UK: Fashion frenzy on the high street as Kate Moss launches clothing line

Hundreds of Kate Moss fans queued on Monday (April 30) for an early taste of the British supermodel's first foray into fashion design at the launch of her eagerly awaited new range. The 33-year-old, who has inspired fashion trends from skinny jeans to sawn-off shorts, was at retailer Topshop's central London flagship store wearing one of her new creations, a long red dress costing 195 pounds (390 U.S. dollars). She was chaperoned around a small area of the store dedicated to her collection by Topshop owner and billionaire Sir Philip Green, who is paying Moss three million pounds (6 million U.S. dollars) to put some celebrity panache into his business. The range, consisting of about 50 pieces including tight jeans, waistcoats and hotpants, went on sale at one store late on Monday ahead of the nationwide opening on Tuesday (May 1). Mother-of-one Moss wore heavy black eye makeup and her hair long and blonde for the launch. She posed with mannequins in the store window for cameras outside, but did not speak to reporters allowed inside. She is the latest celebrity hired by a retailer to help win an increasingly competitive battle for fashion-savvy mid-market shoppers, following Madonna, who stars at H&M and will soon be followed at the Swedish chain by Kylie Minogue. Up-and-coming singer Lily Allen has also struck a deal with Britain's New Look. Moss's range caps a remarkable comeback for a woman who was ditched by several luxury houses after pictures appeared of her allegedly snorting large quantities of cocaine. "Cocaine Kate", as she was dubbed in 2005, went into rehab in the United States and, helped by celebrity friends, returned to the pinnacle of her profession, picking up a slew of awards, lucrative contracts and prominent magazine covers. During the next two weeks, the collection will launch in another 21 countries, including at upmarket U.S. store Barney's. Speaking to Reuters ahead of the launch, Green working with Moss on her first ever clothing line had been a learning process. "Working with Kate has actually been very good. I think her understanding, if you like, of how our business, our industry works, the way she usually works, without jumping on the other side of the table. It's an education process. You get frustrated when things take a little bit more time, she's used to turning up, it's all fabulous, marvellous, take the pictures, two or three hours and it's done. This is a process and I think now she understands, it takes time, it works. But initially everybody always wants to see it next day and it doesn't happen like that," he said. Keen to avoid chaotic scenes that have marred other retail launches, the queue of mainly teenaged girls and young women was armed with colour-coded wristbands. Buyers were allowed in only in small groups and were given 20 minutes in the shop and limited to five items. Initial reaction from the shoppers was mixed as Viviana from Chile said: "I love it. It fits perfectly. I love the dresses. I'm not sure about the T-shirts and shorts, just normal stuff, but the dresses are really cool," Cindy Wirk, who was among the first to get to the tills, added: "I didn't think it was all that good," said "No, some of it was really, really nice but some of it I thought 'no'. I mean her basics were fantastic, her jeans, her T-shirts, but her waistcoats, I wasn't so..." t, because I didn't think the fit was fantastic," she said. Overall she said she was a "satisfied customer", although she and several others noticed that a leather jacket that featured prominently in pre-launch publicity was not on sale. Melodie Parker, another buyer near the front of the line, rated the collection as "disposable fashion." "I think the prices are fine for what it is and I think again it's what Topshop does best, sort of disposable fashion." Not everyone is convinced by the clothes Moss has put her name to. Some question what input Moss actually had in designing the clothes. "The line she's delivered for the British chain Topshop ... looks like Kate copying a lot of other people's stuff Kate's worn before," wrote Maureen Callahan in the New York Post in an article entitled "Duplikate". LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLES

ITN Source | May 1, 2007

Tags:. .buyer. .nationwide. .madonna. .makeup. .marvellous