howies

This morning I popped into the new Howies store in Bristol. This is only the second store the organic clothing company have opened (the first was established in London's Carnaby Street last year). I've been a bit of a Howies fanboy for a few years now but because they were pretty much mail-order only (until recently) I lived in a Howies bubble for a while. Then when I started my last job in Brighton half the male staff seemed to go around with gear bearing the logo of Cardigan Bay's third biggest clothing company (they might be the second now). Turned out this was thanks to occasional sample sales in the Fabrica Gallery where they'd haul a van load of remainder stock down from Wales to Sussex and sell it with huge discounts. And it's always a pleasure to see their catalogue hit my doormat because, nice clothes aside, each edition also includes a heady mix of thought-provoking articles, great photography and nice little illustrations. Yep, I'm a bit of a sucker for that kind of stuff...

Howies also organised the Do Lectures I mentioned the other week. These were a series of talks held in September encouraging people to get out there and 'do' "the thing that sits in the back your head each day, just waiting, and waiting for you to follow your heart". For me that's finding a way of getting paid to do sod all - a concept that's eluded me thus far...

But back to the Bristol store. It actually opened on Saturday morning but, a couple of hours in, it was quite busy. I returned today and had a chat with the ultra-friendly staff including the manager, Matt, who showed me upstairs to where they one day hope to open a cafe. The place is huge and the plan is to use the space for talks and even film screenings in the future. There's a real rough-and-ready feeling too - I was told the wood for the fittings and tables was reclaimed from an army barracks in Liverpool; hanging on tiled walls are old pairs of jeans with their personal histories scrawled in ink around them. And in the far corner was this beautiful old Smith-Corona typewriter (pictured).

Today some books are going into the shop for people to flick through while they relax on the comfy sofas. As co-founder David Hieatt has said, "We are not a normal company. Our aim is to make people think as well as to buy" - to the extent that they've always loaned out books to customers, trusting people to return them in the post when they've finished.

Apparently, Bristol opened a little earlier than originally planned which is why, for the time being at least, plans for a cafe are just that. However, it's a lovely shop to hang out in and I get the sense that things will get a lot more interesting in the months to come...

Howies, 62 Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RE