Nordstrom on 11 July acquired a minority stake in fashion brands Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge and activewear label HIIT through a deal with UK online fashion retailer ASOS.

As reported by CNBC, Nordstrom President and Chief Brand Officer Pete Nordstrom said the collaboration could redefine the way a department store operator works with brands. This deal could also lead to a wider strategic alliance with ASOS as the retailer plans to make its physical and online stores work more seamlessly together as their post-pandemic strategy. From this deal, ASOS will retain the operational and creative control of Topshop.

Topshop is recognised as the leading British high-street fashion brand that Arcadia, its then owner, relied on and the stalwart of teen and 20-something fashion. However, in February 2021, Topshop closed its website as it was taken over by ASOS. Thus, the question here is how does Topshop fall from grace despite all of its great legacy?

The beginning

Topshop was founded by Raymond Montague Burton in 1964. The brand started off in a small section in the basement of Peter Robinson store in Sheffield, UK. A decade later, the parent company, Burton Group, decided to make Topshop a standalone store with girls aged 13-25 as the main target customer.

In two years, Topshop managed to open 55 standalone stores and garnered £1 million in profit. This success led Topshop to launch its male equivalent Topman, which specialises in men's fashion, in 1978, as men's tailoring services started to decline.

Rise to the top

In 1994, Topshop opened its flagship store which covers more than 8,000 square metres in Oxford Circus. In the mid-1990s, Jane Shepherdson, who is known as the most influential woman on the British high street fashion scene, became Topshop’s brand director. Shepherdson has been credited with democratising women’s style and changing the way they buy and wear fashion. To maintain its success despite the emergence of value retailers at that time, Shepherdson decided to transform the brand into a style mecca with well-designed, style-savvy clothing as the highlight. 

In 1997, The Burton Group split up and restructured into the Arcadia Group until it was bought by Sir Philip Green in 2002 for £850 million. At that time, Topshop was still under Shepherdson. The brand then became a key sponsor of London Fashion Week, and by 2005 Topshop was making over £100 million annually. In 2006, Shepherd departed from the brand, and since then Topshop began to topple.

The downfall

The Conversation noted that the reason behind Topshop’s downfall was the explosion of competition in the high street fashion due to emergence of world-class international retailers, including online upstarts like Boohoo and ASOS, and extra value retailers like Primark, which combined low prices and savvy digital marketing techniques.

As more people started to shop online, Green failed to invest in digital retail channels, leaving the brand unable to compete. His lack of strategic supplier network and his tax avoidance scandal are also seen as the reasons behind Topshop's decline.

To top it off, Green was also accused of racial, physical and sexual abuse by his employees. This marked the end for Topshop and Ivy Park’s partnership in 2018. Topshop also faced several lawsuits and complaints. In 2016, the brand was accused of stealing designs from Faig Ahmed and got into a dispute with Rihanna after the brand sold a sleeveless top with Rihanna’s image without her permission.

Current situation

Fast forward to 2020, the pandemic hit the brand hard. In November, Arcadia went into the UK’s administrative service. Due to the bankruptcy proceedings, all Topshop stores across the UK were closed down, which led to Arcadia facing the risk of collapse, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk. Moreover, on 1 February, 2021, online fashion retailer ASOS announced that it will acquire Topshop and all brands under Arcadia Group for £265 million.

Several months later in July 2021, Topshop was acquired by Nordstrom, as the department store chain is seeking to attract more younger customers. Nordstrom has been the exclusive distributor of Topshop and Topman in the US since 2012. Nordstrom will now be the only brick-and-mortar location for these brands globally.

“Bringing the ASOS brands, including Topshop and Topman, to our customers allows us to create newness and excitement,” Pete Nordstrom said in a statement.