It’s no secret that Anthropologie have something of a cult following in the blogosphere, and those of us not lucky enough to have visited a store in person have been left to gaze in envy on posts featuring stunning window installations and drooling over the luscious website (with its not-so-luscious overseas prices). So you can imagine my reaction when Pia received an invitation to the opening of the first Anthropologie store outside of the US and asked if I wanted to attend in her absence! The new Regent Street store, in a beautiful building in the retail heart of London, is 3 floors of eye candy, with so much to see and so many beautiful details to drool over, I spent an hour just looking before I even remembered to take photos! The prices sit mostly towards the higher end of scale, especially for the clothing and larger homewares items, but there are still reasonable items available, with enough scope to enjoy your visit and take away a little something as a treat.
While I recognised much of the clothing and homewares range from the website, I was overwhelmed by the number and scale of unique art installations decorating the store – most are from local British artists, and I was thrilled to discover they were all for sale as well! From beautiful handmade ceramic vessels to “knitted” pots and antique, reclaimed quilts refashioned into beautiful works of art, every corner was simply bursting with something surprising and handmade. It’s a distinctive philosophy of the store – to marry unique pieces from local and international artists, with vintage and antique items collected from all over the world to create a fabulous environment to compliment the apparel and homewares collections. Each store is unique and evolving all the time – the centrepiece of the Regent Street store is the amazing living wall – covering one entire wall of the shop, a total of 200m2, the patchwork of living plants is a stunning installation, and is even fed through a sustainable irrigation system which uses rainwater collected from the roof! It formed a fabulous background for the mouth-watering array of tea cakes and sandwiches on offer for this quintessentially English “afternoon tea” event, and I can assure you each and every one tasted as delicious as their appearance promised. And yes, I did try them all.
The event was a wonderful opportunity to see the store in its full glory, accompanied by champagne and yummy cake, and all-in-all I had a great time. I managed to walk away without too large a dent in my wallet (no discounts unfortunately!) and with some great images which I hope capture some of the atmosphere of this unique store. I even met one of my favourite fellow bloggers, the wonderful Susannah from Ink on My Fingers, and her sister Abby. The Anthropologie team have done a great job in bringing a unique independent boutique feeling to a retail chain – very different from the modern, bland and sterile-feeling establishments that populate the rest of Regent Street – the wonderful dyed teabag installations in the windows are an indication of what awaits you inside. Its definitely a fun shopping experience that is worth a trip if you’re in the area.
all text and photographs by zoë yule
Absolutely beautiful, your photographs are perfection! you captured antropologie perfectly. i want to just say that the picture with the farm table and textiles wi th the two chandelier hanging over is stunning!
October 23rd, 2009 | #
Just wow. Thanks!
October 23rd, 2009 | #
anthropolgie is like a dream world…you’ve captured it so well.
October 23rd, 2009 | #
Aha, your London store looks way better than our Toronto Anthropologie! Maybe because of all the local art installations and products.
October 23rd, 2009 | #
beautiful photographs, zoe! my favorites are the vertical garden with the tea party snacks. very alice-in-wonderland!
do they have a sale section in the store? i find that in the States, the sales stuff is somewhat reasonably priced.
October 23rd, 2009 | #
My recent infatuation is Man Shops World on the Sundance Channel here in the States. It’s a half hour drool-fest, which follows a buyer for Anthropologie to his many exotic locations on treasure hunts for unique and fascinating pieces for their many stores. The first episode, if I remember perfectly, was devoted to shopping in France for items to fill the new London store.
October 23rd, 2009 | #
beautiful pictures! thank you for sharing. i have been wondering what the store would look like.
xo,
christina
October 24th, 2009 | #
Anthropologie is my favorite, favorite, favorite store. Every one is full of eye candy and I can NOT spend less then twenty minutes in there, no matter how hard I try.
October 24th, 2009 | #
Oh Zoe, another gorgeous post!
I adore the photos you took. Were they with a film camera? Gorgeous!
Lucky you. I was jealous of Susannah, now I get to be jealous of you too!
Thanks for letting us live vicariously 🙂
October 25th, 2009 | #
I was in the UK, but not London at the time, alas! (My daughter works for Anthropologie). Such great styling they do there. Maybe now that you’re in London I’ll see you there? Hope so.
October 25th, 2009 | #
I just love your photographs!!! You have an amazing eye. I now must travel four and a half hours to see that shop!!!!Sarah
October 29th, 2009 | #
Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed my sneak-peak!
Nadia: you’re right, those chandeliers were amazing – they’re all made of ceramic beads, instead of glass!
Josephine: the whole store reminded me of Alice in Wonderland too! And it really was a mad hatters teaparty. :o) Unfortunately no sale section…yet.
Melanie: Pia told me all about Man Shops World – what an awesome job that must be! Their adventures are certainly reflected in the beautiful pieces on sale.
amanda: my photos are all taken on my little digital point and shoot (with a little help from Pia) – I wish I knew enough to work with film!!
Paris Parfait: I’d love to meet up with you when you’re in London next – keep in touch!
October 31st, 2009 | #
Hi there, FYI in the picture of the chandelier the man in the background is the man in Man Shops Globe. Pretty sneaky of you! Cyndy
November 4th, 2009 | #
Zoe – how did I miss this post? I am so envious – the merchandising in Anthropologie always has me spellbound! I can totally understand how you forgot to take photos at first.
Thanks for allowing those of us so far away to see that once again, Anthropologie has set the bar even higher.
November 19th, 2009 | #
I am so so happy London has an Anthro now. No more shipping stuff off to my sis there! lol. It looks so wonderful – and good job Cyndy spotting Keith Johnson! Man Shop Globe is on tonight in the US!! I hope they release the series as an itunes download or dvd.
x
November 25th, 2009 | #
To think I used to live in London but left before they opened! How SAD! Luckily your pictures are amazing and convey a great idea of what it’s like ! Thanks for sharing x
September 14th, 2010 | #
sitting at my lab top early monday morning, finding all about my favouret store Anthropologie has at most made my day , i can only hope it wont be to long before i can visit England were i was born so many moons ago to discover and experance your wonderful moments, so far i have visited SanDigao and Palm springs new store no cup cakes or tea , but bought two pieces to wear,YES.
November 29th, 2010 | #