Topshop is back with a bang, and Cara Delevingne is leading the charge. The model stars in the brand’s bold new campaign and has handpicked a 30-piece edit, landing exclusively on topshop.com from 16 August. And that’s just the start - Cara is also co-designing a full capsule collection set to drop in 2026.
Her debut edit is all about sharp tailoring, statement coats, and updated denim favourites, grounded in a clean monochrome palette with pops of avocado green. Expect a cinched ‘80s-style PU jacket, a faux shearling coat, and reworked versions of the iconic Joni and Jamie jeans. Shot in East London by Bartek Szmigulski and styled by Justin Hamilton, the campaign captures Cara’s signature London edge - raw, confident, and effortlessly cool.
‘As a London girl, Topshop was the place where fashion felt fun, fearless, and full of possibilities,’ Cara says in the press release. This collection is about owning your style, your story, and feeling empowered to express that every day.’ Due to Delevingne’s longstanding relationship with the brand, this collaboration couldn’t be more perfect, the model has appeared in many of Topshop’s shows dating as far back as 2010. ’This partnership is more than a campaign - it’s a reset,’ says Topshop MD Michelle Wilson. ‘Cara is the perfect embodiment of what Topshop stands for now: bold, creative, and unapologetically herself.’
The relaunch doesn’t stop there. Topshop cemented itself as a London Fashion Week fixture in 2005, fusing high-street accessibility with high-fashion and drawing in a front row packed with A-listers like Naomi Campbell to Alexa Chung.
On August 16th at Trafalgar Sqaure, Topshop returns to London Fashion Week for the first time in seven years, complete with a see-now-buy-now runway show, public access, and a full-blown street party featuring live music and surprise guests.
In a move that echoes the inclusive spirit of its heyday, Topshop also hosted an open model casting in collaboration with Wilhelmina Models. The initiative offered unsigned talent the opportunity to walk in the show - applications closed on the 4th of August. Millennials rejoice, Topshop is officially back.
When did Topshop close?
Topshop never disappeared entirely - the brand was bought by ASOS, having gone into administration on 30 November 2020 - but store closures up and down the country were something of a death knell in 2021. Topshop's flagship at Oxford Circus, the monolithic building that's now been turned into an IKEA, was a site of pilgrimage for almost every millennial, whether you travelled down for your first piercing or just to lose your friends somewhere between jeans and Freedom.
Who bought Topshop?
In 2024, there were signs that it could make its long-awaited comeback. According to The Guardian, ASOS sold a 75% stake to Heartland, a holding company representing the interests of the family business Bestseller. José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, chief executive at ASOS, told the paper at the time: 'We might open stores. We will consider it for sure but we have no specific agreement to open a certain number.'
When might Topshop be reopening?
For now, it looks like getting its own dedicated website back might be the extent of developments, which is big news in itself, but stay tuned. 'Topshop Joni jeans' is a breakout search on Google, as is 'Topshop stores', which has increased by 140% in the past four hours.
This isn't surprising because at the height of its power, Topshop wasn't just the place to shop on the high street but was responsible for the most iconic collaboration of all time (Kate Moss), as well as being a headliner at London Fashion Week (Anna Wintour attended for goodness sake). Every teenager with a pulse and pocket money wanted to wear Topshop, which is perhaps one of the reasons it all went pear-shaped. As that generation of teenagers grew up, graduating to slightly less trend-led brands such as Arket, the next generation, flush with fast-fashion options that included more affordable competitors like Pretty Little Thing, didn't take up the mantle and Topshop, once the most relevant high street retailer, was left chasing its tail.
Could that all be about to change? For millennials who queued up to score that butter yellow dress by Kate Moss - the one that still does a brisk trade on eBay almost 20 years later - the answer is a resounding 'please say yes'.
Natalie Hammond is Grazia’s senior fashion news editor. She loves winter, hates summer and can often be found writing about the weather (and what on earth to wear).
Main image credit: @topshop & Getty Images