Back in February, Lui Nemeth and Andrew Green set up a multi-faceted store in Haggerston, East London. They called it Primitive, and whether it’s Underground Tokyo fashion designers or art exhibitions, believe us, Primitive has it ALL. 

SS: What made you decide to open such a versatile and interesting store?

P: It was natural. We think of the space as a blank canvas that the people we work with change. Each month, when the designer or artist creates an installation, they change the interior of the shop. We want Primitive to be able to evolve and change into anything. It felt like there was a big gap in London – for a city full of so many creative people, it seemed crazy to us that there weren’t many spaces like Primitive, so we made one.

SS: How does Primitive differ from other concept stores like (East London based boutique) LN-CC?

P: Primitive differs from other concept stores because we have such a close relationship with our designers. We tend to only take on brands that are based in Tokyo and London, whose interest lies with creativity, not fame. We come from art backgrounds as opposed to fashion backgrounds, so we are more interested in the concept – rather than what shoes Lady Gaga wears.

SS: Do you have a favourite brand that you stock?

P: At the moment it would have to be Nano Aoshima’s (a recent LCF graduate whose sportswear inspired S/S12 collection capitalises on pro-conceptual fashion – i.e. hiding the body in baggy garments). We have never seen anything like it – the patterns and details are amazing. We’re really excited to be stocking her garments.

SS: Is there anything you would like to add to the store in the future?

P: We’ve joked about slowly acquiring all the railway arches down the street, and starting up some weird subterranean shopping centre… In reality, we’re going to stock some more music and books. On the 26th of August, we launched our online store, so our products are now attainable worldwide. We will stock anything as long as it interests us!

SS: Where do you hope to see the brand in five years?

P: In five years, we hope to be established in both London and Tokyo. We would also like half of the stock in Primitive to be designed by us.

www.primitivelondon.co.uk

Words: Laura Chatterton