Studio Nicholson standalone store pops up in Shoreditch

“I get off the plane in Japan and I’m some kind of superstar,” laughs Nick Wakeman, founder and creative director of London-based clothing line Studio Nicholson. “Everywhere else in the world, no one knows who I am. It is frustrating being the best-kept secret in east Asia.” Wakeman’s label generates 55 per cent of its turnover from sales in Japan and South Korea, selling womenswear and menswear collections to over 250 stores. This compared to a handful of London boutiques – such as Liberty, The Shop at Bluebird and Aimé – highlights something of an east-west imbalance. But the situation is about to change, as the label makes the move into standalone retail, starting with an “ephemeral store” or pop-up shop next to Ally Capellino on Calvert Avenue in Shoreditch, opening this week on Friday September 21.

Wakeman says she inherited her commercial insight from a businessman father and her creative talents from an interior designer mother: “The marriage of the two really set me up. Business and manufacturing is in my blood.” Recalling a childhood spent as the best-dressed kid in town, she continues, “I would sit with my mum after we’d been to the fabric shop. I’d do the pinning and she’d do the sewing. She made all of my clothes from day dot – double-breasted melton pea coats or Liberty-print jumpsuits.”

The pop-up store will offer three winter 2018 collections: pre-fall, autumn/winter womenswear and autumn/winter menswear. “This gives us a chance to tell our story, to inform on fit and fabrics,” Wakeman says. “It’s an opportunity to engage with our customers on a very personal level.” Admitting this is the culmination of an extremely busy year, she is positive about the future of the business, “It feels like this is our time, like we have the potential to become a global brand – and I’d really like that.”

An excerpt from An Article In The Financial Times, How To Spend It - by Alyson Walsh.