TheClones:So, the launch party for GoodHood kicked off with a bang causing a road block and creating an amazing buzz around one of the most exciting stores to open in East London for quite some time now. How does it feel?

It’s a really good feeling. It was a real buzz to see all the London heads come out to support.

TheClones:So When did you first come up with the idea for GoodHood and how long did it take to get to this point, from start to finish?

Jo has been thinking about this set up for years but it was never a real possibility until recent times. We have seriously been planning the store for a couple of years but really working on it full time for just over a year.

TheClones:What made you want to make the move into owning your own retail business especially with how the market has been over the years?

It just seemed like the natural progression to make. We are going to start our own brand eventually and we wanted to start a shop that represented the culture and ideals of where we wanted to head.

TheClones:You’re both designers by trade and have worked for some of the most prolific labels out there. Did your experience and knowledge help you choose the designers that you’re stocking in the store? Where did you go to find the labels or was it a case of getting in the labels that you both liked but couldn’t obtain over here?

Our experience as designers gave us an insight into niche brands around the world. We were always travelling picking up the best bits from around the world. The fun in that was getting the stuff you could only get in specific places and weren’t widely known yet.
We wanted to select brands that understood the aesthetics of modern streetwear without falling into the clichés of it. Brands that were not scared to take risks and produce products that showed a love of product and are not merely sales or cash driven. Brands driven by true passion, talent and the ability to be successful while avoiding corporate strategies and manipulation. Also, brands that distributed through global independents and stayed away from the department stores and high street. Therefore, in turn helping to keep the independent retailer alive.

TheClones:GoodHood isn’t “just another shop”, it also encompasses a gallery space and a design studio in the basement. What kind of shows will we see being held in the gallery and what will we see come out of the design studio?

Out of the gallery space we want to showcase the best creative talent that suits the aesthetics of the shop. We don’t want to get caught up in clichéd attachments like urban art so we want to keep doing things that surprise people. In a sense that’s why we opened with a collection of playmobil, we just felt the designer toy thing was so mainstream we wanted to take it back to the old skool. We hope that future shows will see exhibits from Ben Frost, Fatsarazzi, House of Gasface, Ben Radcliffe, PAM. We’d also love to exhibit some more well known artists such as Geneveive Gauckler and Grotesque in the future…but we’ll see!
Out of the studio you will see the creatives working independently and collaboratively in the future.
Our specialist areas all compliment each others work so we can be really flexible with jobs that we take on as there is always backup available from someone else if needed. We do Branding, Graphics, Illustration, Clothing design, Denim design, and web design…what more could you want !!!





TheClones:I also hear that you’ll be doing monthly music events hosted by the lovely Katie Skills. Can you tell us some more about them and what events you have coming up?

Yeah, we want to keep it fun and have regular events instore. On Friday evenings after work customers can head down to the store, have a couple of beers, take in some art and listen to some good music. We had Ohmega Watts play a dj set on the 19th October and then next month we are going to have Eskimo disco play to launch their most recent single. Hopefully for December we’ll go a bit “Christmassy” and have a brass band in the street!! We want to mix up the styles a bit so that we aren’t a “streetwear cliche”. Ultimately, it’s important to us that we continue to promote all things independent and we hope that these events will help promote the ‘unheardofs’





TheClones:I can imagine that you both feel relieved now that it’s all up and running. Are you already planning your next projects? Will you be opening up GoodHood stores around the world or possibly an online store to reach out to your worldwide fans? Tell me more about what the future holds for GoodHood….

Absolutely, this is only the beginning…the first step!
We are going to launch our brand very soon, which is really exciting.
The online store is designed and being built as we speak and we are aiming to open another group of stores around the world, possibly Daikenyama in Tokyo, Los Feliz in LA, and Brooklyn NY…who knows, maybe even Iceland!!


GoodHood
41 Coronet Street, Hoxton, London.
www.goodhood.co.uk


Text: Emily Yeoh for TheClones
Photos: fatsarazzi