STYLE & DESIGN
Originally published on Monday, 28 July 2008
Inconspicuous Consumption
Personal shopping. Louis Vuitton luggage. Private jets to Necker Island. It’s all a little hideous. As Sir Max Mosley would surely tell you, it’s all about inconspicuous consumption these days.
Say hello to the soft sellers. So on target that they don’t need a name. So inviting that you feel like you’re visiting a friend.
Those arbiters of style, Les Trois Garcons, have had the secret interiors shop, Saffire, squirreled away behind Loungelover for aeons now. A dusty, scratched no-name exterior veils Hassan’s hidden gems. Yours by appointment only, of course.
Grand designer Felicity Loudon’s Oxfordshire country house and Lennox Gardens pied-a-terre are bona fide living shops where you’re greeted by Lourdon herself and offered homemade cordial and Florentines on arrival. Fully decked-out working residences, you’ll need an invitation (not to mention an appointment) to shop here - everything in the apartment and house is for sale.
However, my inner-child personal favourite is the Gepetto-esque toyshop in Gospel Oak. With no signage on the frontage and hidden amid an unassuming parade of shops, it’s run by a septuagenarian who spins yarns to children and adults alike as she crafts the exquisite, tiny doll’s house curiosities in front of your very eyes.
Living museums in which to step beyond yourself, and not a chippy salesgirl or harping exec in sight. I, for one, am most definitely sold.
Living museums in which to step beyond yourself, and not a chippy salesgirl or harping exec in sight. I, for one, am most definitely sold.
Felicity Lourden’s Private House - The Private House 45 Redchurch Street, Tel: 7012 1234;
Mrs Baybar’s toyshop, 7 Mansfield Road, opposite Gospel Oak Station, tel: 020 7267 0934.