Fashion victims: supermarket development forces out Androulla Toumaza Fashion House

Fashion victims: Androulla (left) and her mother, Helene, of Androulla Toumaza Fashion House, 195 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 (Picture credit: Thomas Stewart).

A fashion designer who has worked in Hackney for more than three decades is being forced to quit her Stoke Newington base because of the controversial new Sainsbury’s development.

Androulla Toumazos was born and raised in Stoke Newington and runs Androulla Toumaza Fashion House, an independent family-run shop and dressmaking workshop specialising in women’s 1950s-style clothing.

The business is based at 195 Stoke Newington High Street but is set to close late this month.

Its landlord Newmark Properties LLP is forcing it out to make way for the supermarket and housing development it plans to build at Wilmer Place.

Ms Toumazos said: “I was in a really dark place when we were first given notice. We’ve got a loyal customer base in Stoke Newington and I spent years building it up.

“We’re a rare and unique business. It’s not often you see a designer who runs their own shop on the high street and brings out their own collections.

“These clothes are not made in China but here in Stoke Newington. People can see their clothes being made on the premises.”

She added: “It’s sad to see what’s happening to the high street. Small shops are shutting and chains are moving in because they are the only ones that can afford the rent and business rates.”

Ms Toumazos said she received compensation from Newmark Properties but claims it is not enough.

A spokesperson for Newmark Properties did not reply to a request for a comment.

Ms Toumazos said sky-high business rates mean she has no choice but to leave Hackney.

She is now looking for a new home for her business.

A former pupil at Fleetwood Primary School who graduated from the London College of Fashion in the 1980s, Ms Toumazos’s family is originally from Cyprus.

Her mother Helene, 83, has been “sewing for 60 years” and helps make clothes for the business.

She said: “What do they want another supermarket for? We’ve already got so many. The shop was like my own home.

“It’s the money talking, so there’s nothing we can do.”

The Hackney Citizen has asked Hackney Council whether they can help Ms Toumazos to find new premises in the soon-to-be-built Morning Lane Fashion Hub.

Ms Toumazos is advising her customers to keep checking her shop’s Facebook page for updates.

Hackney Council granted Newmark Properties permission to build its Wilmer Place development last year despite a long campaign of opposition by protest group Stokey Local.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles has refused to ‘call in’ the decision and take it out of the council’s hands despite calls for him to do so.

A High Court decision on a judicial review challenging the council’s decision to approve Newmark Properties’ plans is expected late this month.