I feel like I almost have to be slightly embarrassed when I say I live near Holloway Road in London when SO MANY insist on having an address with cred out East. When I say East, I don't mean Shoreditch/near Brick Lane, but further out in E2, E8 and E9 postcodes. Secretly I quite like being in an area, which people have question marks over, but I do sometimes get E2/8/9 twitches. To be fair, it's easy for me to satisfy those twitches with a hop and a skip of a bus ride and there's now one more reason to keep bus-ing it over as in addition to studio visits, sample sales and scoffing opportunities at the Turkish restaurants, LN-CC has arrived in physical form.
An acronym for Late Night Chameleon Cafe, LN-CC has arrived to challenge retail convention in a ton of ways, not for larks or pretention, but because the project is born out of a pure belief that this is the way they want to shop. By they, I'm referring to Jon Skelton (formerly of Oki-Ni and Harrods) and Dan Mitchell (also of Oki-Ni) and some smart collaborators who bring this project to life. When you get to Shacklewell Lane, if you're looking for a storefront, you're not going to find one. Instead you find a side door and creep down to a vast basement where the scale of things is fully revealed. Skelton could have settled for a smaller space, closer in town but then the following could never have happened...
The website has been live for a couple of months now but the physical space is its crowning glory and the design of it is down to one notorious Gary Card. What Card can't do with his hands is beyond me... I think he's the kind of guy that sleeps with ideas festering in his brain. With the vast basement space, he opens up with a tunnel of twigs, a forest introduction that then leads into another tunnel, aptly called the 'Skeletal Space', a model of which is on display...
Several different antechambers spin off this tunnel and with a big whack of dramaticism punched into you, you then start getting into the clothes which compliment the space in so much that the label stock list, like the structure Gary has created, has depth and scope without being overly nonsensical. It's important to note that the stock at the moment doesn't reflect LN-CC's full blooming potential seeing as it's opened mid-season and S/S 11 will probably give a more indepth idea of the store's direction. For now, let's delve into the different rooms to see what's on offer right now, fully accompanied by the website...
In the 'Earth' Room, J.W. Anderson's A/W 10-11 collection with mostly menswear pieces made up into womenswear sizes gets a dominant rail with plenty of tartan, frayed denim and those 'Caravan' boots which come in a teensy size 38...
2010 Central Saint Martins grad Tze Goh gets his first ever stockist in LN-CC who believed in his beautifully formed collection constructed out of foam bonded onto white jersey. His S/S 11 collection sees colour infiltrating his foam bonding technique that has touches of Francisco Costa at CK about it.
Pre-spring Preen has also hit LN-CC including my favourite piece from the collection - the broderie Anglaise strapless bra that seems to be looking less frilly here...
In the 'Light' space which is filled with all kinds of geometric shaped units on castors that I *think* fit together in some way or another, you have the more 'streetwear' led brands which probably makes it the more accessible room in terms of pricepoints and wearability too. There are quite a few accessories brands that make 'staple' n ' stable' things that is about fastidious design more than anything else... like these belts and leather rings by Hobo or bags by Yvonne Kone...
Loving LN-CC's sock choice of Japanese label Ayame - a super dooper indulgence but your feet will be in for a colourful ride...
I won't bang on about menswear too much but of course with Skelton and Mitchell coming from a menswear background means that there is a slight heavier leaning towards menswear and their knowledge of that field extends itself to a completely different approach to buying for womenswear, such as asking menswear designers to make things up in womenswear sizes or simply buying in things that are ambiguous or non-sex specific. Christopher Raeburn and PAM below definitely fit into that category...
When they do get in typically 'girly' designers, the context of the design suddenly changes. Mawi can be very bling blingy but in LN-CC's environment and with their particular selection, the pieces become more stark and graphic looking, with the form of the jewellery emphasised rather than the shine...
Onto the 'Warmth' room. I suppose this is either a joke or Jon and Dan have a very odd idea of 'warmth'. Or perhaps this concrete bathed room with mannequins suspended from the ceiling really is temperature-wise warm. Who knows. Actually though, the room isn't as stark or cold as the pictures might portray and instead, it's hugely calming when you're faced with cult-based designers such as Rick Owens or Damir Doma and soon to add, Ann Demeulemeester. Perhaps LN-CC are creating a sense of 'respect' for these designers with this cleansed space...
The LN-CC token of friendship is always there though with these friendship bracelets which are on every hanger in the store (and are also packaged into a web-order as well...) - a lovely touch that would cheer even the stony, too-cool for anything head-to-toe Rick Owens fan...
Like any self-respecting concept store, literature and tunes are key and here the books has been selected by art book dealer Conor Dolan... spotted a few rarities already which means it's not just a predictable lot of Taschen/Rizzoli picks. Two separate gallery and club spaces will be complete next year kitted out with Led Zeppelin's sound system...
Much has been said about LN-CC's store policy at the moment which is that it will be open on an appointment-only basis with some putting it down to haughtiness. It's actually nothing of the sort as the area doesn't exactly lend itself well to being entirely secure (bikes kept on getting stolen when I was working in Old Street and LN-CC is in the depths of Dalston...). In a way, Skelton and Co. can also allow the customer to understand LN-CC better with an appointment (that is basically a mere email away...) by talking people through the spaces. Open-for-all is the website where in-house styling and photography is key for LN-CC and from my womenswear perspective, sets the tone for a certain aesthetic that isn't really fulfilled elsewhere.
Still, much more is to come and new for S/S 11 will be additions that don’t get a huge London presence if any, such as Ohne Titel, Toga, Marsell, G.V.G.V., Illestiva and Dieppa Restrepo and adding to the menswear-turned-into-womenswear proceedings will be labels like New Power Studio. I don't expect Shacklewell Lane to turn into a Redchurch Street retail hive and so LN-CC being the sole concept store gem there make the trips extra special.
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