Look beyond the busier areas of the city and head west for a collection of stores that all share the commonality of focusing on products that are well-made. If style inspiration is what you’re after, hop on a tube, bus or even e-scoot, to an area that offers everything, including the drinks and dinner debrief that often follows.
As a menswear writer I have the privilege of having conversations with designers about the product we see make it to the shop floor. Coincidentally, a few of those brands find themselves with a W1 postcode here in Portman Marylebone. As it happens, this was to be my third visit in as many weeks, but this time I had more than just menswear to tick off.
On a day where June sunshine really decided to go for it, I began my visit to Portman Marylebone under the awning of Shreeji Newsagents. The irony being that a month prior I was under the very same awning sheltering from a flash flood. Excellent rain deterrent aside, Shreeji is a good place to start and plot a course. It’s been on the street since 1982, yet recently underwent a facelift amid the pandemic in 2020 courtesy of Gabriel Chipperfield. Its coffee bar at the front cosies up to Shreeji’s fantastic magazine selection, supporting both well established and new titles. If you’re in no rush, which if you find yourself on this street you shouldn’t be, it’s an excellent place to people watch before heading to your next stop.
Chiltern Street will at its core continue to harbour excellent stores. Its curation, while mainly style orientated, shoots off into other complementary fields. One of which is one of its newer tenants, Niwaki. If the adage of gauging a first opinion of someone from their shoes can be adapted for storefronts, British gardening brand Niwaki certainly sets the bar high with its greenery display in the window. Home to all the functional Japanese tools you could possibly envisage for your back garden (or hanging baskets if you’re accustom to living in a flat sans green space), they are incredibly well designed (a common theme in this article) and lovely to look at. Snip, shear and saw away.
Hamilton+Hare is a brand that also made the most of our in-person shopping hiatus to provide the exterior with a lick of paint. Look out for the bright orange shopfront! Olivia Francis’ starting point for the brand was underwear, finding that it was an afterthought among men rather than something we considered. She set out to change this mindset using shirting grade cotton for their underwear to make sure it’s long-lasting and looks the part, because why shouldn’t it? Though the brand made its mark in underwear, they have now expanded into loungewear, sleepwear and other considered essentials.
Sunspel is a long-standing retailer of the area, and I myself seem to wear at least one Sunspel item each day and I’d recommend going in to see their collection in person to see what sets them apart from most. In a conversation with a friend while walking along the street, we remarked that those who have decided to position themselves here come across more as neighbours, than competitors. You pick that up from the regular waves and head nods, but even in business terms too. A couple doors down from Sunspel is Casely-Hayford and the two of them have launched a tailoring collaboration that I feel may have been birthed from a rather organic interaction between the two stores. And a couple doors in the other direction, perfumer Lyn Harris of Perfumer H. is the nose behind Sunspel’s fragrance line.
What I like about Chiltern Street is that it’s very reflective of how I like to dress, assimilating heritage brands with new. Next door to Perfumer H. is conscious eyewear brand MONC London. I say conscious because they are incredibly well considered when it comes to the way they make their frames and now that they have a store, the same applies. Talking to the brand’s designer, Ryan, everything has been carefully considered. Plinths made out of mycelium (mushroom), presentation trays out of recycled yoghurt pots and units from recycled consumer plastic.
Although I wasn’t able to visit other retailers on the street before walking to lunch such as Monocle and Trunk Clothiers, I did find myself in Atlas Gallery for the first time. It’s a small gallery space on the corner of Chiltern Street and Dorset Street where I was able to see the works of George Hoyningen-Huene. The fashion photographer’s work at Atlas is no longer showing, now exhibiting portraits of style muses from the 1920s to present day. Any excuse for trip number two.
Should this guide to Portman Marylebone feel very Chiltern Street centric, there are other places to mark down on your phone. A short walk towards Marble Arch you can find yourself very quickly on New Quebec Street and Seymour Place where options for food and drink are plentiful. First stop for me was The Italian Greyhound for drinks, again another establishment that took the chance to redecorate during the pandemic, and I have already been easily persuaded to come back thanks to General Manager Emma and the opposite table ordering a rather good looking burrata. Then we sauntered on down for a casual dining experience at The Portman on the corner of Upper Berkeley Street and Seymour Place for small plates which hit just the spot before taking our drinks outside and making the most of the outdoor seating.
With my afternoon coming to a close I’m reminded just how enjoyable in-person shopping is. It’s the combination of having conversations with staff members while getting a hand feel for the clothes to help you truly understand and appreciate what you’re bringing into your wardrobe and home. So next time you are shopping in the area, you might be able to start playing collaboration matchmaker with your favourite stores, but the chances are they have already begun talking about it.
