Wednesday 21 July 2010
//GOODBYE CHE CAMILLE// HELLO THE BARRAS.//


One of Glasgow’s best shops, Che Camille, recently closed the doors of its city centre property and is shipping East to the (in)famous Barras in the East End. Che Camille was set up by New Yorker and adopted Glaswegian, Camille Lorigo, and has since flourished into a hub of creativity within Glasgow with young designers known as the Glasgow 10 designing and creating in the workroom within the shop. The Che Camille project is driven by Camille’s passion to rid the World of mass produced clothing and re-introduce consumers to the joy and superior quality of handmade garments made from locally sourced materials.

No stranger to moving premises (Camille has set up shop in three premises in the last five years) this move may very well be the most daunting yet as the contrast of the Barras and the cosy, high fashion surroundings of present is stark. To readers outside of Glasgow, it is quite a task to describe The Barras. There is no denying that the place is an institution in Glasgow. Howbeit, its institutional status is built up on a reputation of infamy and dubious on-goings and is the only place in Glasgow where you can buy then £1 coins for a fiver (yes, this is entirely true; no, I DON’T know this from personal experience…). The Barras does, however, also have many legitimate stall holders selling a weird and wonderful variety of products from fruit&veg to sportswear to garden sheds. Whilst on first thought The Barras doesn’t seem like a prime spot for one of Glasgow’s most innovative and best shops, Lorigo insists that the location is a ‘gem.’
The latest move is only the start for Camille who has her sights set on further a field. Starting this week with a pop up shop in Camden aimed at giving young Scottish design talent a platform to debut and sell their handmade garments down south, there is also the possibility of Che Camille’s popping up in Holland, Paris and Spain.

As a true Scotmans, it always fills me with pride to see fellow Scots getting to showcase their talents on the Global stage with recent success stories including Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Holly Fulton as well as Camille herself (whilst not actually Scottish technically speaking, an honorary Scot if there ever was on) who has been lauded by many a publication (Nylon, Vogue, The Guardian) for her entrepreneurial flare and maverick spirit and ideas on how fashion retail should be.
Whilst exciting times lie ahead for Camille and her new venture, it does fill the heart with slight sadness when hearing Che Camille has closed its doors. As Camille herself states, shopping at Che Camille felt like ‘going to someone’s house,’ rather than the stoic, cold experience of the high street.

I would just like to conclude by wishing Camille and Team Che the best of luck with the new premises as well as future moves into new fashion frontiers.
photos: courtesy of DazedDigital.com

LOVE,
Cam xx
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