THE DRG STYLE INDEX: AND OTHER STORIES, HARDY AMIES, MAISON ASSOULINE LONDON
Here’s the latest weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranking, a round-up of the brands currently buzzing on my radar…
1. AND OTHER STORIES LAUNCHES FRAGRANCE
& Other Stories just gets everything right. It launched its first US store in New York last month to rave reviews and last week entered the fragrance market. There are four eau de toilettes (£26): Moroccan Tea, Punk Bouquet, Fig Fiction and Botanic Whisper. The packaging has a whiff of Maison Martin Margiela about it, with the apothecary bottles and utilitarian white labels. It feels quite niche too, both in the branding and in the fragrances themselves. Moroccan Tea is my favourite, a subtle, comforting blend of cedarwood and musk that has great longevity for an EDT. Buy it here…
2.HARDY AMIES, THE CONTEMPORARY STORE
I’ve paid zero attention to Hardy Amies lately so I was interested to discover its fairly new Savile Row ready-to wear-store. Design director Mehmet Ali has married his tailoring and casualwear with an edit of British goods that have been selected with the help of Steve Davies (ex-Present). It works beautifully. The store is extremely browsable with a mix of price points (D.R Harris colognes are a good entry point) and as you linger over the posh magazines and Brooks cycle saddles, you’ll probably get offered a beer, ensuring you linger a little longer. Some might think it’s too modern a concept for Savile Row, but I think it’s a perfect blend of old and new.
3. MAISON ASSOULINE ARRIVES IN PICCADILLY
All my bibliophile dreams just came true – Assouline has opened a flagship ‘Maison’ on Piccadilly with its very own cafe/bar. The building itself is stunning, designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1922 and formerly a Hauser & Werth gallery. (Architecture geeks will be interested to know that the building is an exact cube at 42 ft each way.) I love Assouline books and its whole luxury retail experience. I had a quick look on Friday and think it could do with a few more books at browsing height as a lot are on high up shelves. But the café is lovely as are the extra lifestyle accessories (scented candles, letter openers, photo frames…). Make sure you go up to the mezzanine to check out the building, and the top floor to see the antique objets.
WORDS: Navaz Batliwalla/Disneyrollergirl
IMAGES: & Other Stories; Navaz Batliwalla/Disneyrollergirl
