Nordstrom, the conservative Seattle department store, is bringing in Topshop, the British fast-fashion chain with rock ’n’ roll flair.
Topshop, along with the men’s brand Topman, will be introduced in Nordstrom in September and sold through Nordstrom.com, the companies said Thursday. Topshop, which incorporates trends from the runway and from street fashion into its clothing in a matter of weeks, will add some speed to Nordstrom, which has so far lacked such a quick-turnaround brand.
This will be a new customer for them, and a new customer for us," Sir Philip Green, the owner of Topshop, said in an interview Thursday at Topshop’s New York store, one of three stores it has in the United States.
Department stores want to bring in young shoppers, and partnerships like this is a popular way to do it. J.C. Penney has carried clothes from the fast-fashion brand Mango, under its MNG by Mango line, for a couple of years. On Tuesday, Neiman Marcus and Target announced they would jointly be carrying Christmastime collections from 24 designers like Carolina Herrera and Derek Lam.
Nordstrom will add Topshop to 14 stores in September, said Pete Nordstrom, president of merchandising, adding that they will represent a range of geographies, sizes and shopper demographics so the retailer can get a sense of what worked where; from there, the plan is to roll Topshop and Topman out to most of its stores.
"Fast fashion implies cheap, and that’s not what we’re after," Pete Nordstrom said. "It wasn’t about how we sell a bunch of really cheap T-shirts. It’s about how we deliver credible new fashion to the customer."
While Topshops usually blare music, Nordstrom is known for its tinkling pianos. Pete Nordstrom said that, at least for now, "it’s going to live amongst what we do," meaning a DJ probably won’t be setting up a station in the Topshop section anytime soon.
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