Topshop

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Topshop

Topshop is a chain of clothing stores situated throughout the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and over 30 other countries.

Its primary sales come from a range of products including clothing and fashion accessories. Although in the 1980s Topshop was considered to be deeply unfashionable, the chain has reinvented itself as a fashionable brand. This reinvention has included the introduction of a 'Unique' line of clothes, a more upmarket selection of fashion, and a regular show at London Fashion Week, the only high street brand to do so.

The store has offered a number of celebrity and designer collections, including by artist Stella Vine and supermodel Kate Moss, whose collection was released on 1 May 2007. The appointment of Moss was announced just before the departure of CEO Jane Shepherdson.

Topshop Oxford Street

Topshop Oxford Street is the world's largest fashion store and is also the home of the brand's flagship store. Topshop on Oxford Street offers many services to it's customers such as a nail bar, a one hour tailoring service, a hair salon by famed catwalk hairdresser Daniel Hersheson, and a one hour delivery service whereby customers can place an order to the store and their products will be delivered by Vespa scooter to them within one hour providing that they live in the delivery zone.

Other flagship stores are located in Birmingham - Bullring, Nottingham- Victoria, Manchester- Arndale, Glasgow- Argyle Street and Cardiff Queen Street and Belfast Victoria square. Topshop is owned by the Arcadia Group, which owns a number of other retail outlets including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Wallis, and Outfit.

Several branches of Topshop can be found outside the United Kingdom, most notably in the Republic of Ireland, Gibraltar, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. The chain also includes stores in Iceland, Sweden, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Its male-clothing counterpart, Topman, is a standalone business.

After the recent success of the Kate Moss clothing range, Topshop has decided to introduce the range to the United States market. Topshop has struck a deal with U.S. department store Barneys New York to sell through its 19 stores.

Topshop New York

Topshop's eagerly anticipated store will be located on Broadway as the compnay has recently acquired a large site on Broadway that is curenty being developed and once completed it will be home to Topshop's first flagship store outside of the United Kingdom.. Topshop New York will be in a similiar style to the London store and will offer services similiar to the London store such as a one stop hair salon, a nail bar, and a one hour tailoring service.

Products

Topshop is mainly known for its women's clothing, however in the late 1970's Topman was created and offers menswear. Currently Topshop's 'Trends' are 'Modern Romance', 'Jet Set', 'Iris', and The Kate Moss Collection.

Criticism

Topshop have recently been criticized in The Sunday Times for the exploitation of Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi employees in the factories that manufacture Topshop clothing in Mauritius.

The article states that prospective workers are sought out by agents on the Indian subcontinent with the promise that they will receive five-times their current wages. According to the article, the reality is very different with workers reported to receive between £0.22 and £0.40 per hour for their labours, about 40% of the Mauritian average wage. Some people have expressed that the workers were fully aware of the conditions and pay at the time of recruitment. The Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, does not directly own the factories that employs the workers and maintains that the premises and working conditions are regularly monitored by the company and were reported to be "In excellent shape," by the Arcadia Group CEO, Sir Philip Green.

Mr. Green went onto state: "You [The Sunday Times] are telling me that factories are happy to breach our code of conduct. I’ve got to look into it." This suggests that if the findings are conclusive, the company will be looking to improve conditions.

Topshop has also been criticized by student campaigning network People & Planet for allegedly using cotton picked in Uzbekustan by slaves http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1905262007 and for refusing to join the Ethical Trading Initiative.

References

External links

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Last updated on Monday July 21, 2008 at 10:04:05 PDT (GMT -0700)
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