Last year I was fortunate enough to hear through the grapevine about a new brand combining clothing and jewellery into one off collections. Luke, Nadia and Quincey joined forces to create STOOKI and their launch in 2011 was so successful that they decided to hold another event. This time it was a pop up store in Shoreditch, London’s cutting edge fashion central. Being the first official customer of STOOKI I had to head down (wearing my STOOKI T-shirt) to check out their new collection, which focused on five jewellery pieces.
As expected the crowd in ‘Concrete’ looked so cool it hurt my eyes to look at them directly. STOOKI is the type of brand that attracts a particular customer, one who prides themselves on having an individual style, which can’t be bought from a high street chain store. And the fashionistas were out in force. I found myself scanning the room and looking with envy at the shoes, hairstyles and general attire of many in the crowd. In preparation I’d put on my best swag for the night and felt that I could hold my own if there was a fashion face-off. But what I love about the STOOKI craftmakers is that there’s no pretence in their launches, it isn’t fashion for fashion’s sake instead it’s about a pure love for individual style. And it wasn’t just the clothing that was cool, with Luke on the decks playing the hottest 90s Hip Hop tunes I couldn’t help bopping my head and singing along to classics like Eve’s ‘Who’s That Girl’ and tracks by the Fugees.
The defining element of STOOKI is the quality and precision, which they put into their designs. Unlike some brands that eagerly flood the market with their designs, hoping that something will stick, the STOOKI craftmakers have made a conscious decision to drip feed their customers. We live in an era where a ‘look’ can be bought all in one shop and people have become fashion sheep hearded along the highstreet. STOOKI has refreshed a desire for exclusivity, for quality, for fashion that goes beyond surface value. STOOKI’s designs are conceptual and involve a range of expression through projected images, music and video. It’s not something that can be easily explained, it has to be experienced in person. You can see the time and effort that has gone into each piece and Nadia was keen to explain that whilst they have a lot of creative ideas they recognise that they’re not all ready and that they are conscious about only releasing designs when they are fully formed.
Since the overwhelming response from their first collection, the STOOKI craftmakers have been kept very busy and they wouldn’t want it any other way. They told me that they have several things in the pipeline for the brand and there will be an exciting announcement made on their website www.stooki.co.uk very shortly so keep your eyes peeled!
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W| By Zoe Leadley-Watkins
