Either side of the millennium, Topshop was the go-to outlet for clobber.

Women, and men, of all ages flocked to purchase stylish and (for the most part) affordable clothes - some pioneered by celebrity guest designers such as Kate Moss and Beyonce.

At its peak, 500 shops could be found across high streets up and down the country – as well as internationally – including eight in Kent.

But it all came crashing down when it went into administration in 2020.

Here, we look at the rise and fall of Topshop’s popularity, and what now fills the empty units left behind by its exit from our high streets.

Where it all started

Topshop began its journey in 1964 as a brand extension of the department store Peter Robinson - a women's fashion chain which was acquired by Burton Group just months after the Second World War.

In its infancy, it was known as Peter Robinson's Top Shop, and had branches in Sheffield and London.

In 1973, parent company Burton Group launched a major expansion of its womenswear division, splitting Peter Robinson's Top Shop into two chains to be known as Peter Robinson and Top Shop, with the latter focusing on the age range from 13 to 24.

By the late 1970s, it had 55 standalone shops and, in 1978, Topman was launched.

At the start of the 1980s, Top Shop would become known as Topshop.

Over the years, it celebrated success with sell-out collections from top designers and celebrities, including the Kate Moss range.

Its flagship London store, at Oxford Circus, was 90,000 sq ft, covered five floors and attracted an average of 28,000 customers every day.

In 2011, it expanded to Australia, and in 2014, New York.

Business tycoon Sir Philip Green took over Arcadia Group (previously Burton Group) in 2012 and with it came his acquisition of Topshop and Topman.

Arcadia also owned Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, among others.

How it ended

With online shopping well underway at the start of the 2010s, the company started to struggle.

In comparison to the successes of long-term rivals such as Primark and H&M, the business declined and its reputation among shoppers dwindled even further.

Grazia readers argued its prices became unattainable for its millennial market.

Manchester Fashion Institute lecturer, Julie Hodson, claimed it simply lost its touch in creating a trend-setting blueprint.

In July 2013, the company also received a universal sign of disapproval when music star Rihanna won a lawsuit preventing her image from being unofficially used on one of its T-shirts.

By the time the UK's second national lockdown arrived, Topshop’s was sealed when it entered administration in November 2020.

It led to Arcadia's brands being sold to online retailers, including Boohoo's acquisition of Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis for a combined £25.2 million three months later.

Although online retailer Asos purchased Topshop for a huge £265 million, the end game resulted in not only thousands of jobs being lost, but a snowballing, gaping hole in many high streets that continue to feel its departure today.

Despite its downfall, there have been rumours of an unexpected u-turn. Asos announced in September it is to sell a 75% stake in the brand to Bestseller - a Danish retail group which also owns Jack & Jones.

Following the move, plans for a new Topshop website were mentioned as being on the cards as early as next summer. However, it seems a comeback to UK streets appears more of a hope than an expectation.

The majority of its eight former Kent units have since been filled with either national or independent retailers.

Here is what the branches of the once-thriving chain look like now...

Ashford

Topshop occupied a prominent spot in the heart of the Park Mall shopping centre, just off Ashford’s high street, since the 1980s.

But it closed in 2011, becoming the first branch to cease trading in Kent.

Following its departure, charity shop, Sense, which raises money for deafblind people and those with complex communication, moved into the unit.

It traded for four years until its closure in April 2018, before being tuned into bridal shop, WED2B, which continues to trade today.

Other chains to have left Park Mall over the years include Next, Boots, Accessorize and Wilko.

Bluewater

Arguably Kent's flagship Topshop store, the company made sure it got a piece of the Bluewater action when the shopping centre opened in 1999.

Beginning as a 12,000 sq ft unit in the Greenhithe centre’s Lower Thames Walk area, bosses decided to increase its presence at the mall by more than 100% in 2013.

It led to the building of a new 30,340 sq ft Topshop in autumn 2013 spanning two levels on Bluewater’s Upper Rose Gallery.

The new unit was so big the centre had to apply for planning permission and extend out over a section of one of its car parks.

Once approved, the branch sat next to River Island and FatFace for several years.

Since Arcadia entered administration, the old unit has housed several pop-up shops including sustainable fashion business ‘We Are’ and Under The Rainbow Events art exhibitions.

It is currently home to Christmas Supermarket for the festive season.

Broadstairs

The company joined the £100 million Westwood Cross shopping centre almost two decades ago when it opened in 2005.

Initially, it occupied one large single shop in the units now occupied by both EE and Hotel Chocolat, but later moved to a large premises within the main mall in 2016.

At this new unit, it joined other brands including Evans, Miss Selfridges and Dorothy Perkins in the shop known as Outfit.

Bosses at Westwood Cross started stripping out the unit in 2023 and Mountain Warehouse filled the site this year when it opened its biggest branch in the south of England.

Bromley

Prior to its demise, an all-in-one Topshop, Topman and Dorothy Perkins store featured in Bromley High Street.

The building opposite Primark served the Arcadia brands for more than 15 years before lying vacant ever since.

Now, four years on, it is set to be the new home of Bromley Central Library.

The unit sits less than 300 metres away from the library’s current home in a shared building with the Churchill Theatre.

The proposal was first put forward in October last year, although not without controversy.

Council officers noted the library’s existing building would need to be dismantled after asbestos was found inside.

It means the £15.5 million move to the former Topshop site is now expected to be complete by April 2026.

Canterbury

Topshop's presence in Canterbury was large given its position next to the city's flagship store, Fenwick, at the Whitefriars development.

The two-floor shop was one of the first brands to trade at the complex when it opened in 2005.

It moved to the unit having switched from its previous home at the entrance to the Marlowe Arcade - where jewellery giants Swarovski still stands today almost 20 years on.

But following the brand’s closure during the pandemic, plans were put forward in June 2021 to convert its unit at Whitefriars into offices for Canterbury City Council.

The local authority, which deems its home in Military Road to be too big and expensive to run, says renovation works are currently “progressing well” for them to use one half of the site's first floor and the entirety of its second floor.

Once ready, it will share the property with fashion giant Oliver Bonas.

The chain moved into the vacant premises in September to become the brand's largest branch in Kent and the newest of its 86 shops across the UK.

Folkestone

Despite not having its own store, Topshop had a retail concession within the former Debenhams on the corner of Sandgate Road and Bouverie Place.

It traded for several years within the department store until it closed in 2020 as part of Debenhams’ downsizing plans.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) bought the building and renamed it Folca.

Having been used as a vaccination centre for coronavirus jabs, plans were later announced for it to host a new medical centre.

FHDC estimated the project for the new centre would be an investment worth £16 million to Folkestone and the NHS said it would open in 2025 if approved.

However, at a meeting of FHDC’s overview and scrutiny committee in May, members were told the part of the building originally earmarked for the GP provision could not in fact take them.

It has left the site vacant and plans earmarked for the medical centre, plus the possible relocation of the town’s library, are on hold.

Maidstone

Like its sister store in Canterbury, Topshop joined Maidstone town centre after the opening of its own shopping centre in 2005.

Plans were put forward in April with the shop opening in the heart of Fremlin Walk later that year.

For some time, it then sat next to a strong cohort of nationwide shops such as Stormfront, River Island, FatFace and, until last year, Zara.

Its days became numbered when the company's administration was announced at the end of 2020.

Maidstone residents would have to wait almost two years before the empty unit was filled.

This came in the form of MenKind - a retailer known for stocking gifts, including personalised items and tech.

Its arrival in August 2022 made it the brand's second store in the county after its original at Bluewater.

Tunbridge Wells

For more than a decade, Topshop sat in Calverley Road, Tunbridge Wells.

The branch opened in spring 2010 when it replaced another of the UK's most famous town centre shops in Woolworths.

When Topshop then succumbed to its own financial woes, residents in the west Kent town were also made to wait two years before a replacement was found.

This came when US clothing and lifestyle brand Urban Outfitters unveiled its second Kent store at the premises in October 2022, perched in between Boots and Holland & Barrett.