Topshop based its Unique collection at London Fashion Week (LFW) on Sunday on classic British subcultures — mods, rockers, bright young things and Northern Soul revellers.
But forget retro. With a sharp-edged commercial spirit always at the heart of the high street’s biggest presence at London Fashion Week, the references were only vague. The priority here is appealing to young women in 2014 — not channelling the ones of yesteryear. Model Cara Delevingne opened and closed the show, an embodiment of the here and now if ever there was one.
She was followed by other Brit models of the moment — Jourdan Dunn, Hollie-May Saker, Sam Rollinson and Lily Donaldson. This cast of characters was augmented by the front row: Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe, Ellie Goulding, Laura Bailey, Laura Carmichael and Alexa Chung surrounded Topshop’s chief executive, Sir Philip Green. In short, the space in King’s Cross contained a fair few of the celebrities regularly named as modern trendsetters — in place to appeal to the Topshop demographic of teenage and 20-something shoppers.
The collection consisted of clothes that any of the young women in the front row, or those browsing instore, could wear straight from the catwalk. There were satin party dresses with a hint of 20s in loose shapes and sorbet colours, boxy car coats and flippy knitted dresses that owed something to a mod polo shirt, while the sportswear now a staple of the modern wardrobe was in primary colours. Rocker style was represented in high-waisted tight black trousers worn with scarlet nipped-in jackets, and off-the-shoulder frilled blouses. Silver pleated skirts had the movement for a Northern soul dancefloor, but would equally appeal to a customer without an in-depth knowledge of dusty vinyl.
Digital switch
Topshop is smart enough to know that digital is the best way to reach its consumer and this show came armour-clad with online tie-ins. The company dubbed the event “the social catwalk” and has collaborated with Facebook to bring the show to its millions of followers. Flipping the usual insider exclusivity of a fashion show, those not on the guest list are the ones who get the perks.
The Topshop Facebook page will sell pieces from the collection not seen on the catwalk, and Oxford Circus flagship store was due to have six pieces from the collection available straight after the show.
“I believe that enabling Topshop’s fans to view key looks from the collection before our industry insiders is a real revolution — and one that we are proud to pioneer,” said Green.
If Topshop has been one of the early adopters of digital routes to market, fashion has more generally been resistant. But it looks as if this season, certainly at London Fashion Week (LFW), there has been a shift. This is evident right down to where it matters, in the front row, where fashion editors have been spotted wearing Google Glass. The opening event this season featured a speech by Google director Peter Fitzgerald, streamed from his office in California. Perhaps the impact of alpha e-tailer Natalie Massenet as chair of the British Fashion Council is beginning to show. It is certainly there in statistics: a year ago, 33 per cent of LFW designers had e-commerce websites. That figure is now 43 per cent.
Other highlights of Sunday included Richard Nicoll’s show based on an interesting alliance of Disney’s Tinkerbell and gymwear, and a presentation from Mulberry. Still without a creative director, the Somerset brand amped up the Englishness. The collection, made by the design team, was based on the trellises and cornflowers of a country garden.
