JD Tagle reports on the rise of independent fashion.
‘The bigger brands will always be there. But we wanted to do something different, something that would change people’s perceptions.’
Jayde Yankey (19) and her business partner Samantha Appiah (19) are the co-creators of fledgling fashion company Chikaku, (ちかく) which means ‘perception’ in hiragana Japanese.
Representing the new movement away from mainstream brands, Jayde and Samantha see East London ‘as a great place to market because people are more open to new things.’
East London is now home to a new collection of micro-fashion houses, selling their work online and in local pop-ups which stock unique items that you won’t find at your mainstream retailer. Look for new names such as APC, Article, Aida, Goodhood, Hub, HUH, LN-CC, No-one, Start and YMC.
Hasina Hoque (19), founder of StreetForma fashion blog, explained the attraction of the new independents: ‘mainstream clothing is accessible yet almost lazy and everyone can have it, whereas independent brands require more effort and they are harder to find. Only a handful of us will bother to look….and that’s why it’s fun.’
