Capsule #110. ft Grace Day

Hello hello,

Happy Friday to you all and happy long weekend for the UK babies 🫶

Today’s issue is on the Topshop return — a review of the show last week and the details that shoppers will tune into over the coming weeks. If you have thoughts I’d love to hear them. And here is the Capsule mini vlog :)

As ever, scroll for your weekend recs, the news you missed this week, and a Hot & Not from beauty editor Grace Day.

Enjoy,

Holly x

On Saturday, Circe and I met up in Trafalgar Square to watch the Topshop runway show. Unlike the vast majority of fashion shows, this event was outside of the regular fashion calendar, and open to the public. Those first two signals felt cool to me. Of course Topshop is a high street brand, but the relaunch moment could have easily been an influencer-only event that you learn about through social media.

The setup was vast: a runway perfectly aligned with the National Portrait Gallery, two rows for VIPs, a bunch of space for guests - both planned and random tourists on the day - and a tent with DJs and MOTH cocktails. The energy reminded me of Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out events. Attending the Manchester one in 2013 as a 16-year-old beginning to wonder what adulthood might have in store, I realised that fashion was much more than shopping. It was a culture, it brought people together, and had this endless capacity to create energy and inspiration. Seeing a mass of people gather for a fashion show on a Saturday afternoon had the same effect, the vibe so different from fashion week.

The show opened with Doechii’s ‘Alter Ego,’ a great strategy (along with the MOTH cocktails) for raising energy levels. We looked just as much at people foot tapping and clapping along as we did at the clothes, a sign of a good show.

And for the fashion: Topshop presented 45 looks, including menswear, a number that felt pared back compared to my expectations. But there is power in restraint; there’s nothing more off-putting than overwhelming an audience with sheer volume, leaving them unable to recall what they just saw (more on that later).

The collection itself was a blend of daily, wearable items and special one-off pieces. For the normal woman facing the daily grind, jackets were the standout. For years the girls have complained about the disappointing jacket and coat offering on the high street and this felt like a solid attempt to plug that gap. Car coats, bombers, faux fur, and lots of funnel necks. If you see someone in a high neck coat this autumn, I bet it will be from Topshop.

And then there were the high fashion flourishes: pillbox hats nodding to the 60s, a chainmail dress over jeans, much like Lorde in Balenciaga recently, and the nods to Miuccia Prada, both in her more mature styling for Prada and in the playfulness of a Miu Miu show.

This collection also felt like it was designed with big winter events in mind, those which cause undue outfit stress. New Year’s Eve, office parties, the sleuth of big birthdays across September and October - Topshop offered up some failsafe going out options, which I’m sure we’ll spot in bars for the rest of the year.

On the Topman side, the relaunch presented a decidedly trendier man. The Topman we remember was filled with skinny jeans, cheap suits, skull rings, graphic tees, and those t-shirts with contrasting piping and buttons. The Topman of today is for the men ready to take some sartorial risks, whether that’s in slightly more daring silhouettes, bringing tailoring into the everyday, or carrying a handbag. As I said in this commentary video, I think we have Jacob Elordi to thank for that.

So we have the lay of the land in terms of aesthetics. From the first drop at least, it’s clear that Topshop is not going all in on courting a Gen Z audience, but reemerging for the millennial shoppers it left behind, and hoping to will attract the next generation along the way. The brand said they are targeting 18-40-year-olds, but much of the clothing feels a little more mature, and without the cutesy flourishes (bag charms, slogan tees, motifs of butterflies/stars/hearts) that you might see from a brand aiming younger. Is that enough for Topshop to regain it’s crown?

Aesthetics and nostalgia play a huge role for Topshop in 2025, but those things alone can’t guarantee success. Nostalgia isn’t a long-term strategy, because it burns out, and the shopping landscape has shifted since Topshop were giants on the high street.

Sustainability and quality in fashion have been a topic of conversation for well over a decade, but in recent years, even regular shoppers have become more tuned in to looking at the care label on their clothing. Instagram and TikTok are full of videos of take-downs of seemingly aspirational brands selling 100% polyester dresses for well over £100, or wool coats that contain little-to-no wool at all. Andrea Cheong is a great example of this content:

For the smart, more conscious consumer, Topshop is under the microscope. There will be comments on the grey funnel neck car coat (£110), which contains only 1% wool, and the polyester and acrylic knitted jumpers. In terms of pricing and fabrics, these garments slot Topshop in a similar space to Zara or Mango. & Other Stories is the next notch up, with higher prices and a higher proportion of natural fibres like wool, silk, and cotton. You might expect a brand like Bershska to sit below Topshop, but while the prices are cheaper, their products actually contain pretty similar fabrics, if not more natural fibres (like this grey coat, akin to Topshop’s grey funnel neck car coat, but only £69.99 and 22% wool).

The Topshop collection also has some premium products. A real suede avocado midi skirt (£120), a real leather turquoise jacket (£260), a 55% Alpaca jumper (£85). And while these price tags may deter some shoppers, you just can’t buy these fabrics for much less than that these days, unless you buy second hand.

I genuinely think there is a gap in the market for Topshop. Since it left the high street in the UK at least, there has been a chasm for an accessible brand that feels truly tapped into fashion and the fashion industry. The collabs (Kate Moss, Christopher Kane), the events, and the in-store experience at the flagship and beyond made Topshop feel like a cut above its competitors, speaking directly to women who wanted fashion to be a part of their lives. Other retailers in a similar space are either lean too timeless and minimal for the women looking to be more playful and make a statement (Arket, Cos, Massimo Dutti), or produce enormous amounts of stock to chase algorithmically driven trends. (That being said, since the runway show, hundreds of new items have been added to the Topshop website.)

At the event last Saturday, I asked a few editors and attendees what their hopes were for the future of Topshop. Common responses were for it not to focus solely on Gen Z, and to bring back the physical stores. People want a quality product and a decent shopping experience to go along with it. But retail is tough. Hitting the sweet spot on pricing, styling, and fabrics, while managing cash flow for physical stores, and operating with a supply chain that doesn’t warrant an exposé is hard.

Topshop is starting with pop-up stores - the collection will be available in Liberty from August 28th, for example - which is a smart move while they figure out appetite. But ultimately, the brand faces the same challenges as every other player in the game: how do you make enough product to entice a large audience without becoming a fast fashion conveyor belt? How do you produce quality at a price point the average woman can afford? How do you excite young people and retain a loyal, more affluent shopper? These are big questions any brand has to contend with, and the first few months of the Topshop relaunch will be a test and learn phase to figure out the next steps. As a low-lift starting point, I’d like to see efforts to showcase how to style the collection in multiple ways, for regular people potentially buying one or two pieces to test the waters and bolster their autumn wardrobes.

And finally…

News from the Capsule universe this week:

• Olivia Dean looks so good in Conner Ives for her new video

• Boyfriend of the year strikes again

• Adore the styling of this Valentino bodysuit, bralette, and jacket on Dua Lipa

• Christian Girl Autumn tapped out of making content in a teary video, and then… took it all back

• Suki for Coach is a good call

• Excited to see some fresher styling of the Love Island girls from i-D mag

• Emma Chamberlain and Owen Thiele got stopped for a street interview and it’s sweet

• One of the most iconic pregnancy announcements of all time?

• And while we’re on motherhood: Millie Bobby Brown has adopted a daughter

• And the new Doja Cat music video is the perfect way to kick start your weekend

This week, Grace Day popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅‍♀️ …

Grace is a beauty editor and esthetician based in Manchester. She just launched a Substack called Hands On, which is a documentation of 10+ years of “hands-on” insights from a beauty industry insider.

📺 Watching: Weapons in the cinema, some important Hayley Williams moments (the Zane Lowe interview, and the Glum music video), and for the Severance heads, here’s Britt Lower’s audition tape.

📖 Reading: This newsletter from Ad Hoc on whether all art is narcissistic, and this article from Chanté Joseph about realising that trying to be a low-maintenance friend can make you really lonely.

🎧 Listening to: The Clearing, the new Wolf Alice album, It's A Beautiful Place, the new Water from Your Eyes album, and this new episode of Avery Trufelman’s Articles of Interest about zippers.

News just in via Houdini: there are many back to the office signals but none clearer than this stat: Pinterest searches for chic cubicle decor are up 1,543%, work office makeover are up 2,652%, and cubicle makeover ideas +2,767%. It’s really happening…

If you’d like to adopt Houdini or one of his friends, click here to learn more.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. And if you have a friend who might like it, do refer them! 🥺

See you next week 💋

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