Carhartt WIP’s new store includes collaboration with Faye Toogood and LAW magazine

Carhartt WIP has opened a new retail space in the growing shopping metropolis of Kings Cross, London. The store’s opening saw the brand collaborate with a host of established and upcoming creatives, such as in-store design by Faye Toogood, as well as a publication and exhibition curated by LAW magazine.

The fourth Carhartt WIP store to open in London, the Kings Cross space “provides a conceptual look at Carhartt WIP’s roots in honest labour, exposing the inner mechanisms of many of the fixtures and utilising simple but hardwearing materials, ranging from raw concrete to duck brown canvas,” the brand explain.

Faye Toogood’s approach to designing spaces has consistently embraced the use of materials, providing reason for the chosen material as well as its aesthetic value. “The look and feel of the space is informed by the same ideals that led to Carhartt WIP being embraced by subcultures and style tribes on both sides of the Atlantic,” explains the brand. “Consequently, there is a focus on rugged utilitarianism with aggregate-concrete flooring and a ceiling which features serried banks of pendant lamps. Wall panels have been created in tough canvas and display units crafted from hardwearing materials in warm tones of deep brown and tan.” The space also includes movable units lending itself to being “an ever-changing retail environment”.

To coincide with the store opening, Carhartt enlisted LAW magazine to create a bespoke publication titled 2117. The publication coincides with the 100th anniversary of one of Carhartt’s most recognisable products, the Chore Coat. “Reflecting Carhartt WIP’s progressive values, this forward-facing magazine interrogates and examines the much-loved Chore Coat as a means of deciphering the needs of a generation 100 years in the future.”

Working with some of London’s respected designers such as Liam Hodges, Sadie Williams, Christopher Shannon and Jude Blame, each have interpreted the original coat in their own way answering questions like, “What will still matter, what will be rendered irrelevant?” and “Few items of clothing have had such enduring appeal — does it also hold the answer to what we’ll consider essential a century from now?”. Future predictions “from some of the main protagonists in London’s burgeoning rap and poetry scenes,” alongside custom artwork also feature within the publication, which was brought to life in an in-store exhibition upon the opening and film (below) directed by Leonn Ward.