Duke & Dexter chooses Earlham Street for first store

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 8, 2016

Handmade loafer brand Duke & Dexter is to open its first store, in London’s Seven Dials area near Covent Garden with the brand taking on a space on Earlham Street.

The two-year-old company, which designs and produces its footwear in London and Sheffield, is currently available online and through high-end multi brand stores including Liberty, Fenwick, Selfridges and Harrods.

Founder Archie Hewlett said the Seven Dials area fitted well with Duke & Dexter’s heritage profile.

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The store is being designed by an in-house team along with design studio Dreambox and as well as sales space it will include a relaxation area and coffee bar.

Duke & Dexter is the latest in a string of premium names to open on Ealrham Street with recent arrivals including Beast, the men’s grooming retailer, and sportswear brand Ron Dorff.

Shaftesbury, the property company that handled the deal, said that the street is developing as a key destination for emerging menswear brands.

Eighteen-year-old Hewlett founded Duke & Dexter with a £9,000 loan after changing his mind about going to university in 2014. Now 21, he has built tup a strong celebrity following including Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds, Eddie Redmayne, Poppy Delevingne, Tinie Tempah and Tyson Beckford, who have helped focus attention of what could easily have been just another struggling small brand.

As well as the new store, he is currently focused on widening the brand’s global reach and boosting turnover from last year’s £1m.