Top Shop

The first stand alone Topshop store opened in 1974. Topman is a spin off brand to cater for male customers, and was created in 1970 and is now run as a seperate chain store although quite often both Topshop and Topman is combined in the same store location. Throughout 2011 and 2012 Topshop expanded throughout South Africa and Australia.  

Top shop was founded in 1963 by Peter Robinsons. Topshop, a youth fashion brand within the Sheffield branch of Peter Robinson, and is now one of the most popular chain stores in the UK.

 

The Topshop customer:

When walking into a Topshop store, you are surrounded by young, hipster, trendy individuals. The Topshop style, is not your typical every day run of the mill female youth chain store. Its funky, its arty, its sporty, and everything you'd imagine a British female would be.

 There are many different categories within the brand. Underwear and sleep wear is a section within the store. The lingerie has a vintage, romantic feel to it, due to the use of retro looking laces, and styles, with bustiers, high waisted panties and wonderfully unique prints.

The Topshop customer has a large variety of clothing to choose from. From jersey knitwear, to heavily studded jackets, to a large assortment of jeans, to lovely summer dresses.

The large variety of product categories within the store is, in my opinion, what makes the store so exciting to shop in. You walk into a Topshop store, and you have everything you need, of good quality, reasonable prices, and many stylish trendy options.Dresses, shorts, jeans, pants, sleepwear, underwear, skirts, knit wear, jersey wear, shoes, make up, swimwear,socks, stockings, bags, jewellery, gloves, hats and the list goes on!





The British model Agyness Deyn, in my opinion, has always reminded me of the typical Top Shop style!

 

How does Topshop Operate?

So who is involved in this franchise? Who are some of the key people? Who is the behind the scenes genius to the brand? WELL, after visiting the Topshop blog, i discovered some of the personalities behind the scenes!

 

Geraldine- Head of Design Development and has been with the Topshop buisness for 21 Years!

How did you get into pattern cutting? " I studied design. Most of us did. Most pattern cutters that i employ specially have studied design and excelled in pattern cutting. It's a real skill. You can teach the basics of pattern cutting but if you havent got a certain level of skill and a certain flair it becomes quite hard. You can do textbook but i dont want textbook. I want a bit of flair on top of that. "

What's the best part of the job? "The catwalk. How many people get to produce a collection and then see it on a catwal and see all the press after it. It's amazing!"

Whats it like up in the pattern room in the run up of the unique show? "At the absolute last minute when we're all panic struck its all hands on deck. We have a few all nighters and it becomes very stressful towards the end. The stylist comes in on a day towards the end. Things can change drastically- there can be new requests and the like!"

What's the process for creating the pieces for the collections? "All the designers are briefed as to how they see the show going from our Creative Director Kate Phelan and our joint Heads of Design Emma Farrow and Jacqui Markham. From there the designers are asked to submit their sketches. Theres a selection process and we start to develop the sketches and as it evolves some things are dropped and other things are worked on more. Its an evolution how we end up with what actually goes into the show because as you start working on garments that fire up other garments. There's a colour palette, and the print designers get involved and they produce prints solely for the show. Its so interesting and such a brilliant thing to be able to do!" 

Becky – Pattern Cutter

 

How did you get into your job? " I trained at 'London College of Fashion' where i did the womenswear BA and then a post grad in pattern cutting. Geraldine was actually my examiner. I did a trial and was eventually offered a job. I felt very very very lucky!"

What would you suggest is the best route into the industry? "I would say you have to go on and do a post graduate or a more specialised couse in the pattern cutting as you dont learn enough when you're doing a purely design BA. I think you can learn to a degree but i think you need to have a natural ability to understand it. Its a 3D process- it goes from 2D to 3D- so you have to have that way of thinking. Most people have to be a bit of a perfectionist to be a pattern cutter too as it you're not a perfectionist your patterns could be sloppy. All of us here are very meticulous! "

 

Alan (The best in the buisness according to Geraldine)- Pattern Cutter

How would you advise becoming a pattern cutter? "Its purely experience. There isnt any college experience you can do for this. Its all a matter of doing it, doing it wrong and finding out how to do it right. That's pretty much the bottom line. You've got to do it to learn it. There are so many intricate parts to cutting. It sounds easy; you out the cloth on the table and you chop around it. It doesn't quite work like that if you want a nice result and we have a pretty high quality here. "

What do you like best about the job? " The variety; its always different. Every fabric is different, every style is different. You get a lot of matching placement prints. Its the variety. "

What's it like seeing the end product? " Its very nice to see the end product. I did a lot of the production work prior to doing sampling and its very nice to cut a couple of hundred garments and see them going through with no problem and see them in shops. The end result is important. It's great to see the pieces you work on going up and down the catwalk and even better when you see them in the papers!"

Amy Gerami -HR Assistant

My Job title is "Top Shop HR Assistant, meaning i provide support and advice to Topshop and its employees.

I studies Journalism to Maters Level. "

How did you get your job? "I got my job by networking and gaining lots of HR experience."

What is your typical working day like? "I am the first point of contact for any employees issues within Topshop Head Office. Each day is really varied; one minute i could eb scheduling the next brand induction, the next im drawing up contracts for employees in London or NewYork. "

Whats the best thing about your job? " Working for such an amazing brand and the people"

What is a Topshop customer expecting to spend?

Topshop is High street fashion, and is in a medium price range. Not exclusively expensive, yet not dirt cheap. Garments being at around 15 Quid (15 pound, roughly 20 odd dollars). [ I speak in pound in relation to Topshop because i spent quite a lot of time in Topshop stores whilst living in the UK. And the Topshop webstie is priced in Pound].

Topshop store in Guildford Surrey England. This was my favorite store to visit whilst living abroad.

 

The cheapest items within the brand are usually the basic jersey tops, socks, and accessories. However occasionly there are deals like 'purchase 3 pairs of topshop panties for only $19/10quid'

Items of clothing in Topshop are usually priced between $20-$95, with the occasional garment exceeding $100.



Kate Moss Topshop

 

Renound model, Kate Moss has designed her own collection for Topshop.

TOPMAN!

Topman is a spin off brand of Topshop specialising in menswear.

After visiting the new Topshop store on George Street in Sydney Australia, I spoke to a sales assistant and commented on how much i loved the button up aqua paisley shirt she was wearing. Turns out it was from Topman and she just got a small size.