Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
It's become a bit of a trend for big cities to open "pop-up" beaches during the Summer months. In Paris, tonnes of sand and parasols are shipped in to line the banks of the Seine so that city dwellers can get some seaside vibes without having to venture beyond the
banlieues. This whole thing feels rather odd because it's just so incredibly false- there's no running into the salty waves or long strolls down the sand to find some rocks to climb on. Just a Metro station a stone's throw from your deck chair. There is, however, a pop-up beach in London this summer which is blissfully sand free, full of fashion and all the better for it.
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| Skating in the pool in Dogtown and the Z-Boys (image via sonymoviechannel.com) |
Last night, Yasmin Sewell launched her brilliant concept Beach in the East which is a temporary retail space housed in a reconstructed old swimming pool. The
Dogtown and the Z-boys inspired space (the guys in the film skate in an old swimming pool) is
filled with an expertly curated selection of affordable collectible designer items, many of them exclusive and with nothing costing more than £300. Think sandals by Sophia Webster and Ancient Greek Sandals, bags by Reece Hudson and t-shirts by Cecile and The Print Dept. Cleverly, this isn't just a selection of nice but largely unrelated items, but everything adds up to the perfect outfit for the skater trend which is so key in fashion right now. You could feasibly pop to Beach in the East and get pretty much everything you needed for a long weekend hanging out by the beach in Miami or LA; tie-dyed denim culottes, slogan t-shirt, palm print sandals, customised denim jacket and wacky sunglasses.
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| The Changing Rooms |
It's perfectly understandable that if you're reading this in Sydney, or even Cornwall, you might be wailing "I totally have a place to wear all this awesome sounding stuff to, but there's no way I can get to East London". No problem because everything from Beach in the East is also on FarFetch.com as of yesterday. So you might miss out on seeing printed tote bags merchandised on a pool ladder, or trying on dungarees in a specially graffitied changing room but you can still get your hands on everything in the shop. Genius. Top of my own personal shopping list are the Thomas Tait sunglasses, the Sophia Webster sandals and a Joe Duke jacket. Don't forget your skateboard.
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| Sophia Webster sandals |
Beach in the East is open until the 24th August and also
available on FarFetch.com Open: Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm. Closed Sunday
Address: Lower Ground G, 123 Clifton St, EC2A 4LD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7729 9620
