Eva Georgiou, Esvie Contributor
Fashion Designer
There was a story that rocked the fashion world a few weeks back. Why had Kate Moss suddenly been dumped by Topshop? Speculation was rife, with the rumour mill going into overdrive, as to why Sir Philip Green had ended their working relationship. One rumour, that seemed to take precedence, was that it was to pave the way for Sir Green’s teenage daughter, Chloe, to take the helm, with one newspaper suggesting that Kate had been given the push specifically to pave the way for Chloe to start designing her own range.
Kate Moss’s deal with Topshop had been the saving of her, after her much published scandal of her snorting Cocaine in 2005. Sir Philip Green seemed to become Kate’s knight in shining armour, and she would call him ‘Uncle Phil’, he in turn, referred to her as his second daughter and it seemed to be a match made in retail heaven. As it proved Kate’s first collection, the following spring of 2006, was an instant hit. At its launch there were more then 2,000 women, queuing outside Topshops flagship store in London’s Oxford Street. It even got to the point of the Police being forced to close the road to traffic. Within a year, Kate’s earnings had leaped from £2 million to £9 million, and ‘Cocaine Kate’ and her then grubby boyfriend, Pete Doherty, had become a thing of the past.
So why the sudden end to what seemed to be such a successful collaboration? Sir Philip Green has set the record straight and put an end to the gossip by stating ‘About two or three months ago, we came to the decision that it (the collaboration) had lost its edge, and we had lost what our purpose was.’ The high street mogul went on to say, ‘It’s different now to when we started and probably become too overloaded, It wasn’t working. We all got bogged down with it. We were trying to produce these big collections, but it was too difficult and we needed a rethink’. But he did continue saying that it wasn’t the end of the partnership, and that there are two or three special projects that will continue.
Undoubtedly, Kate’s first few collections were a massive hit, with stock selling out within hours. And her final collection will be hitting the Topshop stores on November 2nd . In keeping with her look, it’s a delicate vintage inspired line, but with her very own signature 60’s rock n roll, rock chick look. With it comes chiffon dresses, sequinned jackets, floaty dresses trimmed with lace. They are also bringing back some of her key pieces from past collections, in a line called ‘Iconic’. Plus Kate has designed a Jewellery range for Topshop, so expect vintage inspired pieces, rings, pendants and chains.
The Lady herself will be in store at Topshops flagship store on Oxford Circus, to launch her last collection, so if you want to catch a glimpse, she’ll be there around 7pm on 2nd November.
The range can also be seen at www.Topshop.com
