For those of you that come to our Lambs Conduit Store you will know Ruariadh whose been a regular in the shop for years now.

Now, as many of you will also know, ruariadh’s main job is as an actor/director and he’s off to the Edinburgh Festival again this year with another one man show.

Now this is not a cheap event to do and he’s looking to raise some money via a Kickstarter campaign. Take a look and, on behalf of ruariadh, please help if you can! Click the image above to be taken to the Kickstarter campaign.

Based on the top two floors of a 1930s industrial building on the edge of Clerkenwell, the Fourth Floor is a quietly brilliant hairdressing studio that likes doing things a bit differently. With no obvious shop front, the independent salon is accessed via an old goods lift, leading on to a bright, modern space with an incredible view of the city’s skyline. Owner Richard Stepney started the business back in 1990, when this part of town wasn’t quite the creative hub it is today. ‘Funnily enough I don’t think the overall area has changed that much, Richard explains when we visit him in the salon. ‘Bits of it have, like Clerkenwell, Shoreditch and Lambs Conduit Street but right around here it has still got that sort of no man’s land feel to it, which is nice. I think people still have to know about the Fourth Floor to come here.’

The people who do find their way up there (mostly by word-of-mouth) not only get a great cut and/or colour, but also get to enjoy the really rather lovely space, carefully put together by Richard over the years. There was never really a master plan to design it in a certain way. The original interior was created with the help from Tom Dixon (he used to have his studio on the ground floor) who provided most of the mirrors, custom shelving and the lighting design. The place then just changed organically over the years, with Richard regularly adding new pieces of art by the likes of Peter Liversidge and Stephanie Bergman, who also happen to be clients. ‘I can’t wait for a new piece of work I’m getting from a brilliant artist called Sophie Smallhorn, who is so clever with colour. She’s done this installation with thousands of coloured discs that will hang from the ceiling and I know that is something people will really enjoy and pick up on. For me that’s more important than redesigning or revamping the whole room.’

Richard started hairdressing straight from school. It was that classic thing of growing up just outside of London but feeling quite out of it at the same time. ‘Back then hairdressing was one of the things you could do to get involved in a creative business,’ he says. ‘So I came to London and started an apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon. They had this big salon on Bond Street and that was almost entirely the appeal. It was more about being in town and being somewhere like that. That was in 1976. I know I sound like an old man but it was a great time, because in London that was Punk and hairdressing at that time was really part of it.’

After Sassoon and a couple of shared ventures in basements of shops, Richard got the opportunity to set up his own salon when he found the current space on Northington Street. The building, built in 1934, was originally a factory that made cinema projectors. Remnants of a once fully functioning screening room can apparently still be found in the basement and a corner of the salon still has the old tiles from when it was used as a spray room. ‘It’s that type of 1930s architecture that there’s not that much of and people really like it,’ Richard explains. ‘I really like it. It’s an old building with crumbling bits and bits that are worn out. There are lots of imperfections but for me that means it’s quite a welcoming place at the same time. I think if something is too perfect, it’s kind of intimidating. None of us have perfect homes and shiny shoes all the time. This is more human.’

The Fourth Floor isn’t the kind of place that would ever advertise or shout about its existence. It was all pretty much built up on word-of-mouth recommendations, which to this day is still the main way to get new clients. It suits Richard but he explains: ‘It does mean that when new stylists come here, it takes a lot longer to establish themselves. But once you do, you get the right type of people in who are going to like what we do and are therefore much more likely to come back.’ It also means that most of the staff (a small team of eight hairdressers with a couple of assistants) have all been there for a long time. ‘To have people stay, to have that stability is really important to me, it creates a much more relaxed environment. Which is nice for my clients as well.’

As if running the day-to-day business of the salon isn’t already enough, Richard likes to have his projects on the side. ‘It’s great working in a building like this and having to work on it and think about it,’ he says. ‘But having been here all this time, it’s important to have other things as well.’ About ten years ago he developed a bespoke line of hair products in close relationship with Italian chemist Corpolibero, who use centuries-old grooming formulas originally developed by Italian monks. ‘That whole process of finding formulas and working with a chemist all the way through to developing the packaging, was really fantastic. But it’s a long old process and I was just really lucky to find someone who was happy to do that with me, for such a relatively small project.’

To mark the 20-year anniversary of the salon, Richard decided to publish a clothbound book as a thank you for all his loyal customers (‘It was either that or a party. And I really didn’t want to have a party’). The book was a collaboration with his favourite design company North and featured interviews, designs and recipes from regular clients such as Jon Snow, Tom Dixon and Nigel Slater. ‘The nice thing about a book is that it goes on a shelf and isn’t in anyone’s way, you don’t throw it away. I just love that it is out there and people find it, pick it up and have a flick through.’

The latest project has been the Fourth Floor Corner Shop. For two months at the end of last year, the reception area of the salon was transformed into a temporarily shop showcasing a selection of goods from local businesses like Folk, Darkroom and Timothy Everest. The idea was to be part of the local community a bit more and getting to know the people behind other independent stores in the area and especially on Lambs Conduit Street. ‘The result was brilliant,’ Richard says. ‘I was thrilled to bits with it. The shop made it possible for people to come up and have a little look and see what we’re all about. But at the same time it was amazing how many of my customers said how they’d always meant to go to these places but never got round to it even though it’s right around the corner.’

So pleased with the result, Richard has now decided to make it a recurring event. ‘I like the idea of it developing and for it not to be the same thing every year. So the first one was all about the local community and for next time I’d like to do it slightly more curated and maybe commission more things from individuals. But I still have to think of a theme for this year, I haven’t got one yet!

4 Northington Street, WC1N 2JG, 02074056011, www.4thfloor.co.uk

For this week’s entry, we ventured a little further afield, just around the corner from our home on Lambs Conduit Street. Førest London on Clerkenwell Road is a mid-century furniture shop specializing in Scandinavian and Northern European design. Apart from the most beautiful, often reupholstered, furniture pieces, the store also sells vintage lighting, rare home ware finds and showcases collaborations with print designers such as Tamasyn Gambell and Holly May.

Førest London was set up by 26-year old Eva Coppens a year ago this April. Before that, the Dutch London College of Fashion graduate had already completed a successful stint with her pop-up boutique Lulu Bright, a couple of doors down from her current space. ‘I was still in my last year at college in 2010 when I went home to Amsterdam for the summer,’ Eva explains whilst showing us around the store. ‘Friends of my parents have a big warehouse full of mid-century furniture. When I visited, I was immediately attracted to all the Scandinavian designers. There is something about the minimalism and simplicity that I really love.’

It gave Eva the idea for a new business. At the time Camden Council had a pop-up scheme, giving young designers and entrepreneurs the opportunity to borrow an empty shop for a couple of weeks. ‘I applied and they ended up offering me this enormous space. I had no idea how I was going to fill it!’ She’d saved up for a truckload full of furniture from the Dutch warehouse and managed to sell everything in just the first three days. ‘So I went back to Amsterdam and got another load that also sold right away. That’s when I realised I was onto something and I was also really enjoying it.’

Whilst writing her final thesis for her Fashion Marketing degree, a second pop-up followed, this time in Hampstead. It went well, but it made Eva realise she wanted a permanent space in the area around Clerkenwell. ‘I just prefer it around here. There are so many other independent stores, lots of people who work in the creative industry, there is such a nice atmosphere.’

When she first got the space where she is now, it was in a horrible state. After some dodgy builders scammed her out of her £2500 deposit, Eva ended up having to do the refurbishment pretty much by herself. ‘It was a bit rubbish at first,’ Eva admits. ‘There I was, with tea and biscuits at the ready. After four hours it was quite obvious they weren’t going to come.’

In the end it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It meant she had to do everything herself on a shoestring budget. Her sister came over from Holland to help out and bit-by-bit Eva discovered what worked best for the space. ‘I might not have thought of some of the solutions I came up with otherwise. The banister for example is made from a branch of a birch tree that my parents found at home in the woods. They sent it on the transport that was coming over just in case I could use it for something and it happened to be the perfect length.’

The first seven months Eva did everything herself. It meant working seven days a week; with six days spent on the shop floor and Sundays with her upholsterer. She even did all deliveries herself, often not finishing work until 11 o’clock at night. ‘Yeah that was kind of tough,’ Eva remembers. ‘Luckily I now have this wonderful girl who helps me out photographing everything and I’m in the process of maybe taking on two other people as well. But it was good being alone on the shop floor for those first few months. It teaches you all about what sells well and who your customers are.’

Eva gets most of her stock from Denmark (where she goes on buying trips about every two months to visit her regular dealers) and some bits and pieces from the Netherlands (think of lesser known names as Braakman, Bovenkamp and Gispen). ‘I think people are getting more and more interested in Dutch design, which is obviously something I would really like to be able to represent.’

As for her own place? Surely that’s where all the best bits are to be found? ‘Ha! I have a couple now,’ laughs Eva. ‘They are usually the pieces that need a little bit more work though. I can just fall in love with something that might not be completely up to standard for the shop. But I don’t mind it when the leather is a bit worn out or a button is missing. I know that in time I can easily have this fixed by my upholsterer. At first I was really strict in letting everything go to the business. You have to when you are just starting out. Now I’ve got a couple of things for myself that actually weren’t very expensive. Well, not all of them anyways!’

115 Clerkenwell Rd, EC1R 5BY, 07 535 637 731, www.forestlondon.com

We’ve got some great stockists worldwide that we are delighted to be in, some of the best stores in the world including Isetan in Japan, Merci in Paris and Liberty in London, but although we sit comfortably in these stores sometimes we walk into a place and know Folk couldn’t find a better home.

This feeling came over us when we walked into Goose Barnacle in Brooklyn Heights in New York. After walking round most of the stores over a couple of days we were slightly disappointed by the level of “sameness” that we found. There’s only so many times you can hear shop assistant’s say  ”how are you today?” in a commission driven kind of way so we were delighted that we searched out the oasis that is Goose Barnacle.  Goose Barnacle is an old school store where the owner is the buyer, shop manager, store designer, art curator and chief bottle washer. That person is David Alperin.  After we spent some time soaking in the store we introduced ourselves to David who explained what his vision for the store was. David is a fashion purist and he has searched out an eclectic mix of brands that ensures that he’s not stocking the same as the barney’s and steven alan’s that are up the road. “Fashion” pieces from Henrik Vibskov and Etudes combine with “safer” pieces from  Melinda Gloss and Svensson to create an environment that feels like you are discovering, a sensation that is difficult to find in these internet days.

Goose Barnacle was established  in 2010. The name came from David’s ancestral home, La Coruna, in Northern Spain where the shellfish is a delicacy.   The building on his logo is the Roman tower of Hercules at the port. The store itself is simple with some great touches, there is always artwork on the walls (he’s onto his ninth art exhibition) and interesting bits of furniture, my favourite being the old phone boxes that he had salvaged from his grandmother’s diner at the top of the road (another story for another day). Like David, the store is welcoming without pretensions, a home from home and definitely worth a visit if you find yourself stateside.

Goose Barnacle
91 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn
NY
11201

goosebarnacle.com

John and Paul Dawson are the owners of independent flower shop Dawson, a couple of doors down from Folk. It’s where we get all our flowers for the women’s shop and they also did the flowers for the first Folk wedding. So we caught up with the lovely Paul, or The Hoff as he’s known on the street (he likes wearing his red shorts whenever the sun is out), to talk about business and blooms.

‘We have known each other since we were about sixteen,’ Paul explains over a cup of tea at the back of the shop. ‘I did an apprenticeship for three years in a big flower shop by St Paul’s Cathedral. John’s dad was the director of that company, so that’s where we met. People always think we’re brothers and we do mess them about a bit, but we’re not. We just happen to share the same surname.’

Both come from a family of florists. Their dad’s were florists and so was Paul’s granddad, so it only made sense that the Dawson boys would follow in their footsteps. Although Paul dabbled in a bit of hairdressing at a young age (‘I have done all the manly jobs! I guess I just like working with women’) he wanted to own his own business and set up his first flower shop at the tender age of nineteen.

With Paul and John mostly out on the road, it’s the lovely Tasha, Katie, Daniella, Charlotte and Corinne in charge of the shop. And with spring finally on its way, there’s a whole array of pretty blooms on offer. Whether it’s tulips, anemones, sweet peas, hydrangeas or peonies (the last two being Tasha’s favourites), the girls will transform absolutely anything into the most beautiful bouquets.

43 Lamb’s Conduit St, WC1N 3NG, 020 7404 6893, www.dawsonflowers.net

Pics from the store….

Pics from the night….

One of our favourite independent shops on the street has to be Darkroom, a concept store selling both fashion and interior design accessories just across the road from the Folk shops. Set up almost three years ago by lovely Rhonda Drakeford and Lulu Roper-Caldbeck, it has fast become a popular Lambs Conduit Street destination. We had a chat with Rhonda, who explained the idea behind the store and why they’re so happy to be on the street.

‘Concept store. It’s such a horrible term,’ says Rhonda. ‘It’s kind of what we’ve been branded with, but there’s actually a lot we’re trying to explore here.’ The girls describe their handpicked mix of accessories for men, women and the home as ‘an exploration of the crossover world between interiors and fashion and the juxtaposition of materials, scale and form.’ This results in carefully selected items such as interior products in unusual materials (the knitted poufs are a bestseller), indigenous African art that is put into a new context and statement jewellery by emerging designers and traditional, unknown craftsmen. Darkroom’s overall aesthetic is quite bold and graphic and really rather boyish considering these are two girls here running the space. ‘We have this kind of rule; no frills and no sparkles,’ explains Rhonda. ‘I guess it’s quite hard edged but we like to contrast that with really beautiful soft knits and textures, but always in a bold way with a strong colour or pattern.’

The two have been friends for more than 16 years and come from different creative backgrounds; Rhonda is one-half of design consultancy Multistorey and Lulu worked in fashion for designers as Camilla Staerck and Paul Smith. Rhonda had already been producing her own range of cushions with vintage African fabrics (which sold really well in Liberty and quite a few other places) when she collaborated on a textiles project with Lulu about five years ago. From there the idea to set up their own shop developed. ‘The plan was to start out really small,’ Rhonda recalls. ‘We were seeing it as more of a part-time thing and looked at some places on Colombia Road. But after about six months we were really getting into the idea of having a retail space. We had been casually looking for a small little place, when I was down here having lunch and saw the sign for this spot. It’s such a good location so we just decided to go for it.’

As most retailers on Lambs Conduit Street, the girls really appreciate the strong community feel of the area and the appreciation for small independents. Rhonda: ‘It’s so nice to be able to recommend your neighbours because everyone is doing something so different; we all complement each other in some sort of way. I think it works really well and it is mutually beneficial.’

The fact that the street also looks really pretty is an added bonus. ‘It’s just such a pleasant place to be,’ Rhonda agrees. ‘As much as I love areas like Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, the studios I’ve had there in the past were just really grim. I’m so happy to be on a nice street that is semi-pedestrianised and has trees. The fact that it’s not a place that is overly busy is also a good thing; our shop doesn’t work when there are too many people in. You need a little bit of space to walk around and take it all in, so we can cope with the level of traffic we have here. There is just nowhere else in London I’d rather be, I really like it here.’

Apart from concentrating on the online side of the business as well as developing their own range of products (from printed cushions to hand-painted plates, mirrors, blankets and knitted accessories) the girls organise themed exhibitions in the shop. After their Stolen from The Stijl project, Pagan season and T-R-I-B-A-L-A-L-A pop-tribal installation, we can’t wait to see what they will come up with next. Then there are dreams of expanding the shop with a café. ‘Just a bigger version of what we’ve got now,’ explains Rhonda. ‘But with a kitchen. We’d love to do kitchenware but it would be a bit weird to sell forks next to a handbag. A bigger space would be able to cope with that. It’s just a dream at the moment but it would be really nice.’

52 Lamb’s Conduit Street, WC1N 3LL, 020 7831 7244, www.darkroomlondon.com

Come by our Brick Lane store on thursday evening to view our latest instalment by photographer Jamie Stoker . Click here to view more of his work.

Some of our lovely Folk boys (you know who you are) are very serious about their caffeine fix and spend far too much time in The Espresso Room; Ben Townsend’s tiny independent coffee shop just around the corner from Lambs Conduit Street. To be fair, he does make the best cup of coffee in Bloomsbury, so we popped in to question him about all things coffee and his love for the area.

Living up to its name, the shop really is just the size of a room, cleverly decorated with functional furniture and high ceilings that make the place feel far more spacious than it actually is. In here Ben and his friendly team work their magic on a Synesso espresso machine (apparently it’s one of the best), using locally roasted beans from the Square Mile Coffee Roasters or Has Bean, preparing each cup of coffee with the utmost dedication.

Ben discovered his love for coffee when he was living in Australia, a country with a strong coffee-appreciating culture. ‘Before that I didn’t even really drink it,’ he explains. ‘I was always interested in food and wine but not coffee. I did this one-day Barista course, and that was it, I got the bug. I just had this moment of clarity, you know when you’re just walking down the street and it just came to me.’

Having decided that coffee was his calling, he then worked at Maltitude – one of Melbourne’s finest coffee shops – and trained as a Barista before returning to London with the idea for a business. So when the small shoebox of a space came up on Great Ormond Street, Ben jumped at it. He had always loved Lambs Conduit Street and independent shops like Folk and felt that being just around the corner, he’d still be close enough to be part of that community.

The Espresso Room’s customers are a mixed bag of Folk friends, local residents, people who work in the area, proper coffee aficionados as well as staff and visitors from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children across the road. Ben: ‘We get this incredibly interesting cross-section of people. We play this game where you can get any scientific, cultural or geographical question answered, because someone coming in will have that as their speciality. It is just amazing.’

So what is Ben’s idea of the perfect cup of coffee? ‘Oh, that is so difficult to say because it changes all the time. But it has to be the best of whatever it can be; sometimes really light, sometimes heavy, sometimes with milk, sometimes without, sometimes brewed, sometimes espresso. I guess what I look for in everything is interesting quality and that certainly goes for my coffee as well.’

Thanks so much for chatting to us Ben.

Go visit him and the team at -
The Espresso Room, 31-35 Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3HZ

www.theespressoroom.com

All that gets thrown out of the window when you get the King wearing a few bits of Folk.   Now we’re not talking Elvis, Henry or even Kong.   There is only one true King, Eric Cantona, probably one of the coolest blokes on the planet, looking great in our rib roll neck and a pair of our slim pants.   Seen here in Kronenburg‘s new ad.