PCL - market research - who is out there in Leeds?

Marty and I thought it would be a good idea to go and see who else is out there in Leeds creating and designing clothes who already have their own shop spaces. It was quite a productive trip as we started on the Headrow and then Briggate and worked our way down towards the Corn Exchange.

Most of the major brands such as Topman, River Island and Levis wouldn't let us take any photos which we were expecting however Urban Outfitters let us take loads which was great because the shop is quite big and has lots of interesting things going on amongst the clothes.

We found that it was easier to get photos of the small branches and clothing stores which sort of helped really as we will be a small business ourselves. It was great to see that people are so willing to let others come in an document their stores because this is really good primary research for us.

These are some of the other smaller shops and boutiques we visited...


...MKI, Based in the Corn Exchange, has only been giong for two years but they have a very distinguished aesthetic. The store manager and owner of the business actually studied to be an interior design but fell into retail due to a lack of work in interiors. You can tell that his skills as a designer have been put to good use with the layout of the shop and the display cabinets. I particularly appreciate the lights above the counter made from ropes.

They have gone for a minimal approach to the displays in the shop which I think works really well, everything is quite neat and tidy almost like an exhibition. Talking to the store manager we learnt that they create the clothes through project based work, this never occurred to us but it sounds like a really interesting method to creating some of our own designs.

 ... BEST VINTAGE. This brand has really kicked off since it started, the clothes a very cool and trendy at the moment and incorporate a range of new styles and they even set a few trends themselves. These are ones to watch in the retail world. Whats more, they even do adjustments for your clothes so they are custom fitted. A lot of their clothes are short run or even one offs and speaking to a shop assistant some months back they said that most, if not all, their printing is done in their own warehouse (could be false information/ they might have changed from the warehouse)

... BLUE RINSE. This is a typical vintage shop, it's musty, it's muddled up and it's mayhem but it's great. The shop has real character and compared to the newer shops its like and old timer but that really goes with the vintage clothing. I got some interesting photos from this place, we probably wouldn't be doing anything like this but I do like all the artistic trinkets and thingamabob's they have lying around and on the walls.

... DIRTY GIRL. This is another boutique that specialises in menswear, It was by far the smallest and most scarce of all the shops we'd been too. The clothes all seemed to have different labels on them which lead me to think that the shop either buys in the labels or the labels ask to have their clothes in the shop and the shop gets a percentage of the sales.

The shop assistant, Nicole Leech, was very nice and she let us move stuff around to get some photos but really we just wanted to see what the set up was like. She also helped answer some questions about the shop and directed us to a few other places. This turned out to be quite a good visit as we explained thats we're studying graphics Nicole mentioned she was a jewellery designer so we swapped business cards and Marty may have even gotten some freelance editorial design work out of it. 

... POP BOUTIQUE. Pop is actually a chain of shops and most of the major cities have a store but nonetheless they let us have a nosey. Unfortunately the battery on my camera ran out at this point so we didn't get many photos and we had to call it a day.

... REDNECK CLOTHING. We didn't actually go into this shop but it's very similar to Blue Rinse in the content of the clothing and the set up. It's a very 'dig out the best bargains' kind of shop.

 Even though we had called it a day we thought we'd check out the new arcade on Briggate, It was mostly just empty shops but I knew of one place called The Allotment. Its a brand new shop on the upper floor of the arcade and like Dirty Girl and MKI it has utilised the minimalistic aesthetic. The clothes are very high end and trendy and the shop has artwork up on the walls.

On our way to the shop Marty and I actually bumped into the owner, Sol, who I met through my housemate and he invited us back to photograph the shop space when we have the time. He's a very friendly bloke and a successful businessman so it would be good to get some advice from him on the business side of our project.