A Wolf in sheep’s clothing by Sophie Morsman

With a brief glance at the exterior, and indeed interior, of “Wolf & Badger” one could very easily assume that it is very much like every other South West/West London boutique: stylish, predictable and expensive. However it is clear upon closer inspection that this is not (entirely) the case.

Seahorse Necklace £220.00 by Catherine Zoraida

Founded in 2009 by four partners (Henry and George Graham, Zoe Knight and Samir Ceric) the self confessed “lifestyle” boutique, housing everything from candlesticks to dresses, opened its doors in February 2010, to much critical acclaim- it was named one of Vogue’s “Best British Boutiques” in April of the same year. This is a designer boutique with a considerable twist.
Unlike most designer boutiques in London and in fact the world, the boutique does not sell your conventional designer pieces (Christian Loubitions, Yves Saint Laurent Handbags, Pucci scarves etc) but sells seemingly unheard of designers’ pieces that would, if left to the industries conventional devices, bankrupt or float through the Fashion world unheard of. “Wolf & Badger” therefore, can be seen as a sort of platform for these designers-It has to be noted that the designs featured would not be out of place in net-a-porter or any of the high end department stores e.g Liberty, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Harrods.

Cuckoo Dress £680.00 by Sia Dimitraidi

If one happens to stumble across the very sleek and fashionable website (www.wolfandbadger.com) one the most prominent links on the homepage is the “About & Apply” section, whereby “talented designers” are appealed to apply for the opportunity to “showcase and sell their work”. Although clearly this is a much coveted opportunity as the boutique states that all those who apply will be waitlisted. Many of those selected previously have been “New Gen” winners from London Fashion Week.
The idea of designers trying to convince a fashionable boutique to stock their designs is not unknown, however usually it is the boutiques that chase the designers to ask their permission to stock their products and is therefore quite rare. Furthermore designer boutiques’ trying to “discover” new designers and “claim” them as it were is quite common. For example “Browns” featured John Galliano’s entire graduate collection in one long window display. However “Wolf & Badger” clearly takes this idea to a whole new level, giving unknown and perhaps degreeless, “hypeless” designers a chance to actually be designers. Perhaps this revolutionary business model will eventually be used and “set the trend” for many designer boutiques to come.

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