Browns opens in Shoreditch as area's transformation continues

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 16, 2017

The transformation of Shoreditch is continuing with high-end store Browns opening a new east London branch there. Browns East has opened at 21 Club Row.

It’s been almost two years in the making with the retailer moving into the space once occupied by Sonos Studio that, at first glance from the outside, doesn’t look like a custom-made retail location. 

With the company describing it as “the coolest new space you’ll step foot in this side of the moon,” it does offer extensive square footage that’s much more open plan than its original South Molton Street store. And it has a mix of the big-name labels we’ve come to expect from Browns as well as newer names.

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The company is backing the opening with initiatives such as the Ksubi x Travis Scott collection that is is a world exclusive at the new store. 

It’s the biggest opening for the brand, which is now owned by e-tailer Farfetch, in two decades and follows the company’s expansion onto Sloane Street as well as the growth of its original 1970s store in London’s West End.

It’s also a major move given that Shoreditch is a world away from the traditionally luxury-focused environs of the West End and Knightsbridge.

Shoreditch, where Amazon chose to open its giant fashion studio, mixes a more up-and-coming designer profile with still-noticeable elements of downmarket east London as it was until relatively recently.

But the choice of Club Row really underlines the extent of the area’s transformation. The street was formerly London’s main live animal market where people could buy dogs, cats, birds and even lion cubs. As recently as the 1970s it was the place poor Londoners would go to buy their pets and had a notorious reputation.