Hannah Blacklock opens up the pop-up phenomenon.
From a distance, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about a couple of jet black shipping container-esque blocks jutting out over the ever-changing, often architecturally pioneering, East London landscape. What sucked me in was the content of this pop-up space – and I’m not the only one.
Boxpark, Shoreditch, was the pioneer of pop-up. Founder and chief executive Roger Wade opened it in 2011, hoping to establish ‘a living, fertile community of brands packed with talent, innovation and attitude that puts creativity and fashion back where they belong: on the street.’
Since 2011, Boxpark has become something of a template for temporary shops, restaurants, galleries and bars which have popped up for business in disused warehouses, industrial cellars, even in people’s homes and gardens.
It currently houses established names such as Vagabond and Gap alongside quirky, kitsch shops such as the contemporary art hub, Tusch und Egon.
Tusch und Egon is a haven of eccentric and idiosyncratic paraphernalia – I dare you not to be enticed by it. I even spotted a miniature replica model of the owners of the shop for sale! In my eyes, these endearing and personal touches are why pop-up shops of this nature work so well. They offer something different from the uniform ‘high street’ which stretches across the country in a dumbshow of mind numbing repetition.
Urbanears has taken out a yearlong lease at Boxpark and their space is easily one of the most eye-catching of the parade! With white and mirrored walls, broken up by colourful, contrasting headphone displays, it is hard to miss! Urbanears fits in particularly well in its surroundings, with the Boxpark music stage just metres away and the always innovative East London music scene on its doorstep.
The appeal of pop-up is its urgency – the thought that, if you don’t look now, it might not be there tomorrow. Uncertainty as to how long any of it will last, makes it all the more alluring, sucking in casual passers-by as well as those who had planned to come and see.
Roger Wade intended Boxpark to be used over a four year span, so it may be nearing the end of its shelf-life. If you haven’t been there already, better not wait too long.
Boxpark retailers are encouraged to offer a 20% student discount (valid NUS card required.)
This is the first in a series on pop-ups in East London – highlighting the cream of the crop, and analysing the pop-up phenomenon in its commercial and cultural context.