The New York Observer

Will You Drop for Topshop?

By Meredith Bryan
March 25, 2009 | 8:01 a.m.

Late last week, the comely blond British socialite and model Poppy Delevigne, 22, called from her Nolita apartment – several blocks from the new four-story, 40,000-square-foot Topshop behemoth lurking behind covered windows at Broadway and Broome – and described some of her favorite items from the British retail chain, like an “amazing” emerald green, one-shouldered dress designed by the model Kate Moss.

“They did it in red and I missed it in my size and I literally cried for days, and I wear that pretty much twice a month, especially when the sun comes out,” Ms. Delevigne said. “And then I have a leather jacket that I live in every day that I bought about two years ago. It looks so old and worn, no one believes that it’s Topshop!”

Ms. Delevigne said she’d probably wear the jacket to private events for the long-awaited opening of the New York store: intimate affairs for celebrities and “friends” of the brand, which include a dinner at Balthazar and a small party at Simon Hammerstein’s downtown club the Box on Thursday, April 2, the day that – barring unforeseen disaster – Topshop will finally fling open its doors stateside.

“We’ve been waiting with bated breath,” said TeenVogue fashion news director Jane Keltner, who conceived an entire feature on British style around the store’s original October opening date. “It’s just what the recession-weary New York City fashion girl wants and needs right now – great clothes at a good price.”

But isn’t the New York City fashion girl utterly glutted with cheap chic imports, from Zara to H&M? Is it possible that, like an exclusive love partner, the special appeal of Topshop has resided in its inaccessibility?

The store’s mobbed Oxford Circus flagship hawks acres of neon gummy bracelets, Batman T-shirts and shlocky accessories alongside J Brand for Topshop jeans and Ms. Moss’ exclusive three-year-old line. In New York, the brand has thus far enjoyed a more rarefied clientele; the kind of stylish New Yorker who travels often to London, or has friends who do.

Not that even the jet-setters among us won’t be happy to escape prohibitive exchange rates.

“I am living for the New York opening of Topshop!” emailed American maternity designer Liz Lange the other day from Anguilla, where she was vacationing with her blue paisley cotton racer-back Topshop beach cover-up (about $40 at the Oxford Circus store). “Everyone I know who likes to shop and likes fashion is counting the minutes.”

There have been a lot of minutes. The chain’s quotable head honcho, Sir Philip Green, told Women’s Wear Daily that the process has been “a logistical nightmare,” fingering the construction snafus and permit delays on the landmarked building for the thrice-delayed opening, and denying that the economy was at all a factor.

New York fans have been making do in the meantime with Topshop “capsule” collections at Barneys (2007) and Opening Ceremony (2004 until just recently), where the store’s inexpensive knock-off wares basked in the reflected glow of designer offerings by Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang. In September, a U.S. web site finally allowed New Yorkers to begin shopping online, and this week, guerilla street teams will blanket downtown with Topshop gift cards. Then, at 11 a.m. on April 2, Sir Philip himself will appear at the flagship, accompanied, Topshop execs hope but will not confirm, by Ms. Moss herself. “We’re making homemade British biscuits,” said Andrew Leahy, the genial London-based Topshop publicity director.

PALTROW’S PICK

To some, it seems like an awful grand rollout.

“They’ve been acting like it’s the second coming!” exclaimed American Elle writer Maggie Bullock, a loyal Topshop customer since she studied fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins almost a decade ago. “I feel like it’s been announced that it’s coming 17 times. Topshop is fantastic, but it’s not going to solve every wardrobe problem in the world. I moved back to the States from England seven years ago, and there was nothing, there was no place that could substitute for Topshop, but now I feel like other places have come along and you do get some of that hit of fast fashion. H&M has gotten much better and is actually more of a competitor than it used to be.”

Julie Baumgardner, a 25-year-old fashion publicist who first shopped at Topshop in London at age 17, agreed. “It pitched itself as the British Barneys taste with Urban Outfitters wallet, but in reality, it’s more like Urban Outfitters taste with Barneys Co-op prices,” she said. “I’ve seen shoes costing up to $250!” (That said, “I really love my gray low-rise skinny jeans.”) Ms. Baumgardner ventured that the store has let their prices climb and their quality slack after accruing an almost cultlike celebrity fan base that includes Lindsay Lohan, Keira Knightley, Kate Bosworth, Mariah Carey and Gwyneth Paltrow (who recently featured a Topshop dress in her disturbingly addictive weekly lifestyle newsletter, Goop).

“I obviously am excited that it’s coming to the U.S. since it’s another relatively inexpensive outlet for cute, trendy clothes,” said Ms. Baumgardner. “But it’s frustrating to observe that the corruption of its identity is directly proportional to the hype it receives.”

But Topshop defenders swear that the store deserves the hype.

“It is very cool, it’s very edgy, it’s taking like an Ossie Clark-type inspiration, which is a cool dress as opposed to a preppy dress,” asserted Plum Sykes, the British socialite, novelist and Vogue correspondent, whose husband proclaimed an outfit involving a tailored white Topshop blazer his favorite outfit she’d ever worn.

“It’s very English in its treatment of dresses; it’s always dresses with the ripped fishnet tights and biker boots. Probably more what you would think of as the Lower East Side cool, but even beyond that, with the English eccentricity wrapped in. It isn’t like that sort of American Main Street brand, like a J. Crew or a Banana Republic, that is very much trying not to be too cool, do you know what I mean?”

“It is along the lines of Club Monaco, classic basics, but slightly more fun than that,” suggested Rebecca Guinness, another New York-based British gal about town.

“I think the American equivalent is when Target has the designers do things, like the McQueen collection,” said Poppy de Villeneuve, a New Yorkk-based British photographer (not to be confused with Ms. Delevigne) who often pairs Topshop T-shirts with skirts by her good friend Zac Posen. “It’s like H&M but it’s more… It’s very British. It’s kind of what the girls on the street wear in a very cool way. The way the British put things together, they’re kind of a bit more haphazard about it.”

Mr. Leahy revealed that the new store will feature a Kate Moss boutique for the model’s line, which is produced four times yearly and will soon include lingerie. There will also be new collections by insidery British designers like Jonathan Saunders and Preen and areas for costume jewelry, shoes, maternity, petites, talls, men, hats and bags – a veritable department store of cheap, agressively cool stuff!” We know that in New York there are a lot of brands offering great basics,” he said. “So ours will be a little more fashion-heavy, more fashion specialties per square meter in a way. We don’t buy huge bulk of any one style, we don’t buy millions or even hundreds of thousands; we might buy 5,000 or we might buy 50.”

‘TROUSERS’ AND ‘JUMPERS’

Indeed, the store cycles in fresh inventory constantly, and is known for reincarnating favorite styles with small stylistic adjustments or fabric switch-ups rather than just ordering more of the same.

The Oxford Circus flagship has long been a testing area of sorts for more fashion-forward innovations, and it is hoped that the New York store, the brand’s first nonfranchised, fully owned international concern, will serve as a similar hub of creativity and experimentation, continuing to focus on cultivating British design talent (“Few people do,” said Mr. Leahy), but open to collaborating with Americans, too. (Though the U.S. web site includes the charming terminology “trousers” and “jumpers.”)

Retail analysts are enthusiastic.

“It’s going to be incredible!” thundered Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting outfit headquartered in New York. “If you go back and look at the big stores in New York that are underwater, you have Macy’s down, and you have Bloomingdale’s, which is a division of Macy’s; you have Saks losing $100 million last quarter…”

Topshop, he said, was at the forefront of the winning formula familiar to us from H&M and Zara. “We’re getting a new wave of imported stores from Europe, and honestly, they appear to be doing very well,” he said. “And a lot of our fashion retailers, like Abercrombie, which is in the shithouse; Gap, the largest apparel chain in the U.S., down six straight years – ours are all doing terrible. But theirs seem to be growing very rapidly, and suddenly they’re able to come here. I don’t think we’re able to go there!”

Until now, Topshop has been in the enviable position of being able to offer good prices (not as low as H&M’s, but, at $80 for the popular Baxter skinny jean and $125 for a neon leopard print “playsuit”, still more affordable than boutique shopping) with an illusive dose of jet-set cache.

But despite its astonishing inventory and cute, compelling British-ness, some Topshop devotees admit that “you’ve got to be really careful of if you’re trying to be a global brand like that, about actually cannibalizing your coolness by being successful,” as Ms. Sykes put it.

“Just in terms of being selfish about things I wear, when people are like, ‘Oh, that’s so cute, where can I get?’, I’m like, ‘You can’t!” said Ms. Guinness, bemoaning the impending ubiquity of her favorite Topshop items.

Ms. Delevigne noted that she’d once shown up to a summer cocktail party in London wearing the exact same Kate Moss for Topshop tennis dress as two other attendees, a scene that she predicted would start taking place in New York, too.

Still, she pointed out: “It would be a real shame if you turned up to a party and someone else was in the same Balenciaga dress as you, but if you turn up and you’re in the same Topshop dress, it’s absolutely fine, because you know you didn’t pay that much for it and it kind of makes it more fun anyway.”

In London, swarms of international tourists and leggings-mad teenagers have done nothing to calm the rising tide of Topshop mania.

To be honest, the one in London is so mobbed by 14-year-olds I cannot even tell you,” Ms. Sykes complained. “It’s like going to a rock concert… I’m 38 years old, so I’ve got to be feeling really, really up for it if I’m going to shop there as opposed to shopping at, like, Alexander McQueen.”

And so New York women are bracing themselves for battle.

“All my American friends, they’re literally going mad about it,” Ms. Delevigne said. “There’s a lot of complaining… I think the more it’s been delayed, the more anticipation there is.”

- Additional reporting
by Doree Shafrir

http://www.observer.com/2009/fashion/will-you-drop-topshop?page=1

Mommytrackd

Ask any style-conscious mom-to-by to reveal her favorite maternity wear designer. You’ll likely hear Liz Lange’s name. From Brown University to Vogue, from her own boutiques to the Liz Lange Maternity line for Target, this fashion revolutionary and mom of two has blazed an incomparable entrepreneurial trail.

Thanks to her stylish vision and skillful designs, the “bulges” of pregnancies past, once perceived as inconveniences to be hidden, have now become the “blossoms” of pregnancies present-day, to be beautifully accentuated in modern maternity wear. Listen in as we chat with celebrity-loved designer, author, survivor, philanthropis and mom, Liz Lange.

Since we’re a mom-focused site, could I start by asking you to share a little bit about your children?

My son Gus is 10 years old and my daughter Alice is 8. They are pretty typical kids. Gus loves baseball, football and guitar while Alice is all about animals (stuffed and real), drawing, and babies.

As a small girl, I adored Lucy Ricardo’s style…until she became pregnant with Little Ricky, that is…then, things seemed to go horribly, horribly awry. Could you describe a bit about what you feel were the biggest shortcomings of maternity wear of the past?

Well, we have certainly come a long way since the days when Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate beds and the words “pregnancy” couldn’t be said on TV! And today’s maternity clothing reflects that change in attitude! When I started my line 11 years ago (!!), I thought that the clothing that women wear when they are pregnant should reflect the sexy celebratory nature of pregnancy. I believed — and still do — that they should be fitted and fashionable and no different than non-maternity clothing. Believe it or not, this was a very new concept back then. All the maternity clothing back then was very oversized and tent-like. The fabrics were cheap and the designs were all babyish, almost as if the pregnant woman was turning into a baby, rather than expecting one!

What was the actual catalyst that propelled you to become a “revolutionary” in modern maternity design?

The idea for Liz Lange maternity came before I myself had ever actually been pregnant. It was definitely on my mind as I was newly married and many of my friends were beginning to have children. I noticed that they were all always complaining that they couldn’t find anything to wear and that many of them were wearing non-maternity clothing and that when they squeezed themselves into something that wasn’t actually maternity that they looked better and slimmer! I had this “a-ha” moment that maternity clothing needed to be stretchy and smaller and that it needed to look exactly like regular fashion.

What was your favorite item to wear when you were expecting and why?

I lived in little dresses when I was pregnant and I still do. I was pregnant over the summer with both pregnancies and dresses were so comfortable. I find them the easiest way to dress in general as when you throw a dress on it will take you anywhere!
When did you realize that you had indeed become an icon in the world of fashion?

That is very nice; I don’t consider myself an icon. I had many “pinch me” moments. The first was when Nike called (before I even had a proper shop) and said that they wanted to partner with me on a line of maternity athletic apparel, which we did together called Liz Lange for Nike. I was very excited when we were the first maternity brand ever to do a fashion show at Bryant Park Tents during NY Fashion Week. And I was particularly thrilled when Target asked us to be their exclusive design partner for their maternity clothing!

Could you share the best compliment you have received on your designs and from whom?

The best compliments I receive come from women who write me the most touching notes, telling me that something I designed made them feel beautiful on a day when they were feeling down. I have also been lucky to get a lot of nice press over the years but I will never forget when Vogue wrote about me in my first few months of business in very early 1998 and compared my designs to Michael Kors. He is a fashion hero of mine.

Who in the public eye do you feel has uncanny pregnancy/mom-style?

I loved the way that Sarah Jessica Parker looked when she was pregnant. She wore beautiful fit and flare Narciso Rodriguez dresses and I thought it was a very beautiful time for her.

You are so integrally involved with many charitable organizations. Could you share a bit about which causes are particularly important to you and why?

I am a cervical cancer survivor and spreading the word about cervical cancer and the importance of regular screenings is a top priority of mine. Cervical cancer is the number one killer of women in developing countries and 30 women a day are diagnosed with it in the United States. I am also a board member of Fertile Hope which educates cancer patients about what they can do to preserve their fertility post-cancer. Finally, I am a former board member of my friend, Jessica Seinfeld’s, charity Baby Buggy, which redistributes gently used baby products to under-served families.

Which celebrity parents do you particularly admire, and why?

I love Kelly Ripa (whom I dressed and worked closely with for 3 pregnancies!) and I admire her as a mom and as a dynamic successful woman and role model for other women.

Your collaboration with Target seems a match made in heaven. Could you tell us a bit about how that transpired?

I have been so lucky to have Target as my partner. We got together after 9/11 when I started to feel that just having a high end maternity line was leaving out so many women who wanted the Liz Lange look during their pregnancies. I approached Target about doing a special less expensive line exclusively for them. They loved it and we rolled out Liz Lange for Target to all of their stores and Target.com in 2002. It was so successful that after a few years we took over their entire maternity department.

How do you find balance between your professional life and your personal life? What do you do to relax? Do you ever find yourself a victim of “mommy guilt?”

I think we all feel guilty and certainly I feel like I am always juggling and never balancing (balancing sounds so elegant and serene!) But I am lucky, I have great help at the office and at home and since I am in charge of my own schedule (usually!), I am able to drop my children off at school every day and pick them up on most days.

What is your proudest professional moment? Proudest Mommy moment?

I am proud of the fabulous celebrities and non-celebrities we have dressed, our past partnership with Nike, our current partnership with Target, and for having something to do with the “new look” of maternity fashion in general. I am so proud of my children. I can’t believe how big they are getting!

What’s next on your plate?

I am so busy right now, working on a new book, all about how to look fabulous after the baby. We have just re-launched our high end maternity line (we took 2 seasons off) and we are launching convertible baby bags and layette clothing this summer.

http://www.mommytrackd.com/liz-lange?page=0%2C0

New York Resident

Mommy Chic

Liz Lange is back! The woman who infused chic, form-fitting designs into the wardrobes of pregnant women everywhere is re-launching her high-end maternity collection after a year-long hiatus to re-assess her brand. Here, Lange, a mother of two, talks to the Resident about how her line has changed in the last year and shares her tips for flawless style, before (and after) baby. – Rachel Bowie

New York Resident: What inspired you to launch Liz Lange Maternity?

Liz Lange: It was definitely that time in my life – I was newly married, I was thinking about babies, and my friends were all starting to get pregnant. Back in 1996, I was working with one designer but we weren’t making maternity clothing. My friends used to always come to our showroom and try things on and buy things. I noticed that when they got pregnant, they would still come in. I would say to them, what are you doing here, you should be in a maternity store, this isn’t maternity, and across the board, they would each say, oh, no, you don’t understand, there is nothing out there.  I began to notice that the maternity clothing out there looked so radically different than any non-pregnancy clothing and I didn’t understand the disconnect. My friends would squeeze themselves into things in our showroom – anything that had a little stretch in it. I noticed that they actually looked so much better when they were in something like that. I had this ah-ha moment and I couldn’t get it out of my head.

NYR: How would you describe the Manhattan mom that you’re designing for?

LL: What I love about the Manhattan mom – and so many moms are this way – is that she’s absolutely everything. She’s the ultimate multi-tasker. She’s pregnant, and she might already have little ones at home. She’s everything from a mom who is at the park everyday with her kids trying to manage all that, to a mom who’s a lawyer arguing in front of the Supreme Court. I always call myself an accidental feminist. I didn’t realize it, but I started thinking, gosh, the maternity clothes [available] are so insulting. We’ve come so far as women and the clothing needs to keep pace with that.

NYR: What would you say are the most important factors to consider when shopping for clothes before and after baby?

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LL: When you’re pregnant, the most important thing is that the clothing is nice and fitted so that everyone can see that, yes, I’m pregnant, it’s not just that I’ve gained a little weight. It is important to invest in a few key pieces. I would try to replace the things that you wear a lot when you’re not pregnant. If you’re someone who lives in a great pair of jeans, then you certainly want a pair of those. If you’re someone who works in an office every day and you always get into a suit or a little dress, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got that. It’s about trying to make the things in your closet work for at least the first trimester. Then, if you buy smartly, these things will take you through your third trimester and, then, into what I like to call the fourth trimester, which is the time after you’ve had the baby.

NYR: Moms are constantly on the go – do you have any time saving fashion tips?

LL: If you have a few pieces that mix and match together, it makes getting dressed in the morning a breeze. One thing I always do, as a busy mom myself, is when I get into bed at night, I glance at my schedule for the next day on my Blackberry. I make a mental note of what I need to do and, in my mind, pick the outfit that I’m going to wear. None of us moms, at this point, can afford those mornings that we all used to have where you’re in your closet, putting things on, throwing them off – you just don’t have the time for that.

New York Resident, March, 2009