When the secret reputation of Shoredtich in east London being an achingly cool, creative hub became mainstream, many fled further east. So it is no surprise that one of London's scrappiest areas, Dalston, is seeing rise to one of London's hottest new boutiques; LN-CC.
Stepping out from the virtual world into the real, a former boxing gym will soon become their highly polished, avant-garde concept store designed Gary Card. Commissioned by Creative Director John Skelton and partner Dan Mitchell, visitors will enter the store only to navigate themselves through a 'deconstructed' forest onto which they will end up in a wooden tunnel that represents 'the belly of a beast'. This adventure playground of retail is an interesting concept which Card has put an incredible amount of thought into, which reflects his creative thinking and artistic talent as a set designer.
The 6,000-square foot space, divided into seven different rooms, will have their own distinct atmosphere with a different tone and figurative temperature. With a mix of organic, industrial, warm and cold the main attraction of the store is the private club space which hosts a vintage sound system by Mickey Boyle - a name that is legendary within the club industry. However, another enticing feature will be a library with asymmetrical shelving that holds a diverse, rare and interesting titles often unseen in many other cities.
As for the fashion? They currently stock some of the biggest designers in the world such as Rick Owens, Raf Simons, Levi's and Vans, as well as some incredible new, young designers such as J W Anderson, Damir Doma and Mr. Olive. The selection is growing yet will see such pieces suspended on mannequins or just presented in an incredible space. It shall be hard not to be tempted to buy one piece, at least. But even if you don't it doesn't seem to bother LN-CC; "We don't care if you come here and don't actually buy anything - we are happy for you to take what ever you want from this, whether it be product, information or knowledge".
LN-CC is currently available online at ln-cc.com and the store will be open 'shortly'.
Words By Dan Hasby-Oliver
