Shopping 1. Dover Street Market
Te concept store Dover Street Market, founded by fashion designer Rei Kawakubo, first opened in London in 2004. In 2016, it relocated from its Dover Street location to 18-22 Haymarket but its ethos remains the same. Alongside new season offerings from Prada and Gucci, one can find oversized suiting that’s a blend of denim and leather haphazardly arranged as though it’s scraps of fabric, and crisp white polo shirt-style tops with lace and mesh pleats at the back, a baseball jacket neckline and zip along the left shoulder. It’s a defying of sartorial conven- tions, being an experimental approach to design and holding a genderless mindset. It’s also a physical space where emerging designers can be found, particularly those who are rewriting the menswear design scene.
2. Liberty
As a department store, Liberty is inher- ently British. It has a Tudor-look exterior that photogenically stands out in the midst of the surrounding retail environment (it’s located just off Regent Street, Oxford Street and Carnaby Street) while the inte- rior is all wooden panels and narrow wind- ing staircases. Since being founded in 1897, Liberty has developed close associa- tions with the Arts and Crafts Movement and the 1960s Peacock Revolution – the latter in the form of Liberty print shirts and ties being worn flamboyantly in a way that challenged the gender expectations of men’s dress. Tradition continues to be at the core of Liberty as well as a focus on in- novation. Clothing and accessories (by high end and emerging luxury designers) include items that won’t be found in other department stores.
3. Beyond Retro
First opened in east London in 2002, Beyond Retro has grown to become a leader in second-hand retail. Its vision is on trend but its content is sourced from the past, meaning easily wearable items with origins in the 1960s to the 1990s can be found. In the mid to late 2000s a resur- gence in second-hand clothing was largely associated with the so-called hipster look stereotypically belonging to young arty in- habitants of regenerating urban areas. Now, with more and more emphasis being placed on conscious shopping and preserv- ing clothing, to purchase second-hand and vintage is a favourable approach to con- sumerism. Denim jackets, plaid shirts and printed t-shirts are all in abundance in high street and vintage/second-hand stores. Purchasing from the latter is not only sus- tainable (environmentally and ethically) but holds added charm, mythical adven- tures and stories of a previous wearer em- bedded into the garments.
4. Paul Smith
Paul Smith is one of those brand names that’s so omnipresent in department stores and on the shopping circuit that its Britishness can be taken for granted. Te designer, Sir Paul Smith CBE, opened his first store in Nottingham in 1970 and the first in London in 1979, developing an aesthetic of “classic with a twist”, adding touches of eccentricity to shirts and splashes of colour to suits. While the cloth- ing can be understandably pricy, products like socks, ties and scarves, generally all in bold multi-coloured stripes, are an accessi- ble way of adding a British playfulness to outfits – whether bought for oneself or as a gift.
5. Oliver Spencer
If Paul Smith is classic in nature then Oliver Spencer is perhaps the contempo- rary equivalent. Founded in London in 2002, the Oliver Spencer brand is centred round neatly crafted garments with relaxed silhouettes – comfy tailoring, casual shirts and shorts with a Mediterranean air. Tey’re all European in form, made in England and Portugal using organic cot- ton, local wool and linen, thus highlight- ing modern dress and the ways design and textile production can be largely British in its production.
FRANCESCA ROSE is a freelance writer whose musings on fashion can be found at
www.knotjournal.com 8 FOCUS The Magazine May/June 2019
www.focus-info.org
Liberty
Paul Smith
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