“When I joined Gant in 2005, I realised there was absolutely nothing in our records from the first 30 years,” says the brand’s creative director Christopher Bastin, so he took it upon himself to build one, sourcing classic pieces and bringing them home. “I’ve been building these archives over a 17 year-long period and a lot of our earliest history was completely lost before I started digging into it,” continues Bastin. “I’d say we pretty much learned everything we know about our first 30 years as a brand from building these archives.”

Now Gant boasts an archive of thousands of pieces that stretch back to its conception in New Haven in 1949 – and Bastin is taking it all on tour; having arrived in London this week after a successful launch in New York in February, before moving on to its final destination, Paris.

Located on Brick Lane, the London exhibition sees Bastin hand over the archive to guest curator Samuel Trotman, better known by his Instagram handle @samutaro, on which he platforms cultural stories and histories – from the details behind Nirvana’s landmark MTV Unplugged gig to the story of the orange BMW on Frank Ocean’s ULTRA artwork. Spending days at Gant’s HQ with Bastin, Trotman nerded out, pouring through the vintage garments and discovering their stories. In tune with his own tastes as well as London’s unique sartorial sensibility, Trotman’s curation focuses on Gant’s ‘90s sportswear and skate style, showing heritage designs alongside college campus memorabilia and cultural references.

“Prep is something that has continuously evolved throughout popular culture so it was important for me to uncover the stories that speak most to today’s generation of young fashion enthusiasts,” says Trotman. “I think people attending the London exhibition will take away a lot of inspiration. Plus, we have some dope collaborative merch that will be available too.”

“As protective as I am about our legacy and archive, it’s always interesting to get someone else’s view on it,” Bastin added. “I’ve been a fan of Sam for a long time and I was really delighted when he said yes to curating the London leg of the archive exhibition. His deep understanding of streetwear and this dive into the cultural impact American sportswear has had on it really makes London something different from the exhibition we did in NYC.”

The exhibition runs at DIJONSS in Shoreditch until 2nd April.