Middle America

Jessica Simpson's fashion line hauls in about $1 billion in annual sales, an aberration in a retail landscape littered with dead celebrity brands. David Hasselhoff's Malibu Dave, Mandy Moore's Mblem, Heidi Montag's Heidiwood … the list of defunct fashion labels of the famous is endless. Yet Simpson's line has not only survived, it's grown over the past decade into a true lifestyle empire. How did she accomplish such a feat? According to the pop star, Simpson just knows what women want. 

Zara has made it clear that it's not headed to Middle America, USA, anytime soon. "The United States is a graveyard of European retailers," the company said recently. "Everyone who has gone there has struggled." Uniqlo reiterated that sentiment, saying the Japanese company is more likely to open a second shop in San Francisco before heading to Los Angeles, and definitely before heading to Chicago. But now Topshop will cautiously go where other fast-fashion chains across either pond won't.

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