Topshop is a chain of clothing stores that operates in over 30 countries, including the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is part of the Arcadia Group, which also owns a number of other well-known retail outlets including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Wallis.
Its primary sales come from a range of products including clothing and fashion accessories, and is mainly known for its women's clothing, with Topman having been created in the late 1970s to cater for male customers.
Products
In the 1980s, Topshop was considered to be deeply unfashionable, however, the chain has reinvented itself as a fashionable brand in recent years.[1] This reinvention has included the introduction of a 'Unique' line of clothes, a more upmarket selection of fashion, and a regular show at London Fashion Week, the only high street brand to do so. The chain has also offered a number of collections designed by celebrities such as artist Stella Vine.[2] The supermodel Kate Moss, has also designed a collection which was released on 1 May 2007.[3] The appointment of Moss was announced just before the departure of CEO Jane Shepherdson.
Topshop's current trends are 'Punk Couture, 'Scout', 'Boudoir, ' Wonderland', 'Bandstand' and the 'Kate Moss Collection'.
Flagship Stores
Oxford Street
Topshop Oxford Street is the world's largest fashion store and is also the home of the brand's flagship store.[4][5][6] Topshop on Oxford Street offers many services to its customers such as a nail bar, a one hour tailoring service, a hair salon by famed catwalk hairdresser Daniel Hersheson, and a one hour delivery service whereby customers can place an order to the store and their products will be delivered by Vespa scooter to them within one hour, providing that they live in the delivery zone. Topshop also houses an EAT cafe/sandwich bar[7] Topshop Oxford Circus is roughly 90,000 square feet and covers four floors.[8] Topshop Oxford Circus attracts around 28-30,000 customers each day[9]
New York
Topshop's first flagship store outside of the United Kingdom will be located on Broadway in New York.[10] The new store will offer services similar to the London outlet such as a one stop hair salon, and a one hour tailoring service.[11] The New York store will be the brand's second largest store after the company's flagship store in London, the New York store will be roughly 60,000 square feet.[12][13]
Foreign Operations
Several branches of Topshop can be found outside the United Kingdom, most notably in the Republic of Ireland, Gibraltar, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. The chain also includes stores in Iceland, Sweden, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Its male-clothing counterpart, Topman, is a standalone business.
After the recent success of the Kate Moss clothing range, Topshop has decided to introduce the range to the United States market. Topshop has struck a deal with U.S. department store Barneys New York to sell through its 19 stores.[14]
Criticism
Topshop have recently been criticized in The Sunday Timescitation needed for the exploitation of Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi employees in the factories that manufacture Topshop clothing in Mauritius.
The article states that prospective workers are sought out by agents on the Indian subcontinent with the promise that they will receive five-times their current wages. According to the article, the reality is very different with workers reported to receive between £0.22 and £0.40 per hour for their labours, about 40% of the Mauritian average wage. Some people have expressed that the workers were fully aware of the conditions and pay at the time of recruitment. The Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, does not directly own the factories that employs the workers and maintains that the premises and working conditions are regularly monitored by the company and were reported to be "In excellent shape," by the Arcadia Group CEO, Sir Philip Green.citation needed
Mr. Green went onto state: "You The Sunday Times are telling me that factories are happy to breach our code of conduct. I’ve got to look into it." This suggests that if the findings are conclusive, the company will be looking to improve conditions.
Topshop has also been criticized by student campaigning network People & Planet for allegedly using cotton picked in Uzbekistan by slaves http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1905262007 and for refusing to join the Ethical Trading Initiative.
References
External links
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