Can Kate Moss cut it?

It's 7am and the anticipation outside Topshop on Western Road has never been greater. There's a queue of nearly 50 shoppers some with their mums, all with their noses pressed against the window, waiting for the doors to open.

Lauren Addison, 16, Rachel Caroo, 16, and Chehraz Hamed, 20, are first in line.

"We got up at 4.30am and have been queueing since 5am," says Rachel. "We usually lie in late so it was a bit of an early start for us." According to Rachel, it's the clothes rather than the fact it's Kate Moss. "If they were horrible I wouldn't buy them," she insists.

Her friend Lauren butts in: "No way! I'm here purely because it's Kate Moss. I'm after the black dress she's been pictured in for my school prom. I'm not worried about anyone else having one I've checked out the queue and there's no one else from my school here." As the doors open momentarily to let our photographer in, there are high-pitched screams and a close-on riot as the girls lurch forward and bombard the manager with questions ("Do you have the red chiffon dress?", "How many tops will we be allowed to try on?", "Can I get a job here?") The queue, it turns out, is a complete mix, ranging from dental nurses and advertising execs to teenagers who've bunked off school saying they were at the doctor's.

Rita Conway, 20, has saved up £200 to spend. She's been queuing since 6am and brought along her mum, Jackie, 56, for support.

"I've not come for the clothes," Jackie interjects. "Just to keep my daughter company. To be honest, I'm quite disappointed, I thought they'd have made more of an event out of it. They could at least have laid on some entertainment for the crowds." The queue grows longer by the minute. There is also a hard- core posse who set their alarm clocks for 3.30am to snap up the key pieces on the web.

Addy Olatunji, 28, a dental nurse in Brighton was up and online at 4am as soon as the clothes became available.

"I bought a few bits but the computer kept crashing. I was really panicking so I rushed down to the shop and got here for half five. I'll probably spend about £170 this morning. I really like Kate Moss's style," she adds.

As soon as the manager opens the doors at 8 o'clock sharp, he's nearly trampled in the stampede. Shoppers flock in like frenzied gannets and quickly form a scrum around the rails, while a sultry-looking black and white portrait of Moss stares down from the wall observing the scene beneath her.

With just a few sizes of each item on sale and the majority hurtling towards the pretty pansy-print dress, it's a case of survival of the fittest.

Even the security man shuffles nervously at the door, knowing he'd be flattened instantly if it came to blows.

Minutes later, the shoppers are heading for the changing rooms armed with strappy dresses, tight vests, skinny jeans and hot pants in virtually any size they can get their hands on.

Some emerge euphoric and make a beeline for the till, others are slightly irritated the sizes don't fit. The disappointment is definitely too much for some and our photographer is lucky he doesn't get lamped in the process.

The response, it seems, is mixed. Armed with the signature Kate Moss carrier and her mum in tow, Rita confesses she isn't as impressed as she expected.

"When I saw a lot of the stuff in magazines I thought 'wow' but when I tried it on, it didn't look that good," she says. "I'm a size eight so I can't imagine what it'd look like on other people." Anna Wells, 32, a PA from Kemp Town, on the other hand, is ecstatic.

Holding up the famous pansy dress an almost identical copy of the one Moss has been snapped wearing herself, she says: "I think this is the best. It's the one thing everyone wanted so I'm really pleased I got it." Budding entrepreneurs were selling the same £45 dress for £150 on eBay just a few hours later.

Anna spent £130 in total, snapping up a couple of T-shirts, a vest and sunglasses, too.

"I wouldn't have worn hot pants when I was a teenager so I'm certainly not going to walk around in them at 32," she says, wisely.

"You don't have to be a teenager to wear all the clothes, though, there are loads of dresses and tops that would suit any age." Buried under bags but beaming all the same, Alison Rose, 22, has also had a successful shop, snapping up three dresses, shoes and a top.

"I got up at 4am and bought four things on the net earlier so in total I've spent about £380 on Kate Moss today," she says, triumphantly. "She comes from my home town of Croydon and is just the epitome of cool." When Sir Philip Green, owner of Topshop's parent company Arcadia, signed what was rumoured to be a £3 million deal with Moss last autumn, he knew he had struck gold.

Despite the sudden resignation of Jane Shepherdson, who was widely credited with turning around the store's fortunes, he went all out on the hype, being papped with Moss at fashion shows and dismissing Cocaine Kate-gate and the controversy surrounding her relationship with long-term junkie Pete Doherty.

Moss's selling power as Green knows only too well is huge.

She has popularised everything from a Balenciaga handbag to Hunter wellington boots and even sent sales at Superdrug soaring when she was snapped carrying a £2.99 charity bag from the store last year.

The trend for celebs breaking into fashion isn't new.

We've already had Madonna's shiny tracksuits for H&M, Victoria Beckham's jeans for Rock & Republic, and popstar Lilly Allen is launching a range for New Look this week.

Yet, none of the collaborations have generated the excitement of Moss and Top Shop.

While some experts have questioned the actual extent of her involvement (she "inspired" the collection with clothes from her own vintage finds and wardrobe), as far as her fans go, they couldn't care less. All they want is a slice of her style.

Sussex-based stylist and personal shopper Catherine Fenwick welcomes the trend for celebrity "designers" as they give stores a point of difference and offer more choice on the High Street.

So is the latest launch any different from the rest?

Catherine believes so. "Kate Moss has got such cachet, girls are going to go wild for her. To be able to say, 'I wear Kate Moss' is huge," she says.

"I think there are possibilities for all of us, though, even if it's just a trapeze dress or tunic. Take the mini dress, for instance, and wear it over leggings or trousers. Or even the coin waistcoat it's a bit of a retro look but anyone can wear a waistcoat." The sunglasses, sandals and black and white vest tops at £12 a pop are all good summer basics as is the pansy-print dress, if you live somewhere remote and are unlikely to bump into anyone in the same dress.

Lyn Aveyard, owner of fashion boutique Covet in The Lanes, suggests being a bit more savvy and binning Moss's signature skinny jeans in favour of one of her leather jackets.

"Kate Moss is such a style icon and dresses beautifully, but if a person is doing the skinny jeans, vest, scarf, leather jacket and gladiator sandals thing, it's too obvious they're trying to look like her. With a leather jacket, you can do your own thing and you've got something that's durable which won't make you look like a Kate Moss wannabe.

"It shows the power of celebs these days that people such as Coleen Mcloughlin and Victoria Beckham are pretty much dictating our fashion sense for us." Lyn suggests there is a danger of losing individuality and personal style in the clamour to copy celebs, pointing out a lot of fashion icons are also reliant on stylists, such as the Hollywood fashion guru Rachel Zoe.

"If you watch anyone on their rise to fame, even someone like Elizabeth Hurley, you can see they've found a look that works for them and stuck to it.

"I think you have to develop your own style one that works for you and not copy anyone else's," she says. "In some ways it's a bit sad how celebrity obsessed we've become. It's got a bit extreme now." You don't have to have a pert bottom and long legs to look good. As Lyn says, look at magazines, find clothes you like and don't be swayed by anyone else.

"Wear what you think suits you," she says. "If you feel comfortable, you'll be confident. Style isn't about having the latest trends, it's about having your own taste and confidence." Just like Kate Moss.

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