none were as good at tapping into the fashion zeitgeist of the times.’
In 2009, Topshop arrived in the US, with Kate Moss and Sir Philip jetting to New York for the launch that saw shoppers queue up around the block.
However, during the 10 years that followed, Topshop’s shine has started to fade.
On the high street Topshop faced greater competition from new rivals like & Other Stories, Urban Outfitters and Arket, as well as established retailers like H&M and Zara. Pictured, the Topshop flagship on Oxford Street
On the high street it has faced greater competition from new rivals like & Other Stories, Urban Outfitters and Arket, as well as from established retailers like H&M and Zara, which offer designer lookalikes within weeks of their catwalk debut.
Topshop also had a large number of brick-and-mortar stores – some 510 around the world, including 300 in the UK – which became less and less of a draw in the age of online shopping. In 2019 all of Topshop’s US stores closed, just 10 years after opening.
Compounding the problem is Topshop’s sluggish digital investment and the aggressive rise in online, fast fashion retailers like Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing and Missguided, which have become the go-to destinations for Gen Z shoppers looking to snap up new, social-media worthy looks.
Liam Patterson, CEO and founder at Bidnamic, a marketing technology platform, said: ‘Rather than adapting to modern customer needs with a strong ecommerce offering, the brand resisted innovation and was late to the digital party.
‘COVID-19 lockdowns only exacerbated these issues as the business lost customers to digital natives like ASOS and Boohoo that had more engaging online presence and more reputable brands.’