Chillie London
Meet co-owners Natalie
&
Lydia
When you step into Chillie London, it's like stepping into Aladdin's cave, the excitement of not knowing what treasurers you will find. You also feel the love, because when you meet Natalie and Lydia, who both have had long experience in fashion, and are now pursuing their dream, it shows. You can really tell that every piece they sell is carefully selected, from the way they engage you on their instagram, partly by modeling themselves, to the way everything is displayed with an inspiring, professional, but playful feel.
We had the opportunity to chat with Chillie London,and deep dive a little bit more. We also caught up with Tim who looks after the Sam Greensberg collection in-store.
Please tell us how the idea and concept of Chillie London became reality.
The concept started as we are both avid vintage fans. Lydia grew up in Portobello and has a huge collection of pre-loved clothes and initially we set up the business to inspire people of our age groups to wear second hand clothes. We started selling clothes from Lydia’s house and it has rapidly expanded as the second hand clothing movement is growing so quickly! But we felt there was a gap in the market for people of our ages who still had a stigma about shopping second hand, going into charity shops or rummaging in markets so by curating an edit it it somehow felt easier for people to shop with us. As We are both stylists we used Instagram to show people how to wear the clothes to give them the confidence to do it. We now sell through our website, social media’s channels and also IRL at one of our Pop Up Shops. We sell at Portobello market and meet Tim of Sam Greenberg Vintage. He had all the vintage concessions across all the Topman stores over the last few years and now he has joined us at our pop up on Golborne Road. Our brands work really well together as he curated the men’s edit. we have similar taste and vision for our futures!
We know you all have several years of experience from the fashion/styling industry, can you tell us how that experience is useful now when you’re running Chillie London?
we have both had retail experience and styling experience which has given us knowledge of body shapes, colours and what styles and types of clothes work well together and also how to make people feel confident in clothes. you need an understanding of this to work with people not to make people feel like you are selling them something but that you really want them to look amazing and feel good that’s the number one.
What pieces are strong sellers right now and do certain pieces sell better in the shop versus online?
Adidas is huge right now it is popular with everyone regardless of age. Sam Greenberg vintage has collected pieces for over 20 years and has an incredible collection of it. We also sell crazy 80s /90s leather jackets people love them! They are out there colourful and graphic, one of a kind and styled in a modern way look epic!! We also launched our own brand of sustainable cotton sweatshirts hand made with vinatge beer mats these are also big sellers for us!
Chillie London fashion has such a wide range of styles and vibes, with a feeling of freeness and a touch of rebellion. Is that the impression you’re aiming for?
Our clothes and our message don’t really follow trends so absolutely that’s the rebellious in us it’s all about making people feel good I think our clothes citation makes people feel free because here you don’t have to conform! Absolutely they don’t have to make too much effort with our stuff you can throw one of our coats on with leggings and a jumper for the gym but people will still stop you in the street asking what you’re wearing. Customers feed that back to us all the time it’s a huge compliment as we can tell you how good look but if a total strangers does it’s even better!
Considering your experiences, what would you say was the biggest “wake-up call” regarding fast fashion, and why do you think pre-love / re-love is so popular?
The fact that fashion is the second biggest polluter other than oil is a huge wake up call! The truth is that we all have to stop buying new and definitely less, this really needs to become the norm so we are doing our bit to encourage people how to do this. The younger generations are really on board with this so preloved has become such a huge platform For them not only to express their individuality but to support climate change and what fast fashion does to affect it.
What do you think needs to change now in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable?
Reduce quantities we really need 1000 pieces of the same black top that no one buy and ends up in the sale?! If big brands can start designing smaller collections it would really help make a change. Less is more!
Where do you see Chillie London in 5 years ?
As a vintage emporium we want to be the modern day Topshop but for vintage
What’s the best thing about having your own store?
We love meeting the people who buy our clothes, we love people reactions to what we sell it gives us a huge boost to know what we are doing people are liking!! We also love Being your own bosses and working it around our kids. We love both jobs and want to make sure they go together!
What do you do to unwind?
Eat and drink!
What are your favourite local hangouts?
Senora college road, Laylow on Golborne, Rubio for pizza with the kids, chignon tacos
East or West London for a night out?
East for a night out!
Cocktail or Beer?
Cocktail
What track will get you on the dance floor every time?
Joe smooth Promiseland
Can you tell us anything exciting you have coming up?
We are launching vintage bridal wear, late night shopping evening starting with one this Thursday 8th December
