Hackney Walk: east London fashion village ‘to rival Bicester’ unveils its latest designer brands

The outlets are expected to open by mid-July with discounts of up to 70 per cent on central London stores
Rag trade roots: Hackney Walk’s Victorian railway arches will be renovated to host a series of big designer names and make it a fashion shopping destination
Nigel Howard

The backers of a huge discount fashion district in Hackney today revealed their latest designer signings as they claimed it will eventually be “as big as Bicester Village”.

The new names at the Hackney Walk development will be housed in freshly renovated Victorian railway arches turned into stores by architect David Adjaye.

They include Gieves & Hawkes, the US shoe and boot brand UGG, Italian cashmere label Colombo and the men’s designer boutique Present. The outlets are expected to open by mid-July with discounts of up to 70 per cent on central London stores.

There will also be a new restaurant called Legs founded by Shoreditch chef Magnus Reid.

The team behind the Hackney Walk scheme — which will cost at least £200 million — aim to rival the Oxfordshire designer shopping destination famed for attracting coachloads of high-spending Asian bargain hunters.

Jack Basrawy, executive chairman and founder of Hackney Walk — backed by the property investment firm ICG Longbow — said that ambitious plans for the next phase of the development meant that it would grow to be “at least the size of Bicester Village” and the most centrally located outlet centre in any major city in the world. He said tourists from the Continent on short breaks often did not have time to visit “a village near Oxford” and would prefer the accessibility of east London.

Most outlet villages are well outside city centres because of the fears that their cut-price bargains will cannibalise sales from full-price flagship stores.

The new signings join women’s fashion brand Joseph, designer store matchesfashion.com and Nike in the development. Luxury fashion names already established in the area include Burberry, Aquascutum, Bally, Anya Hindmarch and Pringle of Scotland.

Online clothes shops - in pictures

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The idea for Hackney Walk dates back to the 2011 riots when the area was ravaged by looting and the Greater London Authority and Hackney council invested £2 million in plans to help turn it into a fashion centre for east London. A further £4 million was spent by Network Rail on restoring the arches.

The next phase of the scheme involves a new 450,000 sq ft retail and office block. Further railway arch conversions are planned.

Mr Basrawy said the development would be like a fashion version of Hatton Garden, with manufacturers working alongside retailers. He said Hackney was being returned to its “rag trade” roots, adding: “In the Fifties this was the centre of garment-making in London and this is a 21st-century version of what was here before.”

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