Ello. Now, while shopping is some people’s idea of a wonderful time, for us it’s doom personified. However, there is a light at the end of the aisle, in the form of some great little independent shops dotted around the back streets of London. The nice folk from the Independent London Store Guide recently gave us a shout about their new book, and we thought it was brilliant. Much too good to keep to ourselves, so this week’s newsletter is a little sampler of some of their pages.
And because they really are nice folk, they’re offering you the chance to get your hands on the book for 10% off, only through us. Just head over here to pick up a copy and quote the code GLP157. Very good.
And before we go please contribute if you can to our Crowdfunder mission – we’re 33% of the way to making this website a lot less rubbish, with 9 days to go (at the time of writing). Thank you. Now then:
East:
Labour and Wait, 85 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ, Tue–Sun 11–6pm
Buying the most boring household items has never been so fun. Labour and Wait specialise in timeless homewares, traditional and simple, right down to the enamel lampshades and unbleached cotton oven gloves. Purchasing a dustpan and brush has taken on a whole new slant! Tired of buying cheap disposable items destined for the garbage after only a few uses, the owners decided to compile and sell everything you need for your home – useful things that will last, probably outlasting you. With a cool calm atmosphere and shelves stacked with an art gallery aesthetic, from enamel coffee pots and bread tins to horsehair brooms, linen dishtowels and old-fashioned school notebooks you can come back time and again, safe in the knowledge that you will always find what you saw last time you were there.
The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, E8 8RP, Wed–Sun 12–7pm
A bit of fluffy taxidermy, in the cheery light of day, can sure pull on the purse strings. Throw in a birthday poo card, a few meteorite shards and Susanna’s front-bottom, forever foxy in formaldehyde (yours for £125) and you’ll definitely win the prize for best present. However, one might want to think twice before releasing anything from the Pandora’s box that is the creepy canal-side cellar of The Last Tuesday Society. Here below the shop and art gallery lie the motley and the monstrous, things of fact and fiction and the “doctored back end of a deer”. Hours may be lost in this underworld of provocation where Gary Glitter, Enid Blyton and Mr. Robertson’s golliwogs seem entirely at home amongst the relics in this, the only place ever known to promote the purchase of a fur jacket with the assurance that it’s the skin of a ‘long-dead’ animal.
Central:
Beyond the Valley, 2 Newburgh Street, Carnaby W1F 7RD, Mon–Sat 11–7pm, Sun 12.30–5pm
A true hub of creativity and innovation, there are no rules at Beyond the Valley, just so long as it’s not ordinary. Homewares are interspersed with clothes, accessories, gifts and non-sequential items, such as knitted toys and ceramic boxes in the shape of biscuits, basically anything that takes their fancy really. Playful and quirky designs are printed onto ceramic mugs, plates and notebooks and brightly coloured screen prints furnish the silver and gold papered walls. A unique space showcasing young designer talent, Beyond the Valley features the cream of the crop of London’s fashion, product and jewellery designers. Alongside a selection of wearable items and printed t-shirts you will find beautifully crafted clothes that challenge functionality, shoes that look like sculptures and cabinets displaying jewellery that combines precious metals with leather, ribbon, Perspex, flocking, wood, feathers and rope.
Darkroom, 52 Lamb’s Conduit Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 3LL, Mon–Fri 11–7pm, Sat 11–6pm
Some might say it’s a pretty bold move painting a shop black and white, however, I doubt any would argue that it’s certainly an effective way to showcase the sculptural wares they have on display. Essentially selling accessories, whether for fashion or the home, Darkroom explores materials and their uses, selling soft leather bags with a fine wood trim or wall hangings made of heavy wool appearing like oversized pieces of jewellery. With backgrounds in fashion and interiors a lot of time goes into curating the store with the theme changing seasonally and in conjunction with the designers they work with, many of whom draw inspiration from Africa in a modernist way. Monochrome paintings line the wall evoking illusions of black mirrors and solid black plinths off-set against a geometric patterned floor display covetable gold and silver jewellery, and tribal themed accessories mixed with woven leather belts and conspicuous homewares. (10% discount with the book).
West:
Kokon To Zai, 86 Golborne Road, Notting Hill W10 5PS, Mon–Sat 10–6pm
It may mean ‘East meets West’ in Japanese, but there is nothing Zen or civilised about Kokon to Zai. On the contrary, this fashion boutique is bordering on the bold, the surreal and the plain outrageous. You have never seen anything like this before. The ‘child’ of Marjan Pejoski and Sasha Bezovski, two Macedonian émigrés who came to study fashion design in London, Kokon to Zai opened its doors in 1996, originally as a space where DJs could hang out. Having gained cult status since then, Kokon to Zai now offers not just the designers’ own labels ‘Marjan Pejoski’ (remember Bjork’s famous swan dress?) and the flamboyant ‘KTZ’ but also a mix of clothes from fashion’s most known provocateurs; Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Jeremy Scott, to name but a few. All exhibited against a background of stuffed animals and antique paraphernalia making Kokon to Zai’s eccentric microcosm an unforgettable experience.
Retrouvius, 2A Ravensworth Road, Kensal Green NW10 5NR, Mon–Sat 10–6pm
Adam Hills and Maria Speake met as architecture students, got married and founded Retrouvius, an interior design practice and showroom with an interesting design manifesto: there is no such thing as waste. Case in point, their studio, which is made from reused materials and salvage. Hills, Speake and their team scour the UK for old buildings, be it soon-to-be demolished schools, galleries and even museums and take back anything that can be put into a new context; like the fossilised marble floor found at a demolished Heathrow terminal (which was subsequently made into a bathtub and a coffee table). Other reclaimed objects include cupboards, lighting, mirrors, as well as garden accessories. The great thing is that stock is ever changing, so chances are that you will find something unique and quirky, like the Central Line’s old tube signs. Incredible to think that these were unwanted.
North:
Palette, 21 Canonbury Lane, Islington N1 2AS,
If you’re still wistful for that early Gaultier parka, circa 1980, or have long yearned for a statement piece from the ‘70s, perhaps a Janice Wainwright jacket or a Bill Gibb show-stopper in braided silk embroidered leather then your nirvana is Palette. Discerning and picky? Welcome home! There’s no rummaging required here. Items are well displayed and clearly marked, if not quite with provenance, then comprehensively with dates and materials. Of immaculate museum quality, they’re treated with due respect. Contemporary chic fills the remaining rails: future classics from Eugene Lin, Anna Aichinger, Aganovich and the infernally interesting Rundholz slide easily alongside “modern vintage” Dior, Givenchy and the kooky Koos van den Akker. While you’re in the museum mode of mind, why not make it an afternoon of aesthetics and visit the Estorick, just a fashionable stroll across the Square.
Emporium Teas, 4/5 Cheapside, Fortis Green, Muswell Hill, N2 9HP, Mon-Sun 9-5pm
Coffee shop doesn’t do this justice. It is a destination point. A nostalgic hijack. A community cornerstone. Set up a year ago by two mums it is by definition local – everything from the art on the wall, to the tea on the trolley (from nearby W Martin). During the day it hums with the smell of fresh baking and bustling custom (it is hugely kid friendly). Tables are square and pretty, walls are clapperboard-clean and hung with the season’s current art exhibition. At nights and weekends the overspill room transforms into a party venue-cum-craft workshop and sometime mythical storytelling haunt. Menus are pretension-free – porridge and golden syrup (£3.25), toast and Marmite (£1), but specials show a seasonal flair and an Afternoon Tea (a cake-stand of finger sandwiches, brownies and cakes with teas, £14 each, book in advance) is the stuff of lore and legend.
South:
Cherry Picked, 5a Greenwich Market, Greenwich SE10 9HZ, Mon–Fri 12–6pm, Sat–Sun 12–6pm
Cherry Picked is a unique designer boutique in Greenwich Market is very special indeed, Phyllis Taylor bought the shop over 5 years ago and has used her cultural background to bring a little slice of Ghana to London. Using fair-trade fabrics sourced from her parents’ home town in Ghana, Phyllis has designed a capsule collection of women and children’s clothing using classic 50s and 60s shapes. The ‘Sika’ label is based on simplicity and flattering feminine shapes and the clothing range is reasonably priced given its designer reputation. The Sika designs – which change seasonally – have been featured in Grazia, Vogue, East Living, You and the Daily Mirror – to name but a few. The combination of ethnic fabrics, retro shapes, made-to-measure designs (on request) and staff who truly care about the label, create an impressive, independent boutique worthy of a visit.
The Good Companion, 27–29 Norwood Road, Herne Hill SE24 9AA,
Vintage furniture and art gallery run by husband and wife Abe and Sarah, a real stand out destination shop in the south of London. 50s furniture rubs shoulders with African sculpture while the walls covered in Abe’s paintings testify to his west African routes. It’s worth regular visits to keep up with the changing stock.
That’s it for this week – head on over to Independent London for the full book, and give us a follow at http://twitter.com/glpLondon for more tiptasticness.
