Cool Britannia’s Back As Topshop Struts Out Online And With New Stores

Flying high again: A model presents a creation from the Topshop Topman, AW 2025-2026 runway fashion show at Trafalgar Square, London. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Gallagher brothers are touring and Topshop is strutting its stuff at the famous Trafalgar Square in London. It all feels very Cool Britannia in a summer of 90s revivals, as two of the U.K.’s biggest cultural icons take centre stage once again.

Oasis are already well through the U.K. and Irish legs of their reunion tour before they prepare to take off for North America but this weekend that tide of retro revivals was joined by the debut of the long-flagged Topshop revival.

To grab the headlines, famous names including models Cara Delevingne and Adwoa Aboah, alongside Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, were in attendance to back Topshop’s highly anticipated return after the fashion retailer shuttered operations in 2020 following the collapse of its parent company, Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group.

At its peak, Topshop was a global rival for the likes of H&M and the Inditex brands, but its collapse and the financial downturns that engulfed Green led to the closure of all Topshop’s stores, including its famous flagship at Oxford Circus, now home to Swedish furniture giant IKEA, plus all its U.S. stores.

Although the brand found a new home as part of the stable of brands within online fashion giant Asos, it had not had its own independent website until now but on August 15 that all changed as the brand relaunched its website and celebrated its comeback Saturday with a public runway show in Trafalgar Square.

Topshop Stores Slated For Fall

Topshop is now under new owners, Danish retail giant Bestseller holds 75% of the company through its Heartland investment arm, while Asos has retained a 25% stake in the retail brand.

Standalone stores are also set to return to the high street Topshop and Topman Managing Director Michelle Wilson attested at the launch, as she affirmed that a high street presence is scheduled to roll out later this year, with permanent standalone stores slated for this Fall.

The Trafalgar Square event was Topshop’s first runway show since 2018 and was held as a public event and featured some of the brand’s original famous model names, including Delevingne and Aboah, and took place amid suitable fanfare and in front of the awaiting tv cameras.

It showcased the upcoming autumn/winter 2025 collection, available to buy immediately online with a ‘see now, buy now’ offer.

Leather trench coats, maxi dresses and A-line skater skirts all featured in a collection that highlighted apparel as Topshop evoked the brand’s heyday when global model icon Kate Moss was its best known public face. It was an offer that epitomised the retailer’s cheap chic look, which helped create the consumer trend to combine designer clothes with fast fashion items.

Topshop Reboot Elevates Brand

For the reboot, Topshop is trying to position itself as an elevated fashion brand, upping the quality of its merchandise and doubling down on its cultural relevance, digging deep into the current vogue for nostalgia and targeting shoppers aged 18 to 40.

After previously signalling its intentions to return through physical channels, Topshop has already kicked off plans to reappear in stores first via wholesale, starting with Irish department store McElhinney’s where the first apparel will go on sale later this week.

The big question is whether Topshop can ride the nostalgia trend back to the top. Many of its previous rivals still exist and have continued to expand over the past five years, while online giants such as Shein have emerged to sweep up Gen Z’s seemingly endless thirst for fast fashion at affordable prices.

The desire for retro and reminders of simpler times has seen many younger consumers digitally detox but at the same time their wallets are squeezed and they have endless choice, plus less brand loyalty.

But for now, Topshop is back baby, and it’s going to be down to its senior team and designer to recapture the zeitgeist and give British fashion and the world a welcome shot of Cool Brittania.