East Meets Best
In search of a new shopping experience, Hayley Leaver makes an appointment at East London’s contemporary boutique, LN-CC
and lifestyle products. Following the relaunch of its space in East London this year, Co-founder and Brand Director Dan Mitchell explains the inspiration behind the Dalston boutique. “Tere was no concept as such,” said Mr Mitchell. “LN-CC was very much an organic expression of us as people. We had become uninspired by retail in general and felt a need to do something interesting. We essentially created a space that we wanted to visit ourselves. A place that would blow our minds. So we created a real “experience” in the store design and all the components within it, such as the product selections, music, books, the club space and bar.” Located off Dalston’s Shacklewell Lane,
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LN-CC, co-founded by Mitchell and Creative Director John Skelton, is certainly no ordinary boutique. In addition to its experimental design, it offers a deeply personal selection of designer labels, an in-house record label and a well-curated mix of rare books and music. Mr Mitchell said: “It’s unique in the fact that it’s a very honest personal expression. So our taste in product, design and music is
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ince launching in 2010, LN-CC (short for Late Night Chameleon Café) has been globally recognised as a destination for luxury clothing, music
unique, especially in the way we mix it all up together. Te store design is also very unlike anything else in retail. “Dalston just felt like the right move,” he added. “At that time the area was very underdeveloped. Tere wasn’t as much as a decent café when we opened but we knew the area had huge potential. We lived in the area and could feel the energy of the place. Now it’s gone crazy with galleries, bars, clubs and stores popping up weekly.” Customers who book an appointment at LN-
CC can enjoy mainline collections by Lanvin, Haider Ackermann, Givenchy and Balenciaga, alongside more niche brands such as Kolor and Yang Li. AW13 also welcomes collections by Parisian designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, Oliver Ruuger and Pallas - the privately-owned Paris atelier responsible for producing collections for Céline and Balenciaga. In addition to the return of Raf Simons’ winter collection, LN-CC has also curated a selection of rare pieces from their extensive Raf Simons archive. To create a space worthy of this impressive
haul, LN-CC enlisted set designer and illustrator Gary Card. “I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to create with the space. I just had very little knowledge of actually how to put my ideas and
plans into practice. A friend introduced me to Gary Card and the partnership worked well,” said Mr Mitchell. “Unlike many other artists or set designers I met previously, Gary really got the ideas and understood what we wanted to achieve,” he added. “He also wasn’t afraid to take on a project on this scale and could see the potential in the project on a worldwide scale.” Further renovations earlier this year also
created two completely new areas – the Chameleon and Secular spaces. Te product of the in-house design team is a sleek, neoprene-encased Secular tunnel to house footwear and leather goods and the private in-store Chameleon bar. Te latter is home to a custom built sound system and is available to customers during the day and as an evening events space. In addition to offering the Chameleon sound club space, LN-CC also
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