John Varvatos this week officially opens his debut European flagship store in London, a retail experience paying tribute to the rock icons who have made rebellion an art form. 

The Conduit Street space is the brand’s largest store to date and is a precursor to future European openings in Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The opening (set for this Wednesday following a soft launch last month) backs up a big year for the brand, one that is also witnessing an expansion into Asia, plus a major new store on Madison Avenue and the launch of Varvatos’ own record label, John Varvatos Records, in partnership with Republic Records.

And there’s the clincher: this is a brand underlined by a rock ‘n’ roll creed that runs thick from ad campaigns (Ringo Starr features for SS15 and follows a past line-up that includes others likes of Iggy Pop, Paul Weller and Jimmy Page) to runways (think back to Gene Simmons and crew’s catwalk debut foe FW14) to ground level, in store.

Walk through the grand, columned storefront and find walls stripped back to reveal original brickwork, dark herringbone wood underfoot and bespoke antique furnishings, amassed on Varvatos’ global adventures. A gallery of musical royalty is situated towards the rear of the floor, the likes of Robert Plant, Kurt Cobain and Ringo Starr hang comfortably amidst the collection itself.

Then there’s downstairs, hosting the store’s own underground venue based on the brand’s Bowery location – where the CBGB hardcore and punk rock club formerly stood. The John Varvatos Star USA collection sits on rails in front of wall-hung Fender guitars, vinyls and gig posters. The only thing absent (thankfully) is the squelch of your soles sticking to the floor. There’s a full record store boasting an impressive collection of limited edition LPs for sale (we’ve got dibs on the limited edition Rolling Stones vinyls), alongside an array of vintage record players. Yes, this is quite literally ‘The World of John Varvatos’, an in-the-flesh retail experience that champions the rock blueprint which runs through the brand’s framework…

Alex James Taylor: This is your first European store, how does it represent your brand in it’s aesthetic?
John Varvatos: We researched Mayfair from the 1930s and 40s all the way back when the buildings were first built here, because we didn’t want the shop to look like just another designer brand putting a store front out. We wanted to look like we occupied a beautiful space that exists here and we wanted to embrace the history behind it. We also wanted to create a sense of excitement, we wanted to people to come in and find discoveries, the biggest one probably being the surprise when you go downstairs which is kind of like our Bowery store, the old CBGBs club in New York.

Every piece of furniture here is something which I’ve collected from around the world or something I’ve refurbished, every piece has a little bit of history around it and a uniqueness – values which are essential to the brand.

A lot of the shops around here which have a second floor, and there aren’t that many who do, you can’t tell if the stairs lead to another floor or not. So we made it really obviously with a neon ‘vintage guitars’ sign which leads downstairs, plus you can see things happening down there when you walk in the store, we wanted to encourage accessibility, allowing our customers to walk around freely and enjoy the store. I describe the overall aesthetic as ‘casually elegant’, and at 10,000 square feet it’s also our largest store in the world.

AT: Did you always intend for the London store to be your largest?
JV: No we didn’t, we just found the space and fell in love with what it could be. Originally we were talking about just having two floors and doing our e-commerce business out of the lower level. Then one day we were in a meeting and I said, “well, what if we do a ‘The World Of…’’, I wanted the store to be a great find that you’ve just stumbled into, a hidden gem in the heart of the city. It’s exciting for me to see people just hanging out here, looking through records and playing the guitars downstairs.

I also felt that Mayfair needed something which didn’t feel stuffy and so perfect. The closest we get to that is on the tailoring floor because that’s a little bit more precise.

AT: You tend to cater stores for their specific neighbourhood, what considerations did you take for your first London store?
JV: I started with the storefront because I didn’t want it to be ostentatious like we were building this big facade, so we did a whole lot of research on Mayfair for a long time to find out more about the period in which the buildings were being built around here. We created a storefront we felt would belong, every detail was considered in order to create an authentic look. The rest of the thought-process was just that we wanted to put our personality into it, we wanted it to be more than a store, we wanted to create an experience, and I think we’ve achieved that.

But it started with thinking ‘what statement will the building make when people walk by’. In the end I still think it’s very much a statement of who I am and what the brand is about. The DNA of our brand is there, however I think it still feels new and fresh.

AT: Your ad campaigns often feature a more mature figure alongside a new artist, such as Paul Weller and Miles Kane. How do you view the generational behaviour of music?
JV: I think Miles is like the young Paul Weller, I knew Miles from his music and Paul was one of my big icons. When I realised that they were actually friends and had done some stuff together I figured it was worth asking them to see if they were both up for being part of my campaign, Paul was actually already a fan of the brand and had some of my clothes which was really cool to hear.

Most artists, whether they are a photographer, writer or musician are inspired by someone else. It isn’t not necessarily literal, but there’s always an element of influence from past artists. Paul was one of Miles’ icons, and there’s a lot of bands who perhaps don’t sound completely like another band but there’s something about them, their songwriting skills maybe that show an interest and an influence from another band.

AT: You appreciate rebellion within music, do you see a lack of it within music now?
JV: I still think there’s a few pissed off ones. I think because of the music industry it’s harder to be as pissed off, in terms of getting deals and so on. I think back then people just didn’t give a shit, it wasn’t about getting a record deal, it was just that they wanted to play and about getting their message across.

When we started the campaign we said “OK, it’s all about rebellion” and everyone we’ve had in the campaign has had a sense of rebellion, maybe not necessarily in their personal antics, but their music was rebellious in a manner, look at Jimmy Page, or Ringo Starr. I love that kind of personality.

AT: Walking towards the shop this morning I passed a few people who I  instinctively knew were on their way to your store purely by the way they looked, the way they dressed. Is this important to you that your man is distinguishable?
JV: It’s a nice feeling. A few of us were at the airport a few weeks ago and some people were stood nearby who didn’t know who I was and they were saying to each other, “Those guys look like they’re wearing John Varvatos,” which made us all laugh.

I don’t want anyone to wear our clothes as a uniform, however, I think our style is unique and the hardest thing to do in fashion is create something which is individual to your brand and not be tainted by other factors. At the same time it also has to be accepted, because you can be individual and not have people like it, but to have a good audience and to still be individual, that’s what our customers love. They love that they feel unique and look unique, but still feel understated in a way. Part of it is styling, part is attention to detailing.