King’s Cross Coal Drops Yard confirms hipster appeal with new signings

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 28, 2018

The new large-scale shopping quarter in King’s Cross has attracted three more, directional British fashion brands, including fine footwear brand Cheaney, menswear brand Form & Thread, and menswear and lifestyle company Universal Works.

All three brands will open at Coal Drops Yard in October, joining a line-up of design-driven retailers that also includes Paul Smith, Tom Dixon, Cubitts, and Lost Property of London.

Form & Thread will make the jump into physical retail with its first permanent store. After having run successful pop-ups for two years, and a burgeoning online business, founders Richard Jeal and Chris Bell have chosen King’s Cross for the brand’s first permanent location.

For Cheaney, the Coal Drops Yard store will be the eighth in its portfolio. Founded in 1886, the brand is committed to producing fine footwear wholly made in England by over 160 craftsmen and women. The new store will feature the scheme’s existing brick walls to create a bespoke and immersive environment.

Finally, Universal Works, a Nottingham-based menswear and lifestyle brand, will open its third London store at the scheme, showcasing its range of clothing for men that is sustainable and affordable.

Craig White, project director at Argent, said: “Cheaney, Form & Thread and Universal Works will each play a hugely important role in creating the Coal Drops Yard experience. They are thoroughly progressive brands with a focus on old-fashioned artisanship, offering quality products at an accessible price-point. They complement perfectly our other confirmed partners, and those still to come, and we’re thrilled to be able to announce that they will be opening with us later this year.”

Coal Drops Yard will feature 100,000 sq ft of stores and restaurants when it opens to the public in October this year. The project is part of a wider regeneration of the area that has also seen Nike, Jigsaw, Carhartt WIP, Sweaty Betty, Space NK and & Other Stories sign up for new stores.