MADABELLE

Not only is Boxpark the go to place in Shoreditch for food, drinks or even a place to relax in the sun, on occasion, in recent years it has become a key location to set up and market a thriving business. Boxpark is currently the home to 42 fashion, art, beauty and food shops. The majority of these stores are independent but some are brands that are globally recognised. Box Park have previously welcomed brands such as Gap, SmashBox, Mac Cosmetics, Just Hype and Urban Outfitters to name a few. The Park has become a massive attraction in Shoreditch and with the shops changing almost yearly it brings a new feel to the old town.

A current resident at Boxpark found at #Unit17 is independent sneaker stockiest, Fresh Laces. Unlike your average FootLocker or JD, Fresh Laces stock limited and rare sneakers and also promote lifestyle and build a community for all sneaker freaks from these special kicks.

Fresh Laces have been residents of Boxpark stocking consignment sneakers, sneaker products, accessories and UK street wear since August 2015 and haven’t looked back since. Nathan Messiah, driving force, behind the brand invited me into his trainer world and let me understand his brand from his point of view.

Starting at the very roots of the brand, Nathan explains, “Fresh Laces was basically born out my passion for trainers. I’ve been into kicks heavy for about 15 + years and maybe about 6 years ago I realised I had amassed quite a big collection. At that point I just collected but wanted to somehow find a way to work within the industry but not just in a store, something a bit more creative.”

It’s clear from the offset that Fresh Laces has more to offer than just cool kicks. A warm welcome when you walk through the store doors and a bond for sneakers makes this a shopping experience like no other. “We stock rare & exclusive kicks alongside independent street wear so it’s very unique. We’ve brought that niche side of this game that mostly is found online or at conventions to a physical store.”

“I definitely think it’s been a great move for the business, Boxpark has a good community feel and the area is dope. It’s the place to be. I think moving to Box Park has been a positive thing all round, there’s not that many spots in London or the UK even that are like us. Bringing this concept to the popular Boxpark has definitely seen our popularity rise just for the fact more people now know about us and are being introduced to Fresh Laces daily. On the social media side of things it’s great, Boxpark have a big platform that gives great exposure to all the independent businesses that are here plus we go hard too so its collective promotion which again is a dope thing.”

Of course Boxpark isn’t forever, so the plan for Fresh Laces moving on was a question that had to be asked,“We have big plans after Boxpark, we'll be here until the end of July then its the next move which we have to keep under wraps for now but its big! In the next 5 years I just want Fresh Laces to have an amazing store with a reputation for being the go to spot for the best in sneakers & street culture in the UK!”

Based right in the heart of Brick Lane Not Another Salon is a unisex hairdressers, which is a cut above the rest. Not Another Salon is bursting at the seams with semi permanent hair colour, qwerky cuts and unbelievable up-dos.

Imagination is the name of the game when it comes to this hair salon, if you can imagine a colour or cut you will receive just that (and maybe a little more.) Not Another Salon brings out the inner child in us all, with popcorn and candy refreshments, coke floats and lemonade on the menu with a warm welcome as soon as you soon as you step through the door, it’s a vibe you just don’t feel in other salons in the city.

Not Another Salon officially opened their colour infused doors in October 2015 and the business has been booming ever since. Although the store is a new comer to the Shoreditch area the vibrant store and excellent team have managed to leave their mark with the locals, maintaining a jaw dropping social media following with a staggering 100,000 followers within the first 3 months, the thriving business is sitting comfortably on just over 40K followers on Instagram today from across the globe. People are making the journey to visit this salon and receive a treatment from one of the extremely talented crew. The store has quickly become a ‘go to’ in Shoreditch and London.

Sophia Hilton, Founder of Not Another Salon is a colour specialist educator and the driving force behind the colour-injected and increasingly popular store. Growing up above a family run ‘all hands on deck’ hair salon and having generations of hair dressers in her family, you could say Sophia was destined for a career in hair, but who’d of thought she’d of broke down barriers and created her own techno-coloured empire.

Finding herself in the hustle and bustle of the big city Sophia’s eyes were opened to a fast passed type of hair salon. Deciding that she had had enough of these intense salons, Sophia decided it was time for a change. After putting her home up as a guarantee and using her mums life savings Sophia was able to open her colour specialist salon in Brick Lane. “It has been the hardest but most worth while thing I’ve ever done in my life.” She went on “I embarked on creating a new type of salon, a salon with an ethos that makes you feel that it’s okay to be you. I took away the intimidation and made it fun for everyone.”

On a trip to Madagascar, Sophia and her husband spent time teaching young children from underprevilaged areas basic hairdressing and grooming skills.“I chose Madagascar at the time because it sounded like the most far off place I could escape to. It’s so poor it seems that even Africa has forgotten about it.” The people Sophia met in Madagascar hold a very special place in her heart and although Sophia and the team at Not Another Salon are thousands of miles from Madagascar, they still manage to keep on giving “we are saving 10% of the profits of the salon to help Madagascar again, but this time on a bigger scale.” “I truly believe life is not about what you can take from it but what you can give to it.”

With the salon defying odds and becoming one of the most popular hairdressers in the area the big question is expansion? Although a chain of crazy, Not Another Salon stores would be the next step for someone in Sophia’s shoes, for her it isn’t about branching, “I don't want to expand because I want balance in my life one day. Family, future children, my husband are all important parts of my life. I'm not trying to run the world, just make a little footprint in it” – and that, you are.