LONDON FASHION WEEK: Award to Top (Marketing) Shop

There was a time when Fashion week was the occasion to show great creativity and disruptiveness (Chanel, Balenciaga, Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Viktor & Rolf, Giles Deacon) but the interest for fashion by the majority has led the fashion week to showcase a bit of everything. Many understood the marketing value of the fashion catwalks. After all, if Haute Couture doesn't make money but feeds sales of the Ready-to-wear and cosmetics, the fashion show could be used as marketing for other non descript brands and Top Shop management is not one to be lost on the marketing... Well known to make loads of profits by copying fashion designers' creations, Top Shop now also has its fashion catwalk which goes hand in hand with its collaboration with the top model Kate Moss. The Kate Moss collection for Top Shop aims at featuring items copied from her own wardrobe, a wardrobe constituted a lot by top designers.

So, to sum up, Top Shop aims at positionning itself closer to the High Fashion and give a sensation of edginess and fierceness. Hence their presence at the London Fashion Week, featuring new up and coming designers. Unfortunately, if it looks great in paper - and it does, after all, the mention in newspaper is worth millions of advertisement - the result in clothing is rather disappointing: Plain vests and cropped shapeless trousers. But it does make sense: after all, had they copied from the greatest designs, everyone would have protested and complained while doing nothing extravagant if not having a catwalk, no bad thing could be said.

I have to say that, if Top Shop is not great in designs, the grand designs of their communication team is very creative and worth the creativity of the greatest designers.