Kate Moss' fashion range is hogging the headlines - and flying off the rails at Topshop - as the model becomes the latest in a line of celebrities to design their own clothing range for a high street retailer, writes Nikki Sandison.
Other celebrities who have teamed up with high street stores include Madonna and Stella McCartney for H&M, Roland Mouret for Gap and Lily Allen, whose range for New Look launched in the same week as the Kate Moss collection.
Kate Moss' range launched at Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street, London with thousands of shoppers queuing up to be among the first to buy items designed by the fashion icon. The model briefly appeared in the window of the store for about 10 seconds, before shoppers were allowed in to view the designs for 20 minutes per person in small groups. They were allowed to try on a maximum of eight items and buy just five pieces per person. Topshop introduced the limit to prevent people from selling the items at inflated prices on eBay but by the following day hundreds of items were up for sale on the auction site. Moss has reportedly been paid £3 million for her collection, which comprises 50 designs in total ranging from a £12 vest top to a £150 cropped leather jacket, as well as waistcoats, skinny jeans and hotpants. After launching at the flagship store the range has gone on sale across its 225 shops.
Moss' collection created huge pre-launch publicity for Topshop and some industry insiders claim the celebrity ranges are now an important PR tool for retailers, ahead of more traditional, long-term brand building. However other have pointed out that the stars, as well as the clothing, go in and out of fashion. Richard Perks, director of retail research at Mintel said: "Like fashion designers, retailers are only as good as their current ranges." Maintaining momentum can be a problem and most celebrity ties tend to be for a one-off collection but Topshop has promised a second Moss collection to appear in stores next month. The high street retailer has also revealed plans to move into the US market by agreeing a deal to sell its Kate Moss range to New York based department store Barneys.