The downfall of Topshop

Once reigning supreme of the British high street, Topshop seems to have fallen down the fashion hierarchy in recent years.

In its glory days, Topshop’s collaborators included the likes of Beyoncé and Kate Moss, giving its shoppers the catwalk, high-end style without breaking the bank. However, as we grew up and evolved, looking for staple pieces that we could keep forever, Topshop stayed in the past, losing out on its older shoppers and tailoring towards the younger generation with disposable fast fashion pieces.

Though it had success with its younger shoppers, this didn’t last for long, with Topshop inevitably being overthrown by huge online retailers such as Boohoo and Missguided. Maybe it was the wider range of cheaper clothes they had to offer, or the influencers and diverse models that they represented, with people that young shoppers could actually identify with, that made these brands a bigger hit amongst the youth. Topshop just didn’t seem to cut it anymore.

The pandemic can only be described as the last nail in the coffin for the high street store. Philip Green, chairman of Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, has gathered quite a reputation for himself. Following his BHS pension scandal, and issues surrounding tax affairs, he’s recently been accused of bullying and sexual harassment.

Despite denying these allegations, he’s lost a lot of supporters. Shortly after the allegations came to light, Beyoncé cut all ties with the brand, buying Green out of Ivy Park, a sportswear brand which she co-founded with him.

Even Green himself admitted to the brand failing to keep up with the times, after Arcadia was saved from administration in June 2019, he told the BBC, "The market place has changed forever - people want a different kind of service. Should we have seen that three or four years ago? Maybe. But now we need to get on with the job.”

It seems that the effort to save the clothing store has failed, as on the 30 November, Topshop officially entered administration, putting up to 13,000 jobs at risk.

With so many more ethical and better brands to shop at, why would you choose Topshop?