It’s 10 a.m. on a Saturday, and I don’t even need coffee—the adrenaline is enough. Topshop is back with its first runway show in 7 years to celebrate the relaunch of its website. Why did it disappear? A mix of fast fashion fatigue, retail collapse, and the Arcadia Group crumbling under pressure. But honestly, none of that matters today. Cara Delevingne is the face of the comeback campaign, and as the (self-proclaimed) #1 Delevingne fan, this could be the day I’ve been manifesting since I was nine. When I tell my group chat my plans, all my girlfriends basically faint over WhatsApp. “Omg, I would die to be there.” Real.
We didn’t have a Topshop in Ribeira, a small coastal town in northwest Spain, where I grew up. By the time I moved to London in 2022, it had already shut down. Still, I have that image of a very young Cara Delevingne in the famous green parka permanently etched in my brain. The impact was so strong that at school we all wore Topshop dupes: skinny jeans, skater skirts, ankle boots that looked vaguely expensive. Like Topshop, Cara was just cool—effortlessly, annoyingly cool—and relatable.
For context, Topshop wasn’t just a store. It was the It Girl factory. If you wanted to be like Alexa Chung, Kate Moss, or any Tumblr-adjacent girl with blonde highlights, you shopped there. It wasn’t that deep. It was just the look, the mood, the moment. The Oxford Circus flagship became a landmark. “It was the place to be, the one stop where you could do it all,” a girl in line wearing full Topshop tells me. “We’d spend hours there, meet up with friends, sometimes get our nails done, and grab a Lola’s cupcake.”
As I step out of Charing Cross station, I spot a line forming, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s for Topshop’s grand return or a matinee of Mamma Mia! down the road. Some people are dressed in TikTok-worthy rage-bait outfits, while others clutch Primark bags in one hand and Aperol Spritzes in the other. The crowd is a chaotic mix, from British TV staples like Denise Van Outen and Frankie Bridge from The Saturdays to girls in platform UGGs and tiny sunglasses. Very Topshop.
I head backstage and I rush to check the model lineup. Sadly, no Cara. I drown my sorrows with a room-temperature glass of champagne. Yum. Hope is a dangerous thing for a Cara Delevingne stan to have.
The guest list reads like a London fever dream: the Tube Girl, the Mayor, and about 400 people who looked like they were promised free prosecco. Only Olivia Atwood and I are wearing heels. There are Topman tote bags in every seat, which are quickly abandoned on the floor alongside half-drunk iced matchas, beer, and empty plastic cups. Camp!
After quickly scanning the FROW, I lose all hope that Cara’s coming. Thirty minutes in, though, my affirmations from the night before must’ve worked, because Miss Model of the Year 2012 arrives in a full burgundy Topshop fit, hand in hand with bestie Adwoah Aboah. I jump out of my seat and ask what piece they’re hoping to see back on the runway. Like many in the queue, they both say the Jamie jeans. I get a selfie too.
The show kicks off at 1 p.m., right in the middle of Trafalgar Square on a gray afternoon, and suddenly the speakers start blaring with Doechii lyrics: “Fuck that hoe, fuck that bitch.” My seatmate and I exchange a look. Is this really happening? After Doechii’s chaotic intro, what followed was a collection that delivered exactly what you’d hope from a Topshop revival. And fortunately for Cara and Adwoa, the Jamie jeans are back. Some styling choices made us do a double take (yes, one look featured a sweater worn on the head), but honestly—let people enjoy things.
What made it all work was the nostalgia. Everyone has a Topshop story. Some reminisce about their first job at the store; others nearly tear up recalling Kate Moss’ collection selling out in seconds. Maybe it’s not about whether Topshop needed to come back. Maybe it’s just that we wanted it back. For one day only in central London, we got to believe in the Topshop girl again. And honestly? With Cara Delevingne, champagne, and a busted sound system—I totally did.
