Kent & Curwen: from the Row to the Garden

Did the two of you always want a new store for Kent & Curwen?

Daniel Kearns: Yes absolutely. We've been working on the collection now for almost two years and to have bricks and mortar in the heart of Covent Garden in this kind of heritage building feels really good. I think it's great to see the collection hanging here.

How would you describe the store design?

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

David Beckham: It's about the attention to detail. And also, considering the times that we live in, it's important that we have a store that feels accessible and comfortable for people to walk into, so that they can shop and enjoy themselves and have a good experience. That's what we've tried to create with the architects. The outside of the store is so beautiful too – it's listed. It's really what we always hoped for.

DK: We worked hard on making sure the aesthetic of the store was right. We wanted something that really was a nod to the heritage of the building, to the area, and also to the brand. So, we're sitting in the part that is a homage to a school or university locker room, if you like – there's reclaimed oak panels mixed with the "salt shakers", as we call the hooks that you can hang clothes on. Everything feels a little raw – exposed brickwork and metal and brass – and there’s a light blue paint around the skylights that is the colour of Cambridge University. And the seats are upholstered in Fox Brothers woollen fabric, which is the same cloth that we use for our greatcoat.

DB: What's great about London is you have so many great buildings. When we saw the outside of this one, we wanted to keep the interior design fairly traditional because our brand has been around for many years – since 1926. We wanted architecture that would keep the authenticity that runs through the brand. It tells a story and that's what we're trying to do, we’re trying to tell the story, and keep the story going from 1926 up until the present day. We do that throughout the clothes, but also, we want to do that through the store design.

But even though it has traditional elements, it is not dark and old-fashioned, it’s light and modern. That makes it feel welcoming. Was that a conscious aim?

DB: Well, it's intimidating for a guy to walk into a store that is very fashion-driven. I think it can be very scary. We always said we didn't want people to feel intimidated when they walked into our store. You know, some stores are so beautiful that it's an experience just being there – with us, we wanted to create a mixture of the originality and authenticity of the building coupled with modern comfort and accessibility.

And Covent Garden was a place that could provide the right spirit?

DB: Yes, that's one of the reasons why we wanted to be here in this street – because we feel that that's the type of brand that we are. Daniel and I have been working as a team in Savile Row for the last year and a half, and we had a store there, but I think we are now not a traditional Row brand in terms of our design style. So, I think it was important that location-wise we picked the right place to reflect that. And I think that we are comfortable here.

DK: We spoke a lot about where the right location was – whether it should be Mayfair, or Soho, or Covent Garden. And then we came across this, which was an 1860s boys school, which immediately resonated with the brand DNA of Kent & Curwen, as it’s been making sporting clothes for schools and universities for years. And then there’s the fact that Covent Garden has always been a location for premium-level menswear. Paul Smith’s first ever London store was in this street, and he’s still here, and The Duffer of St George used to be down on Neal Street. When I first moved to London, this was the place that you’d come. So, it was quite an exciting idea to come back to this area.

And it reflects the more relaxed and sporty nature of the clothing, too?

DK: Absolutely. What is interesting is that Kent & Curwen never really was a ready-to-wear brand until the past 30 years. Before then everything was by commission – uniforms, essentially, for rowing clubs, or schools. We were talking about that this morning, because uniforms are key to all clubs – the bands that you're into, for example, that’s a uniform. Or it's your friends who you go biking with on the weekend… There are these worlds that you exist within where people adopt uniforms. It’s a very British thing – this idea that you can belong to a team in your style.

So, is this new store the Kent & Curwen clubhouse?

DK: It's like a club, but with open doors – we're accessible and inviting people to be part of this club.

Kent & Curwen, 11-12 Floral St, London WC2; kentandcurwen.com