News just in: Japanese streetwear wonderkid Nigo has been named creative director for convenience store chain FamilyMart. If you’re thinking Tesco or Co-Op, it’s a bit more significant than that. The convenience store game in Japan is way bigger than plastic-packed egg sandwiches and lottery tickets. They do everything from letting you pay bills and print documents to selling underwear and toothbrushes for on-the-go white collar workers. And their snack aisles are legendary. (more…)
Reading Sheila Rock’s excellent 2020 photo book, Young Punks, her photo of the decidedly uninviting facade of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s 1976 SEX shop (above) revealed an audacious weirdness with intimidating appeal that lured people in out of sheer curiosity. (more…)
Just after New Year I treated myself to a banana bread and coffee date at the new Violet Cakes cafe in the New Bond Street Alaïa store. Food and fashion have been forging an alliance for some time and I was reminded that Azzedine Alaïa was a natural instigator of this idea as far back as the 1980s.
Unlike other luxury fashion houses with their ultra brand-coded cakes and confectioneries (hello Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami cakes) this is a somewhat more wholesome approach. The food is consumed round an aluminium communal table nodding to the original spirit of Azzedine Alaïa himself, famous for inviting models, seamstresses, editors and even passing VIP clients to join the home-made feast at the studio table.
It’s both convivial and voyeuristic; you can chat to fellow customers or simply people watch as influencers art direct their cream teas just so for the Instagram gaze. I struck up conversation about my table mate’s well-loved raincoat (a prized Japanese purchase) while his son quietly amused himself with a toy train and a cookie.
In case you’re wondering, the food is delicious. My banana bread was faultless and the cappuccino my ideal strength and temperature. (London cappuccinos are usually far too tepid and milky fyi.) Note the placemats and strategic setting of a knife and fork to show off the embroidered logo (top).
The popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels has helped luxury brands with café add-ons to reach wannabe customers by showing them a step-by-step entry into the experience. No need to be intimidated if you know exactly where you’re going in the store – in this case, straight up the spiral staircase, past the £5000 puffer coats and to the £5 coffees and pastries. Afterwards, bookish aesthetes can wander to the window seats and peruse the Claire de Rouen-curated art, fashion and literature books, all part of creative director Pieter Mulier’s ambition for intellectual stimulation and cultural exchange.
What these environments do is make the place a destination for more than just shopping. Immersing yourself in a brand universe that feels genuine and is meaningfully executed, you’re lulled into a mood where you might want to buy something bigger, or at least feel a sense of belonging. As the luxury slowdown continues, this is the smart way to keep aspirational customers interested for when the tide eventually turns back in favour.
Visit Violet Cakes and Claire de Rouen at Alaïa, 139 New Bond Street, W1
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla IMAGES:Violet Cakes at Alaïa New Bond Street by Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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