Matches Fashion Moves East To Hackney Walk
By Something Curated
In January 2016, MatchesFashion announced the planned move of its head office from Clapham Common to the Shard in the second quarter of the year.
Just one month following, the company announced their signing on to London’s newest fashion hub, Hackney Walk, in the heart of the borough, just off Morning Lane on Chatham Place. Its official ‘topping out’ ceremony occurred in mid-March and was attended by Hackney’s mayor Jules Pipe, who observed the hub as “a clear ambition to create local opportunity” which “would build on Hackney’s proud tradition as the home of creativity and cutting-edge design.”
The project is backed by the developer Manhattan Lofts Corporation, who also have offered a statement praising the scheme’s intent to “help the local fashion industry to grow and thrive.” Naturally this has been a topic of contention, with many local residents and creatives including the fashion designer Katharine Hamnet voicing their concern with the development.
The centre is designed by architect David Adjaye and will employ 450 local people. In an effort to bridge the gap between luxury outlets and the local independent designers who work and sell in Hackney, the development will provide free commercial space for a selected young east London-based designer every year.
Its 12 retail units will also include a restaurant and bar by Alistair Maddox, the manager of Broadway Market, as well as an eatery from Chef Magnus Reid of C.R.E.A.M. in Shoreditch.
Hackney Walk has attracted a recent influx of established luxury names such as Anya Hindmarch, Burberry, Bally, and Aquascutum which opened nearby in 2013. Nike and Stone Island, other more recent brands to sign up there, have proven malleable in their location and target demographic, while Matches has so far settled in more conservative fashion destinations including Marylebone, Wimbledon, and Notting Hill. A move over to Hackney Central – and skipping over East London’s more traditional commercial centre, Shoreditch – is a bold move for Matches.