Westminster City Council, The Crown Estate and New West End Company (NWEC) have launched a pop up store at 88 Regent Street to showcase six brands who were founded in the local area and champion sustainability.
The Crown Estate has provided the dedicated space, and worked with the council and NWEC, to create a unique opportunity for these independent brands to promote their products on one of the most famous shopping streets in the world.
By experimenting using space in a different way, it is hoped that the project will support the brands to grow their customer base, educate consumers about sustainability and attract more visitors back to the area.
The timing of the Regent Street Edit correlates with London Fashion Week and NWEC’s sustainable fashion month.
Cllr Matthew Green, Cabinet Member for Business, Licensing and Planning at Westminster City Council, said:
“The Regent Street Edit supports two of Westminster City Council’s key objectives: attracting footfall back to the West End and sustainability. It also allows us to invest in budding entrepreneurs by giving them the opportunity to grow their businesses on one of the world’s greatest shopping streets. This is the seventh pop-up to be supported in the West End by Westminster City Council and I’m confident that it will attract residents and visitors alike to enjoy an immersive and intimate shopping experience that supports sustainable fashion.”
Bob Dawson, Head of Regent Street at The Crown Estate said:
“Bringing our spaces to life with brands that promote sustainability is a step towards our shared vision of creating destinations that make a meaningful difference. It is great to part of this initiative, with our partners, providing independent businesses a unique opportunity to showcase their brand in a prime central London location.”
Luciana Magliocco, Associate Director at New West End Company said:
“We are thrilled to be giving inspiring new business leaders the opportunity to showcase their brands and offerings in London’s West End. The High Street is evolving and the past year has been a catalyst for more rapid change. We are ready to embrace and welcome new ideas and sustainable business models to ensure our district remains relevant to future visitors and responds to changing customer trends. The temporary new landscape created by the pop-up ventures will help to feed the evolution of the West End’s post-Covid environment and retail & leisure ecosystem.”
From now until October 31, each brand has a dedicated space within the store which they have customised to communicate the authenticity of their products and the story behind them.
Visitors are able to have a personal and distinctive shopping experience as they move through the store with the opportunity to interact with the brand’s founders and learn the sustainability practices that underpin their products.
Some of the unique sustainability techniques include the upcycling of vintage family kimonos to create items from jackets to lampshades to the art of slow tailoring to craft unique pieces of lingerie from local suppliers with zero waste.
In addition to the brands themselves, the store itself has been produced with sustainability in mind.
Coordinated by Visual Branding Agency, Jupiter, sustainable materials have been widely used throughout the store from the large message board on arrival created from 80% recycled plastic bottles to the furniture fixings made from sterling board, an eco-friendly material consisting of recycled wood particles.
At the end of the project, all the materials will be collected to be repurposed for future projects or sent to the closest recycling plant to generate green energy.
The Regent Street Edit is open to the general public at 88 Regent Street from now until 31 October, Monday to Saturday 10am – 7pm and Sunday 12pm – 6pm.
