Bolongaro Trevor

Bolongaro Trevor, clothing shop

For something a little different... try Bolongaro Trevor:

-   The designers and founders of this shop were the founders of All Saints, but left when it started to get very big and more commercial.

-   The Trevor’s are a husband and wife team who design the men’s and women’s wear.

-   They produce 52 – 100 of each piece, with a lot made in England and all of very good quality.

-   The printed designs are hand painted then screen printed onto fabrics.

-   Their inspirations come from vintage style references and military themes. Some garments have original buttons and other details they have managed to salvage/find.

-   The interiors are also inspired by vintage designs with old adverts collaged on the walls, scissor hooks for rails and taxidermy. The portraits running down the stairs and throughout the stores are found at antique markets such as Spitalfields.

-   The brand has four London stores and two more up North - one in Birmingham and one in Leeds. All together there are roughly 100 people who work for the company – so not massive! 

-   The assistant I spoke to picked their statement ‘flag jackets’ made from actual flags as their favourite garment! These are unique designs which would certainly stand out in the street.  To me they were reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood’s style.

-   They have a very broad range of customers from 25 up to 60, but rather than targeting an age they aim for those that just want something a little bit different to wear.

//Photography by Lillie Cooper

Magma

Magma is on the same street and is one of four stores in London which sells artistic books, magazines, its own tee shirt designs and a few fun gift sets.

-  Started in 2000, this was their first shop- they now have four in London and a couple dotted further up north.

-  One of their stores, which focuses on products rather than books, is literally five stores down.

-  Magma started off as a book shop only.

-  They now commission illustrators and designers to produce items such as their graphic tees. These are suspended from the ceiling- almost like a product installation. They give their concepts to artists who then develop the designs, adding their own signature to the initial briefing.

-  Book sales are down thanks to competition from companies such as Amazon.

-  They have a really good line of fun, small gifts, which sell well and can’t be searched for on the web. 

-  They adjust their products seasonally and to follow current trends – featuring cycling and food at the moment! 

-  An architect has now designed all their stores. They wanted nothing pretentious in the design, preferring something that would encourage customer interaction. So their bookshelf is a metal ladder structure with wooden shelves attached and suspended- giving the feel that you can just throw the books on rather than preciously placing them! The interior of their shop five doors down is made entirely from cardboard! All their shop interiors are modular and can be dismantled in a few hours - practical and visually interesting!

-  They have had regular customers since they first opened, many from creative industries who ‘enjoy time to get away from the drawing boards and computer suites and to actually interact and browse with the books’. 

//Photography by Lillie Cooper

Super Superficial

Super Superficial sells printed tees, jumpers and sunglasses.  It was their interior which caught my interest – although it’s a small shop, they have used wood in their interior to create a clean and fresh backdrop to their artistic clothing.  It turns out the founder of the brand and shop is an architect and Super Superficial is inspired by Swedish architecture and the beautiful Scandinavian-style café Nordic Bakery in Golden Square, W1.  I was made welcome by a very pleasant shop assistant/illustrator who is one of the three people who run the business.  She filled me in with some background information –

80% of their printed artwork is from uk artists, who can all be found on their website http://supersuperficial.com.  Super Superficial use their website as a creative platform for these artists.

Their artwork is interesting and different - they try not to create anything too ‘branded’ so you won’t find their name simply splashed across the tee-shirt, instead each piece is like wearing an individual piece of art, particularly as they don’t mass produce any designs.

Their customer base ranges in age between 18-45 and is mainly male, although I’m sure I’m not the only female to buy into it - but then again I love oversized graphic tees!

The tone of the shop is set with cool non-offensive hip hop playing in the background.

They have started doing a small amount of sales to other countries, in particular Italy and Asia.

They are not too heavy on pr but do update a facebook and twitter page- something for us fans to follow!

Their sunglasses are great!  These iconic designs are made by Grafik Plastic and this is the only store in Europe to stock them.  They are made by hand and the company recently won a ‘red dot design award’ – so possibly one to watch out for! 

//Photography by Lillie Cooper

Keeping a watchful eye

I love a good shop in all the usual chains, but have been spending more and more time keeping my eye out for interesting independent stores.  There’s something really special about feeling that you are seeing (and hopefully buying) a more unique product, rather than something mass produced, and hopefully from a business which is really focused on its customers and the products they’re putting out.  It’s nice to know that when you shop you are making a real difference to a small business in terms of its sustainability and future success.  The relationship feels more personal (and you get that special buzz from finding something that feels special and exclusive to you).

If you connect with any of this and find yourself in central London, you might be interested to make your way to Earlham Street, between Covent Garden and Shaftesbury avenue, which is filled with independents, and where I happily spent a few hours of retail therapy last weekend in three particular shops; Super Superficial, Magma and Bolongaro Trevor.

//Photography from google images