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LONDON - British supermodel Kate Moss won glowing early reviews for her new clothing range yesterday, helping to offset some barbed criticism of the designs in the United States.
Further underlining her popularity in Britain, buyers unwilling to join scrums at Topshop stores nationwide when the range went on sale were logging on to online auctioneer eBay to snap up their favourite items.
Fashion experts were quick to point out that the collection of about 50 designs, ranging in price from 12 to 195 pounds ($32-$533), may well have been inspired by Moss more than actually designed by her.
"She has fulfilled every teenage girl's dream by letting them loose in her wardrobe," wrote Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion editor for the Guardian newspaper.
"Instead of aiming for a high-concept album, she has simply issued the Greatest Hits of Kate."
Hilary Alexander of the Telegraph said those who questioned Moss' input were missing the point.
"What the public want to buy into is a little of the magic and allure that is Kate Moss' individual style. That is exactly what she is giving them," she said.
In the United States, where the Topshop range goes on sale soon, the reception has been cooler.
The New York Post ran a recent story under the headline "Duplikate" and added: "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." New York magazine, which wrote scathingly about Moss and her sometimes controversial private life, summed up the collection which it viewed online in a single word: "snore".
Philip Green, Topshop's billionaire owner, has paid Moss a reported 3 million pounds to design clothes for his stores, which have won a reputation for putting high fashion on the high street but at affordable prices.
A crowd of several hundred people, and dozens of cameramen and photographers, outside the flagship store in London late on Monday for the Moss launch was evidence of her popularity.
One of the world's most photographed women, she has been credited with inspiring fashion crazes like skinny jeans.
Scandals involving allegations of drug abuse and her relationship with troubled rock singer Pete Doherty appear to have helped her career rather than hindered it.
At the Topshop store in London's business district of Canary Wharf almost the entire stock had sold out within just over an hour of opening time on Tuesday.
"I think Kate Moss is a style icon," said Kylie McGregor from the online department of the Daily Mirror newspaper, who bought two dresses and a top.
"I know the range has been slated, but I think it's wearable stuff. It's not just a collection that reflects her but it's stuff that people are actually going to wear."
For the less motivated shopper, eBay offers an alternative.
Yesterday dozens of items from Moss' new range were on sale, including a pansy print dress which had attracted 21 bids of up to 101.50 pounds, more than twice its retail price.
- REUTERS
