Kate Moss will attend the opening of Topshop, which features her clothing line, the Kate Moss Hearts Topshop Collection, next month in New York City’s SoHo district. Today’s Page Six reports that “Kate Moss is expected April 1 at the launch of Topshop on Broadway at Broome, which is carrying the supermodel’s new fashion line. Retailer Sir Philip Green and wife Lady Green are hosting dinners that night and the night before, at Balthazar with performances by Mark Ronson, Santogold, Lady Gaga and others.”
Up until now, purchasing clothing and apparel from Topshop has only been possible for American shoppers via their online store (or during at trip abroad). Nonetheless, while Topshop does have a separate US online store, purchases are still shipped internationally from Great Britain, are currently not trackable, and are subject to additional customs fees on orders over $200 — an amount, I’m guessing, many orders surpass. Especially since the hugely successful launch of Kate Moss’ clothing line, Kate Moss Hearts Topshop : if shoppers in London line up around the block hours before the Topshop stores open to buy clothing from Moss’ collection, I can only imagine that many American shoppers eagerly purchase several items from the highly sought-after Kate Moss fashion line.
Topshop, one of London’s High Street retailers, has hundreds stores all over the UK, as well as internationally. When news of a New York City Topshop store location hit, I was surprised to learn that Topshop already has easily 100 stores in international locations. At first I assumed they were all in Europe (and even then, mostly in European countries like France, Italy, and Spain), but I was incorrect; not only are there Topshop stores in many eastern European countries (Poland, Turkey, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, among others), but you can find a Topshop store in countries ranging from Chile to Saudi Arabia and Iceland to Indonesia.
I couldn’t help but wonder, then, why Topshop, which is obviously finding worldwide success, was only now tapping this heavily into the American market. While I couldn’t say for sure, it seems likely that this is part of the “Kate Moss effect.” In other words, the highly publicized — and highly successful — Kate Moss clothing collection is what most appeals to the average American shopper looking to make purchases at Topshop. This is further evidenced by the fact that Ms. Moss will be attending the Topshop New York launch.
Kate is both a supermodel and an international style icon. The idea of Naomi Campbell or Gisele Bundchen designing a clothing line doesn’t have the same appeal. People want to be fashionable and stylish like Kate Moss. And what better way to accomplish that than to dress like Kate Moss, in clothes designed by the model herself, no less? So what it really boils down to is that the Kate Moss collection for Topshop is launching in New York next month. Not only will an American Topshop location probably mean that US orders will start shipping domestically from within the US, but now shoppers who are wary of ordering online without seeing the clothing up close first will have a chance to try on the clothes before purchasing (the ones in New York, at least).
