The Kate Phenomenon

So… we just couldn’t ignore the subject on every fashionista’s radar: Kate Moss for Topshop…and Agent Provocateur…and Chanel…and Burberry…and Versace…the list goes on and on!!!
The queues for the Oxford Circus opening meandered round three street corners and shoppers were treated to a glimpse of Kate in the window among the other mannequins before mayhem occurred. In the name of research I searched ‘Kate Moss for Topshop’ on ebay today and there were 21 pages of the icon’s collection available to buy!

Philip Green knows a goldmine when he sees one and Topshop’s website promises more stock and even new products every week.

But doesn’t it seem like moments ago that Kate was publicly disgraced after the Daily Mirror’s exclusive photos of the model snorting cocaine? Moss’s campaign’s dropped like flies and yet now we are all celebrating her fabulousness and she is being paid a reported £3 million for her collaboration with arguably the queen of the high street.

We want to hear from you! Did anyone go to the Nottingham opening? Did anyone get bored by the countless magazines showing ‘exclusives’ of the collection? Did the collection live up to the hype?
And despite having a slightly strange boyfriend and a shady past, just what is the allure of Miss Moss?

The Editor x

6 Responses to “The Kate Phenomenon”
LOU responds...
4th May, 2007 at 12:08pm

I am so sick of her face…. I really am, like you say she is the face of everything and I am really bored of her, I am more interested in seeing her looking like crap with that idiot boyfriend of hers.
With reference to the collection at TOPSHOP. I do not really shop there that often, I have been in a few times lately and been unable to find anything… oh no thats a lie, I got a bargain in the sale! But i really don’t think Kate’s collection is all that. I’v seen it in so many magazines already I wouldnt buy any of it. It’s like when you have something in your wardrobe for so long and you get bored of it… I’m bored of seeing that lemon/black pinstripe and floral dress.

 
GEM responds...
5th May, 2007 at 2:13pm

I am not going to be buying any of Kate Moss’ collection as although i love her, i think its very unfair that she has copied other designers and released them as her own, she hasn’t designed any of the clothes, just simply worn them. Also EVERYBOBY will be wearing the collection and i do not want to look like a clone, it will just be how topshop used to be, everyone wearing the same mass produced pieces!!

 
Emma - Contributing Editor responds...
6th May, 2007 at 11:33am

As The Daily Mail said; “A* for Publicity, B for Clothes” and how right they were….

I was actually in Hospital for “K-Day” and was unable to witness the madness first hand. However, I found myself neither bothered nor caring whether I got my mits on the £45 pansy dress that is now selling on ebay for £100+, I soon figured out why when I finally made it to Topshop a few days later to find a whole section cornered off in worship of Miss Moss screaming excitement and importance. Now, whether this was simply for effect or an attempt to reduce the chance of shoppers clambering over each other for the eagerly anticipated collection, I have no idea because to put it bluntly, no one seemed that interested either way. I do realise I was a few days late, missing the initial furore surrounding the launch, however unlike Stella and Victor/Rolf whose every item flew off the rails like S*** off a shovel, Kate’s effort to follow suit seems to have miserably failed. Ok a few pieces were great (albeit 5/6 of them) but the vast majority begs the question of how much of the actual collection did she design to be asked. The £10 vests are a similar design to Topshop’s own range, the jeans are exactly the same bar a couple of swallows on the back, come to think of it the whole collection is rather like that one vest; bland and boring.

Moral of the story? Topshop rips off Moss better than the model herself: A* for Topshop, B for Miss Moss.

 
Ali responds...
6th May, 2007 at 8:18pm

The arrival of the Kate Moss collection in Topshop did little to excite me, let alone my wardrobe! After seeing the clothes weeks ago in Vogue and various other magazines the magic had already gone! Out of curiosity I visited Topshop late on launch day and it was as I expected. I felt like I’d already seen every item and started to walk away completely uninspired. As I turned my back on the Kate Moss ‘area’ I heard an American woman loudly squealing ‘This is sooooo diffeeeerent!” while holding the badly made metallic mini dress. I’m sure she’ll be showered with compliments when she heads back to the US but I couldn’t help but giggle – this lady had completely fallen for the amazing PR machine. I felt a little mean to laugh but that comment made my Kate day enjoyable!

 
Emma responds...
10th May, 2007 at 3:07pm

I have to admit im quite a fan of the collection although you do have to have legs and an ass like Gisele to look good in most of the items, and unfortunately i don’t and neither did half the people i saw the other night sporting the so called ‘dresses’- orange peel springs to mind!

 
Rose responds...
16th May, 2007 at 10:41am

Another week, another celebrity collection hitting our highstreet stores… haven’t we all just had enough of it now?
I may be slightly biased when it comes to the Kate Moss collection as I don’t actually like the girl at the moment - who has the right to make drugs cool and promote to children (and those easily influenced or needing an excuse) that ‘oh don’t worry guys do drugs and you’ll be even better off than before’…. hmmm there seems to be something seriously wrong in our celebrity obsessed society. Anyway back to the collection itself - really it did little to inspire me. At least with the Madonna collection it brought an ounce of reaction (i.e. cheap and nasty - diamante zips haven’t been seen since I was 10 - sorry not a fan of that collection either!) The Kate Moss collection did little to get my heart racing - it was just bland, regurgitated Topshop designs - we’ve all seen it before. Well done to Topshop really - they produced the same things they always have, put the Kate Moss name on them and then whacked the price up. I raise my glass to you - a pure marketing goldmine!