Archive for December 2010
Gaz Keeps Rockin'
Wednesday, 15 December 2010 Comments Off
Major props to the filmmakers - Leo Leigh and Zaid Mudhaffer.
Also check out the book published by Trolley Books,
Gaz's Rockin' Blues The First Thirty Years
arckiv winter day/night
Tuesday, 14 December 2010 Comments Off
In most instances Pop Up shop is just a euphemism for a temporary sales shop; especially in this economic climate and especially during the Christmas period.
You can see 'em all over Shoreditch - shops with unfinished interiors, random furniture and mismatched display units all pretending that their rough and not-so-readiness is part of a carefully considered grand design.
And then you come across a place like Arckiv and you're reminded of what the term Pop Up shop really means.
check out Arckiv's winter collection of new and antique garments for men;
Sunday morning. Brick Lane. The Market
Sunday, 12 December 2010 Comments Off
There's a guy I see there on the regular.
On his blanket he sells amazing shoes, bags, belts and a couple of watches.
The leather goods are all English, well-made, good condition and used.
He has a public school accent, the kind kids get in boarding school and is in his late thirties.
He says, Name your price when someone asks how much an item costs, then dismisses them briskly when they suggest less then he had hoped; I'm not in the business of selling something for 60 percent below it's value, he says.
His Monday-to-Friday, he tells me, is in the city with the boys - bankers, stocks'n'shares, sales - you know the type.
We often discuss watches. Ah, the man with the Omega moon, he says on seeing me.
I'm sure you leave your Rolex at home, I say, by way of greeting.
Of course, I could never bring it here, he replies.
I scan the floor; last week he had a near mint condition pair of Trickers for sale.
Both of those have just be reconditioned, he says referring to the two watches on the blanket.
How much for this one? I say, automatically picking up the one with the plainer face.
Name your price, he says.
I wouldn't want to insult you, I reply, smiling to myself.
To you, twenty; anyone else, thirty - but I want good customers to come back! he booms.
Great, let me see if I have any cash.
It actually cost £17.50 to recondition, so you've got a real bargain there, he says.
Ignoring his extremely honest sales patter, I eye my new purchase, imagining the watch strap heaven that awaits me...
Preview: John Simons new retail experience
Sunday, 5 December 2010 Comments Off
John Simons makes it look easy, like he and his team had this in mind all along. Maybe they did.
They've created a radically chic shop - one which looks like a cross between Charles Eames walk-in wardrobe and Don Draper's ideal bachelor pad.
His previous shop was based on a classic Ivy League outfitters - all darkened wood with no 'them-and-us' sales counter.
This new store seems to rewrite the whole rulebook about what stores are meant to be. Period.
First, there's the walk-in shop window. Then there's the deft mix of vintage, new and own-brand product...
...it's hard to tell where clothing from the past and collections from the present diverge.
Then there's the art and furniture.
Even those who know of Simons love of British modernism will be impressed by the amazing art pieces which populate the space.
The closure of the old store a few months ago didn't only give Simons a chance to create a new concept in retail...
…it's also allowed him to further develop his own extensive line of clothing.
The chinos and cords are here. The suits are here. The pull-over BD shirts - with their super wave-like roll collars - are also here.
There's even a duffel coat in the collection.
All these and more sit alongside a selection of Baracuda, J. Keydge, Mercer, Levi's Sta Press and Pendleton shirts – including the much coveted navy coloured variety.
He has plans to create a specially dedicated shoe area in one of the three rooms. Who can blame him; along with the Florsheim shoes....
...there'll be consignments of Bass Weejuns and Walkover,...
...Alden, Paraboot, Sanders and Sebago sharing rack space too.
Those who believed the original shop couldn't be bettered,think again.
The new store opens on Tuesday December 7th. See you there.
John Simons: 46 Chiltern Street W1U 7QR
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