Two years on since the closure of one of the most iconic (okay, possibly the most iconic) brands on the Great British High Street, and there's still a huge Topshop-shaped hole in our lives. With skeletons of the Arcadia shops still scattering the streets of most UK cities since all stores closed in 2020, BBC Two (and iPlayer) will be showcasing a two-part series Trouble at Topshop, dedicated to the rise, and fall, of Topshopunder the helm of Sir Philip Green.
While we still sob at the fact we can do longer pop in to grab a pair of iconic Joni or Jamie jeans, or head to Toppers to find an 'it' item that's guaranteed to be spotted on every fashion editor, influencer and human in mere days (we all remember that 2018 slip skirt, right?), we're intrigued to find out where it all went wrong.
With Kate Moss launching her first collection back in 2007, the likes of designer Christopher Kane joining forces on a collaboration in 2009 and Queen Beyoncé dropping Ivy Park in 2016, the brand was backed by some seriously big names. As the first (and only) high street brand allowed to have a spot at London Fashion Week from 2005, the Topshop Unique shows saw the likes of Cara Delevingne, Adwoa Aboah and Gigi Hadid walk for the brand. And that's not even mentioning the A-listers who would sit on the f-row. While we wait in anticipation to watch the documentary (put Monday 26 September in your diaries), we take a look back at the 9 most iconic Topshop moments we'll never forget.
Topshop's Most Memorable Moments
1 of 9Topshop Unique spring.summer 2006 London Fashion Week show
2005: Topshop's premium label, Topshop Unique, secured the spot as the first high street brand to have a show during London Fashion Week. Making its debut for spring/summer 2006, it ran up until spring/summer 2018 and featured supermodels including Cara Delevingne, Adwoa Aboah, Suki Waterhouse, Karlie Kloss and Gigi Hadid.
2 of 9Kate Moss wearing yellow dress In New York 2003
2007: Kate Moss wore this yellow vintage dress in New York back in 2003, and it later inspired the version she created for her first Topshop collaboration in 2007. Naturally, the high street minidress sold out as soon as it launched but - PSA - it can still be found on eBay – yep, really!
3 of 9Topshop x Christopher Kane
2009: Remember this dress/top? Of course you do. The Topshop x Christopher Kane collaboration was the next collection to cause a stampede at the Oxford Street flagship store. The result? We were left seeing everyone wearing this croc number for months, maybe even years after.
4 of 9Topshop Joni jeans
2012: Topshop was known for being the destination for denim, but its 'Joni' skinny jeans were the most popular pair. At one time, the high street hero was selling a pair every 10 seconds in store. They later launched in 2019 with belt loops and everyone went wild for them once again.
5 of 9Chloe Green launched her Topshop footwear collection in 2013
2012: Sir Philip Green's daughter, Chloe Green, launched her own footwear collection (aptly named 'Chloe Jade Green') with the high street brand. The green-soled heels ended up running for six seasons up until 2014.
6 of 9Kate Middleton wore a spotty Topshop dress in London in 2013
2013: Kate Middleton wore a spotty Topshop dress during a royal engagement in London, and it naturally caused the minidress to sell-out. We all know the power of K-Mid when it comes to making a dress fly off the rails as soon as she wears it.
7 of 9Cara Delevingne as the face of the Topshop autumn/winter 2014/15 collection
2014: Cara Delevingne was announced as the new face of the autumn winter 2014 collection, following in the footsteps of supermodel Kate Moss. The collection included vinyl spray-on trousers, faux fur coats and sequin minidresses.
8 of 9Emily Ratajkowski wearing Topshop at the Met Gala in 2015
2015: Models Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber all attended the Met Gala in New York wearing under-£200 Topshop dresses for the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' theme that year. And you could actually shop the exact dresses online at the time.
9 of 9Topshop x Beyonce Ivy Park collection
2016: To add to the long list of celebrities who backed Topshop, the high street brand joined forces with the one and only Beyoncé for her first Ivy Park collection in 2016. And yes, everyone queued outside the flagship store, even though she didn't attend. You can still shop Ivy Park at Adidas, FYI.