East London’s cult fashion destination htown is home to many great brands, including but definitely not limited to Martine Rose, JW Anderson, Eckhaus Latta, GmbH and Ahluwalia. Now, store founder Harry Fisher can add one more to that list, as htown has teamed up with CampberLab for a brand new pop-up at its Commercial Street store. As the fashion-forward sub-label of footwear brand Camper, CamperLab and htown share an innovative outlook on life, something CamperLab creative director Achilles Ion Gabriel was keen to celebrate.
“We’ve wanted to do something fun in London for a long time and it felt so natural to join forces with Harry and htown and embrace the chaos together,” Gabriel told us, adding that it’s their shared interests in sustainability, diversity and a “passion to offer something different” that brought them together. “We’re both still somewhat the new kids on the block,” concluded Gabriel. “I feel we both have a lot to give.”
To celebrate the link-up, htown and CamperLab took over Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club during London Fashion Week, throwing a blowout party with b2b DJs and plenty of Ciroc vodka. “I knew exactly which venue would be perfect for this,” Fisher said of the working men’s club and its distinctive, throwback decor. “It’s great to be able to support an iconic queer venue like BGWMC in which I spent a lot of my twenties partying.”
As well as being the perfect venue to celebrate the collaboration between htown and CamperLab, choosing BGWMC had some personal significance, too. Last June, owners made it known that they wished to sell the venue, and the club was given a two-month eviction notice. Though a campaign managed to bide more time, the club is still at risk, and the threat of closure looms even today.
“CamperLab has also very much always been built around queer community,” Gabriel told us. “Places like [BGWMC] are really vital for the community, and if we have an opportunity to celebrate this iconic venue and help even a bit by shedding some light on the struggle’s small venues – and especially queer ones – face in London, all the better.”
Scroll through the gallery above to see all the images from the night