Clerkenwell London opens as a multifaceted design destination

Milan has 10 Corso Como, Paris has Merci, Manhattan has the all-new Chamber. Now, finally, London has its own bona-fide design destination of note in the 10,000 sq ft shape of Clerkenwell London, a space (don’t call it a ‘concept store’) opening officially this month on Farringdon Road.
Combining eatery, bar, wine library, design gallery, furniture floor, event space, spa, tailoring boutique, gold-parqueted fashion space, perfumery, and jewellery rooms, Clerkenwell London’s remit is to showcase niche and established designers, creatives and artisans. Mixing contemporary and vintage hand-picked homewares, fashion, jewellery, stationery, art, music and literature, it’s a celebration of innovation and craftsmanship across many industries.
Clerkenwell London was originally founded and has been newly recreated by David J Brown – a trained tailor, classical pianist and fine-wine enthusiast who also happens to be co-founder and CEO of what is now Europe’s third-largest tech company, Ve Interactive. With an impressive team on the ground to continually and expertly curate the space, the aim is to make the most of the location and its resident talents as well as the heritage of the architects, watchmakers and other designers the area has historically attracted.
Within a warren of different rooms over two floors, much of what is available is specific to Clerkenwell London. The on-site perfumery, for example, features their own in-house brand, ‘Synesthesia’, and customers can create their own bespoke fragrance, candle or body product. The appointment-only personal tailoring service with an experienced in-house tailor offers bespoke and made-to-measure clothing, including their very own signature suit – the ‘Clerkenwell’.
Showcased designers hail from all over the world, however: the space stocks stationary from Akoto; blankets from Andreas Engesvik; ornamental glassware from Dechem; and geometric tableware from Ewelina Wisniosvka. In the neon-labelled Undressing Rooms, customers can try pieces by Stutterheim, Zoe Jordan and Hannibal.
The team behind the space have every intention of ensuring it is recognised as much more than a store or a restaurant, too. A busy calendar of events, workshops, tastings and classes include hands-on butchery, wellbeing sessions and scent-making master-classes.
The design space (don’t call it a ‘concept store’) combines eatery, bar, wine library, design gallery, furniture floor, event space, spa, tailoring boutique, gold-parqueted fashion space, perfumery, and jewellery rooms
The space's remit is to showcase niche and established designers, creatives and artisans
Clerkenwell London was originally founded and has been newly recreated by David J Brown – who also happens to be co-founder and CEO of the major European tech company Ve Interactive
The space stocks myriad international designers, from stationary by Akoto, to Bunad blankets from Andreas Engesvik and ornamental glassware from Dechem
Mixing contemporary and vintage hand-picked homewares, fashion, jewellery, stationery, art, music and literature...
... it’s a celebration of innovation and craftsmanship across many industries
With an impressive team on the ground to continually and expertly curate the space, the aim is to make the most of the location and its resident talents as well as the heritage of the creatives and architects the area has historically attracted
The space's 155 Bar and Kitchen is open and taking bookings now, testing recipes for the permanent menu
Across a warren of different rooms over two floors, much of what is available at is specific to Clerkenwell London – from an on-site perfumery to a personal tailoring service
ADDRESS
Clerkenwell London
155 Farringdon Road
London, EC1R 3AD
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Henrietta Thompson is a London-based writer, curator, and consultant specialising in design, art and interiors. A longstanding contributor and editor at Wallpaper*, she has spent over 20 years exploring the transformative power of creativity and design on the way we live. She is the author of several books including The Art of Timeless Spaces, and has worked with some of the world’s leading luxury brands, as well as curating major cultural initiatives and design showcases around the world.
-
What is the role of fragrance in contemporary culture, asks a new exhibition at 10 Corso Como
Milan concept store 10 Corso Como has partnered with London creative agency System Preferences to launch Olfactory Projections 01
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-up
Jack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictions
The studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
By Anna Solomon Published
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in London
Through use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
By Emily Steer Published
-
Discover Rotimi Fani-Kayode's fluid photographs of the queer male body, on show in London
‘Rotimi-Fani Kayode: The Studio – Staging Desire’ at Autograph ABP celebrates the work of the Nigerian-born photographer
By Upasana Das Published
-
Saatchi Gallery is in full bloom with floral works from Vivienne Westwood, Marimekko, Buccellati and more
‘Flowers – Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture’ at Saatchi Gallery, London, explores the relationship between creatives and their floral muses, and spans from fashion and jewellery to tattoos
By Tianna Williams Published
-
'I want to get into these images and perfume them': Linder's retrospective opens at the Hayward Gallery
'Linder: Danger Came Smiling' gathers fifty years of the artist's work at the Hayward Gallery. We meet the punk provocateur ahead of her first retrospective
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tasneem Sarkez's heady mix of kitsch, Arabic and Americana hits London
Artist Tasneem Sarkez draws on an eclectic range of references for her debut solo show, 'White-Knuckle' at Rose Easton
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
‘A call to action for more authentic expressions of working-class life’: a London show reframes working-class Britain
London exhibition ‘Lives Less Ordinary’, at Two Temple Place, challenges age-old stereotypes
By Teshome Douglas-Campbell Published
-
‘Dr Tetris’ on the biggest ever iteration of the puzzle in London
Tetris comes to 360-degree, 23,000 sq ft, 16k LED screens in London; Craig McLean speaks to Henk Rogers, the man who’s kept the game alive
By Craig McLean Published
-
Never-before-seen Barbara Hepworth works go on show in landmark exhibition
In ‘Barbara Hepworth: Strings’, various Hepworth sculptures will be exhibited in public for the first time, at Piano Nobile, London
By Anna Solomon Published