The first time I stepped inside ‘Syd and Mallory’s’ bright green Emporium, I was engulfed in a whole other psychedelic world. Left was right and up was down. Literally. A pair of crossed legs sat sassily on a chair near the ceiling and artificial grass grew in the shop window. Colourful t-shirts and sweatshirts hung from wooden racks like low hanging fruits from fashion trees.
I was greeted by Lucy Newell, the shop co-owner, from behind the till. She was sewing cherries on a hot pink crop-top that I was already in love with. Kirsteen Hardie, her business partner, came out of the backroom to say hello. She was working on a design in the back room.
I started avidly going through a large rack in the middle of the room and realised that I had no idea what was for men or women. There is no gender separation. No difference. Just fashion.
I asked Kirsteen about it and she said:
“We don’t have a men’s or women’s sections, they’re just all the same. Everything is unisex. We don’t want people to feel like this is for women and this is for men, which is really important.”
“We don’t have a men’s or women’s sections, they’re just all the same. Everything is unisex. We don’t want people to feel like this is for women and this is for men, which is really important.”
Finally, affordable, alternative fashion which fits all genders and sizes! I thought this would never happen.
‘Syd and Mallory’s Emporium’ is one of the most iconic business along the famous Devonshire Street in Sheffield. It’s one of the only places where you can both shop for unique unisex fashion items and also see them being designed as you peruse.
The co-founders, Lucy and Kirsteen, created the concept behind their brand with the idea that their customers should be able to see how the clothes they wear were made.
“We started ‘Syd and Mallory’ because we wanted to make things we couldn’t find in other shops at affordable prices, it’s a cheap way of looking different,” Lucy added.
In the latest photoshoot for their online shop, Lucy and Kirsteen chose to feature Tom Pilkington (Instagram:@pilky), a beautiful androgynous model. It highlights their passion to blur gender norms and defy conventional standards of beauty.
“Everything that we make is not mass produced, so you won’t look the same as anybody else. We make them by order and then move on the next collection; one design will probably only last a year and then we won’t do it again,” Kirsteen added.
The Emporium in itself has the kind of eccentric aura which you sometimes find in vintage shops, but only a few items are actually vintage and they just accompany the main collection.
‘Syd and Mallory’ defines itself as “psychedelic sounds meet the ideals of homemade punk fashion” and this really shines through every piece of clothing.
It is a brand that truly allows its customers to express themselves through fashion and stand out in a sea of indiscernible high-street sweaters and jeans.
Use BENDER10 as a promo code to get 10% off on sydandmallory.com
