Verde & Co
Spitalfields swirls with people, honking traffic and the spirit of enterprise, punctuated by havens such as Verde & Co in Brushfield Street, where my cousin Julia and I recently enjoyed an iced coffee. Upon entering this entirely useful shop, amongst the jam and fresh peaches, we soon found Harvey attending to business – the business of being a shop keeper rooted in his community and taking the greatest care of his customers. Meeting Harvey was a fine start to our day and refreshed we rolled out, along the street and slipped in to Seam on Market Street, where Nina Davies sat serenely draping her mannequin in fabric. Her Enienay label clothes are reconstructed from fabrics that were once men’s suits, saris and silk ties. The colours and cut are inspirational.
Nina Davies of Enienay. Her pop up shop is Seam 14 -16 Market Street Spitalfields, London, E1
Standing on the door step of his Artillery Lane shop, Mr Alexander Boyd, tailor and manufacturer of incredible gentlemen’s clothing, spoke in earnest about the business of cutting cloth and running a factory. Sadly he was in the process of closing down his business which first opened in 1913, however his factory is to be sold to another UK company, so jobs will hopefully stay. Mr Boyd has promised to write a book – one we‘ll be reading with great interest as ‘hands on’ knowledge is the most valuable and could help independent businesses to overcome problems and thrive.
Justin Deakin’s shoes were also a great find, made to last around a century given the quality of the workmanship, stylish to boot and for sale in their very cool shop at 22 Hanbury Street where even the carbon footprint of the upcycled furniture has been considered.
On Saturday afternoon we hosted a party for the newly launched MULTEMYR fashion label. It was a great success and busy women appreciated being able to nip out and buy stunning, beautifully made ethical clothing on their doorstep, enjoy a glass of wine, learn about the MULTEMYR supply chain and eventually leave, having made new friends and looking very glamorous.
Natural, elegant and ethical clothes from MULTEMYR, London.
We’ll be continuing our Blue Patch investigations criss – crossing the country and soon enough we’ll be featuring our discoveries in the Blue Patch directory, which is being loaded up with our wonderful guinea pig businesses – not long now………
