5.17.2013

About the Brand: Topshop



Owners: The Arcadia Group and Leonard Green and Partners

About the Brand: Founded in 1964, Topshop is a British brand catering to young women and men (Topman). The brand offers a wide variety of styles of clothing ranging from hipster to romantic. The brand has 300 stores in the UK and is now expanding into the US with four stores.

Materials: A collaboration with Izzy Lane and Topshop ensures their wool is humanly gathered from sheep who were saved from the slaughterhouse.  They also have began TOPSHOP Reclaim to Wear, saving materials which would have been considered pre-production waste.



Production: Arcadia group claims that Topshop has a "made in the UK" policy and continues to claim that 60% of their products are made in the UK.  I have three products made fairly recently and two were produced in Turkey and the other in Mauritius. This all may be to cover up what happened in 2007. Topshop was exposed to using third-world sweatshops to produce the majority of their clothing.  The company claimed the workers made more money than they actually earned. They've also been shown to use sweatshops in the UK.  They also claim that their hand-knitted items have been coming from Scotland since 2012. Topshop failed to sign the Ethical Trade Initiative, making them the largest production company to do so.

Personal Opinion: Aesthetically, Topshop is my favorite brand right now. However, it is hard to ignore these controversies and while they are trying to change their approaches to production, the company still seems pretty shady. I'll still be buying from the company.

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I'll be continuing this series, looking into brands fashion bloggers seem to love. Feel free to leave suggestions!

Note- I keep posting these since GFC will be obsolete . Twitter and Bloglovin' are both great ways to keep up with me so, please, check them out.

11 comments :

  1. I can see that you’re really a fan of TopShop. I know it’s not easy to disregard issues that are being thrown against your favorite clothing line. It’s like they’re also throwing bad comments about the clothes that you’re wearing. Anyway, you still have to know that black propaganda really exists in the cutthroat fashion industry, especially because of the competition. I hope that TopShop will continue to make great products for their customers and they should not be affected by these issues. :)

    -Vernia Soriano-

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  2. Chanced upon your blog and enjoy reading it! (:

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  3. I love your blog and the Topshop crop-top is adorable!
    velvetandvino.com

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  4. I haven't been to Topshop in years, but I do love their clothing! It sucks that there have been these controversies. As someone who does not shop at Topshop, I'll definitely think twice about going there if they don't change there ways, but I also should look into my favorite brands to see if their ethics are any better. Loved the post!

    xoxo
    www.flockingowls.com

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  5. Oh didn't know about the sweatshop history of topshop! Thanks for sharing! Shame that they do that, as they do seem to be quite a popular store!

    Away From Blue

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  6. I have too many Topshop items, It's terrible of me! Your blog is so informative :)
    I found you via chictopia, would you like to follow each other?
    http://ashliesmall.blogspot.co.uk/
    xoxo

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  7. love this brand:)
    please visit me in free time:)
    http://mesmerize87.blogspot.com/

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  8. love the bagggg!

    http://sollalune.blogspot.com

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