What is going on with Topshop?

In September 2021, ASOS, the British fast fashion and cosmetics retailer, acquired Topshop, a sort of high-street compendium of London fashion. A new shake-up marked by the Union Jack has stirred the recent debate: two years after the acquisition, ASOS sold a majority stake in Topshop to Heartland, a Danish fashion group that already owns Jack & Jones and Vero Moda. While the fast fashion world has taken a “high profile” direction, leaning towards a more minimalist aesthetic (as evidenced by the dominance of the Japanese company Uniqlo in the sector or the latest collaborations of Zara with Stefano Pilati and Samuel Ross), Millennials who missed the wild spirit of Topshop could breathe a sigh of relief. Over the past year, much has been said about the return of indie sleaze, a fashion that does not follow minimalism but rather rebels against it, taking inspiration from old-school rock and the outfits of bands like The Strokes or icons like Kate Moss. But is it really time to start wearing ripped tights, combat boots, and fur coats again, or are these just false smoke signals?

When ASOS bought Topshop in 2021, it decided to use its online platform as the brand's sole distribution channel. Two years later, the entire company has entered a crisis, having reported significant revenue losses due to buying errors and a consequent “consumer confidence deflation”. From a certain point of view, the sale of Topshop to the Danish company Heartland could thus indicate one of the many ways in which Asos is shedding the burdens it has accumulated over the years, rather than a sign of the brand’s comeback. Yet, in recent months, the hyper-British brand has received a new wave of attention from the press and its audience: last May, for example, the release of the film Saltburn (a thriller set in the English countryside in 2006) caused a rise in searches by 45% for the Kate Moss x Topshop collection on Depop. Is it a coincidence that five months later, Zara announced the launch of a new capsule designed by the top model herself?

Now that ASOS has sold a 75% stake to Heartland, former Topshop customers who are still madly in love with the brand's eccentric and rock style are hoping to see their dreams come true. According to the press release regarding the acquisition published by ASOS and Heartland, the company owned by Danish entrepreneur Holch Povlsen is ready to revamp Topshop's website as well as its physical stores. It is still too early to determine the fate of a nostalgic brand like Topshop, yet both the public and analysts’ responses seem positive. Social media is celebrating the possible reopening of the Oxford Street megastore, once the London Mecca of fast fashion, but the wave of enthusiasm overlooks the fact that the fashion landscape has changed, as have consumer preferences. The accessible fashion sector is saturated on all fronts, as it now includes ultra-cheap options like Shein and Temu, as well as intermediate ones, such as exclusive lines from Zara or Cos. Until the early 2010s, Topshop was even worn by celebrities waiting for fashion week because it maintained a more dignified quality compared to other fast fashion brands, while in the period leading up to its acquisition by ASOS, the value of its clothes plummeted drastically. One thing is certain: for Topshop to really return to everyone's lips like in the past, it will need a phenomenon bigger than a collab between Julian Casablancas and Charlie XCX.