It’s official – Topshop and Topman are coming back to the high street. The brand is making a renaissance after becoming online-only in 2021 following an acquisition by Asos.
Now the brand is launching a one-day pop-up event later this month ahead of its permanent return to the high street in August.
Dubbed Topshop & Topman In The House, the pop-up event is set to take place on May 10 in the basement of the house music label Defected Records on Curtain Road in Shoreditch.
The event will run from 10am to 6pm, providing shoppers with access to the new Talamanca range and limited edition Topshop x Defected t-shirts, available only at the pop-up.
Tickets are sold out, but walk-ins are welcome, subject to availability, so it’s best to arrive early. The event will feature live DJ sets from Defected’s Olive F, cocktails by MOTH, a glam bar experience and, of course, plenty of new clothes.
Is Topshop coming back for good?
Topshop and Topman are expected to be back on the high-street in August this year. One thing is for sure, the brand will not be returning to its former flagship store at 214 Oxford Street, as that spot is now being occupied by the newly opened Ikea.
Instead, the brand will be available through third-party retailers. It has already secured partnerships with select stockists and plans to launch its own standalone website later this year.
Further concessions or standalone stores have not yet been planned, but it has not been ruled out in the longer term.
Did fans see this coming?
After Asos acquired Topshop in 2021, along with Miss Selfridge, the brand has been online only.
However, in September last year, Asos announced plans to offload 75 per cent of its stake in the Topshop and Topman brands to Danish firm Heartland.
This news sparked excitement about the potential return of the shops, which was followed by a series of cryptic social media posts by the brand, also hinting at a high street renaissance.
Three posts with the same video spelt out, “We’ve. Been. Listening”, with the short film finishing with the words: “We missed you too.”
At the time, Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, also expressed his support for the campaign to bring the Topshop brand back.
“I’d meet my mates outside Topshop, my daughters took me shopping at Topshop and I know every type of Topshop jean,” he said.
“Wouldn’t it be great to get Topshop back on Oxford Street?”
Chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte also said at the time that the move would help “accelerate our strategy to both offer customers the best and most relevant product and to turn Asos into a company that delivers sustainable, profitable growth”.
When and why did Topshop close?
Once upon a time, Topshop had around 70 stores, including a flagship site on London’s Oxford Street. Its 100,000 sq ft Oxford Street store welcomed 400,000 customers each week before lockdown.
However, the fashion chain vacated the massive retail space after its parent company, Arcadia, went into administration in late 2020.
Who owns Topshop and Topman now?
Asos is now majority owned by Heartland, an arm of Bestseller.
Danish firm Bestseller is a fashion business controlled by Asos shareholder Anders Povlsen. In addition to Asos, Povlsen also owns Vera Moda and Jack & Jones through his Bestseller company.
Povlsen is a Danish billionaire and Scotland’s largest landowner.