Last month I wrote an article for the Leeds Loves Shopping guidebook. For those of you who have not seen the piece, here it is:
Leeds’ independent and vintage shopping scene is undergoing something of a resurgence at the moment and it all adds to the fantastic mix and variety this city has to offer.
I witnessed this first-hand during the ‘Leeds in Barcelona’ project earlier this year.
We invited some of the most influential bloggers, trend researchers and cool hunters from Barcelona to see Leeds and discover for themselves what the city has to offer. Despite being greatly impressed by Leeds’ high-profile attractions such as the Victoria Quarter and Harvey Nichols, our visitors focused more on the ‘underground’ aspect of Leeds including Kirkgate Market, our many vintage stores and our independent designers. Those that came under the spotlight included Blue Rinse, Best Vintage, American Vintage in the city centre and Vintage Wardrobe in Headingley.
That this focus came via some of Europe’s most prominent bloggers and trend hunters, sends a clear message that Leeds has an ‘underground’ that could attract international interest and admiration. We have some really interesting designers, stores and venues in the city and should be proud of them.
Nicole from Vintage Wardrobe said of the visit: “The Barcelona project gave independent shop owners, such as myself, amazing opportunities to network with like minded people from all over Europe. The project opened doors to a fascinating vibrant international vintage scene.
"Leeds is becoming renowned for its vintage scene due to the thriving student population. There are an abundance of excellent vintage shops in the city, each with their own unique style and character. This variety makes Leeds a haven for vintage lovers of all ages!"
During the ‘Leeds in Barcelona’ project we held photo-shoot featuring Leeds designers and models but styled and managed by our guests from Barcelona. We held the photo-shoot at the amazing Temple Works in Holbeck. This provided a cool setting to showcase Leeds talent and provided a totally different look and feel to our city’s international image.
Leeds designers Dom, Dick & Harry, Kelly Ewing and James Steward featured during the shoot. Steward, whose work has been seen on high profile celebrities such as Victoria Beckham and Kylie Minogue, certainly felt the international exposure is great for Leeds designers:
“It’s always an honour to be involved in these projects” said Steward “Leeds in Barcelona worked by generating a huge amount of interest in the James Steward brand, and in Leeds as a city both through individuals and the media. Next stop is Leeds in Vancouver, an amazing project which sees Lisa Jayne Dann and I show our S/S11 collections at Vancouver Fashion Week. The opportunity here is incredible; with international media and buyers attending the event, it’s the perfect way of showcasing the wealth of design talent here in the city – we couldn’t have done it without the support of Marketing Leeds.”
I speak regularly with people in the independent and vintage scene and there is certainly an undercurrent of excitement at the attention generated by projects like ‘Leeds in Barcelona’. By creating interesting international collaborations we can show the world some of the interesting things going on in Leeds and provide the city’s best talent a platform to showcase their work to a global audience.