Dalston karma at the Chameleon Café
What’s in store at LN-CC. Photo: Jon Dean
Lurking in the backstreets of Dalston and unbeknown to the uninitiated, the Late Night Chameleon Café is a concept store whose unique take on fashion has won fans all over the world and has placed it amongst London’s elite stockists.
Encompassing clothes, literature, music and photography, everything about the LN-CC has an air of unpretentious and thoughtful quality.
Seen by appointment only, visitors walk through an indoor forest and a beautifully constructed wood and Perspex tunnel into a series of themed rooms by pop-up set designer Gary Card.
Three of these house an impressive array of clothes, featuring designers unavailable anywhere else in Europe.
Aficionados will recognise names such as Balenciaga, Jil Sander and Rick Owen, among others, but LN-CC are also exclusive international stockists for London-based designer Tze Goh, and exclusive stockists in the UK for Japanese brands SASQUATCHfabrix, Name, Wacko Maria and G.V.G.V.
On the music side, there is a book and record store, packed with first editions and signed rarities and a club, with bespoke speakers and vintage equipment rarely seen outside of reggae dances.
The basement venue also features a full photography studio and the headquarters for LN-CC’s accompanying online retail site.
The idea for the 5,000 square foot installation sprang from the minds of creative director John Skelton, 29, and brand director Dan Mitchell, 25. Both have a solid background as fashion buyers and John numbers Selfridges, Harrods and oki-ni among his former employers.
They recruited their friends, PR director Charlotte Hall, 25, and store manager Mike Skelton, 26, and started work on the site in June 2010. The website launched in September the same year, closely followed by the store, which opened its doors on 18 November.
Although the gentrification of Hackney is well documented, Shacklewell Lane still seems an unusual location for an establishment that is making an impression on brands such as Prada and is “the talk of Italy”.
“We picked Hackney for the space we needed and the money we had, it was the best place to be, said Charlotte. “Because space is quite cheap and because of the history of the textile factories here, the designers moved in and the place has evolved from there.
“It has worked out perfectly,” added Mike. “The people who want these sort of brands are used to having to look for them and don’t mind travelling. It’s not like your average high street shop.”
Although it is easy to see the clothes as the main event, the group are keen that people view all the rooms as different facets of the LN-CC concept.
“The books are all sorted out by Conor Donlon, who has a shop on Broadway Market. It’s a real mixture of photography, fanzines and history stuff. He gets crazy stuff like signed first editions and we had some rare Andy Warhol in recently,” says Mike.
Sales online are brisk and despite being tucked away and relying mainly on word of mouth, there have seen a steady flow of customers through the LN-CC doors. “Sometimes they ask ‘why is it appointment only?’ But when they leave and they have had this experience, they tend to go ‘Okay, I kind of get it now’, said Mike. “We are just happy to be breaking down the barriers of fashion, get past the snootiness of it, because fashion is for everyone. Fashion is just whatever you are into.”