Meet Mr and Mrs Power, eighties and nineties Fashion Duo
Written by: Sophie Taylor
This Camden-dwelling power couple decided to open their doors only last week in the Stables Market. Although slightly off the well-worn tracks of Camden Market, their shop specialising in eighties and nineties clothing is doing splendidly well as they lose their most treasured stock to natty customers daily. A valid excuse for Chloe to hunt down more expertly stitched gold jackets, perfectly constructed denim and beautifully produced designer silk blouses.
Chloe wanted to create an environment that made the vintage clothes shopping experience easier, lessening the amount frantic rummaging. “Sorting through vintage clothes to find the perfect garment can take a huge amount of time and effort. At Power Dressing, quality and condition are paramount. Each piece is hand selected and presented with care.” Chloe’s mother is her style muse and divine inspiration;
Using this memory of her mum, Chloe wanted to break down misconceptions of the decade’s fashion identities; “The eighties weren’t just leg warmers and neon, there is a huge amount of cultural and sartorial significance within the era. From the creative cool of new wave inspired looks; to the full blown elegance and luxe fabrics used in beautiful evening gowns and cocktail dresses. The nineties gave us both Courtney Love-esque grunge and Kate Moss minimalist-cool.”
As Chloe made manifest in her pitch to the Market in March, their aim was to present a unique, vivid and stand-out collection of vintage pieces focusing on styles that define the eighties and nineties. And girl, have they.
“Camden Market has always been a personal inspiration to me. I would ask my mum to take me on a Saturday when I was young, and relished being able to choose something from the stalls. As a teenager my friends and I would spend sunny weekends shopping and eating street food. I now live minutes away from the market and visit almost daily to shop for any occasion, get my hair cut or grab lunch.”
We start getting caffeine withdrawals (we mention this in articles a lot… we suspect we may have a problem), so ask Steven for a sneaky insider nod towards his favourite place for coffee nearby. “Sensini Coffee!” he declares proudly after trying to remember the name of the coffee van in The Stables that gives him his delicious roasted beans every morning, “they blend great coffee and also really helped us out when we were setting up the shop.”
Steven is a grateful soul, going on to express his thanks to the couple’s friend Jonathan Arkwright. No, not the guy in Winehouse’s You’re No Good video, but their designer and builder friend of @rustybeginnings who made all their shop fittings in record timing, just as Steven started to think the whole project was a bit too huge an undertaking. “How are we going to finish th…” his sentence trailing off as he walked into the previous shell of a shop space, only to find Jonathan’s metal shop fittings gracing the wooden floors, letting the Powers emit a collective sigh of relief. It’s a times like those that you find out who’s got your back.
At the heart of the Power Dressing ethos is the idea that
and it is an undeniably warm welcome you will receive.
They express their wish to present a men’s clothing collection in the near future, which you can already see starting to culminate in the print shirts and jackets on display. But these two certainly aren’t a pair to tell you what clothes are gender specific, Power Dressing is for any taste regardless.
Pieces are chosen to be beautiful, unique, wearable and for their sartorial significance within the eighties and nineties. All items are in great condition, clean, pressed, well presented and wearable – with the hope of moving away from those sometimes negative vintage clothing associations (you know, those “a nana probably died in this surrounded by her ten cats” type of comments).
Chloe and Steven are a formidable and funkified husband-wife team, having tied the knot in Las Vegas last year. In vintage dress and typical Power style, the pair were photographed amongst orange smoke bombs in the Nevada desert after declaring their ‘I Do’s’.
As if that wasn’t enough neo-romantic kitsch for you, they’re getting extra power points for the huge Nick Cave print above the desk. Above them Cave resides, shrugging his shoulders and raising his huge dark eyebrows as if to say, “if you like it, take it home”. So I might just do that next time, Nicholas. We’re definitely coming back before all the gold lamé gets snapped up.
Power Dressing 80, 88c North Yard, Stables Market, Camden
Check out more on their Instagram and Twitter
Have a read of their response to our Is Camden Still Cool? question.
Photos by Mike Barry
17/08/2016
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