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Topshop earns its stripes on the 'copy catwalk'
Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard24 Sep 2007
It is the holy grail for every high street fashion chain boss: take the best of the catwalk designs of London, Paris and New York and turn them into “cheap chic” clothes that fly off the shelves.
Hot on the kitten heels of London Fashion Week, a new league table today identifies which of the most popular chains have got it down to a fine art — and which need to go back to the drawing board.
The “catwalk to check-out” chart is topped by twentysomething fashion favourite Warehouse, followed by Zara and Sir Philip Green's Topshop, where Kate Moss has her own collection. Bottom of the list are Matalan, Esprit and Gap.
Warehouse is praised for cleverly adapting the dominant themes at the big shows to their own look rather than just crudely ripping them off. The report said: “This autumn it was noticeable where the brand had worked closely with catwalk looks and chose the correct designer inspiration to suit their brand.”
The study, conducted by retail consultancy Piper-Jaffray, identifies nine “must-have” looks and themes for women's fashion this autumn that no chain can afford to be without. They are:
- Block colour inspired by Eighties pop.
- Wide belts and corsets drawing attention to the waist.
- Hi-tech details such as the “sci-fi” heels seen at the Balenciaga show.
- A minimalist look in luxurious fabrics.
- A Forties-inspired “starlet” look.
- Modern boho, combining hippy styles with hi-tech themes.
- The “new embellishment” style, using ruching, quilting or feathers.
- S&M-style leather, zips and spike heels.
- The dressing up look of full-length posh frocks.
According to the report, Warehouse, Zara and Topshop all offered more than 90 per cent of the key womenswear looks in their shops. But analyst Mike Dennis said the up-and-coming names were Next and Tesco, both getting much more adept at apeing big name designers.
Warehouse spokeswoman Lorraine Pringle said: “We try to observe the trend and interpret it the Warehouse way.” The high street has to tread a fine line between selling clothes “inspired by” the designer shows and blatantly ripping off ideas. Some retailers, such as Primark, get as close as possible to the originals while changing enough details to keep copyright lawyers at bay. This year it produced its own version of a £3,000 Gucci jacket worn by Victoria Beckham and sold it by the thousand for £12.
