Shoving, pushing, clothes flying off the racks— these were the kinds of behaviour expected at the sneak preview of the long awaited Kate Moss Topshop collection. Disappointingly, no such chaos was evident among the relatively subdued crowd.

The private event on May 16 at Topshop’s flagship store in Wisma Atria was attended by the media and the brand’s Fashion Fast Forward (F3) members. This sneak peek into the local shipment of the collection gave UrbanWire a chance to be among the first on the island to own a piece of the supermodel’s designs, prior to the public release on May 17.

Given the collection takes up a mere 5 by 10 square metres of the floor space in Topshop, what was brought in was certainly much smaller than the original 50 designs from the collaboration. Missing were the more popular pieces, like the one-shoulder Spotty Cotton Dress that celebrities like Selma Blair were seen wearing shortly after the US release. The highly sought-after Mini Dress with Cut Out Neckline also failed to make an appearance in the local store.

Comments such as, “Huh? Is it supposed to be so small?”, “Why didn’t they bring the nice items?” and “It’s really not what I expected.”— were overheard being made by the shoppers browsing through the collection.

Nonetheless, fitting room queues were still long and the people waiting to enter the store continued to increase. Security was tight at the event, with only a small number of people allowed into the store at one time. The unlucky few who had to wait, did so while standing in the humid heat near the taxi stand.

Just as they did during the launch in Topshop London and Barney’s New York, local shoppers were limited to a mere 5 pieces of different design and colour. Topshop staff were on the ball, acceding to every request of customers with a smile on their faces. Scampering around trying to get sizes for people in fitting rooms while keeping the area as neat as possible definitely earned them a thumbs-up in service.

While many rave reviews have come from the overseas releases of the Kate Moss collection, the only fault apparent here was the fact that some of the clothes are designed by Kate Moss, for Kate Moss. This means that the people who look the most fabulous in the pieces are 1.68 metre, waif, model-like beings. How many people can truly pull off a pair of yellow and black pinstripe hot pants while looking smokin’ hot?

With prices ranging from $36 for a basic Ribbed Jersey Vest, to $209 for a Silk Victorian Jacket, the items are certainly heavier on the wallet than an item from the normal Topshop range. But, considering that it is a once-in- a-lifetime chance to emulate the style goddess that Kate Moss is, those extra few dollars will not be that hard to part with.

The Kate Moss Topshop Collection is available at local Topshop outlets from May 17 2007, 10am.