Editorial | Drip Drip: Charles & The Best Of Brick Lane
Charles & The Best Brick Lane…
Welcome to a celebration of the best of Brick Lane, East London.
Welcome to a celebration of talent.
This editorial as shot by Lois Goswell is intended to pull you into a wonderful world.
That world is found in the East of London and on an iconic street called Brick Lane.
Story Magazine introduces you (as the stores reopen here in England, UK) to a street that has become synonymous with style, great vintage, good food, memorable fashion, bustling trade, landmark convenience stores, excellent fabric stores and more.
We decided to shine a spotlight on all these by shooting an editorial featuring the best streetwear (what else to wear on a pretty cool street?) in some of Brick Lane’s best businesses, venues and landmarks.
Who better to model in this than Charles Eguakun (the title of the editorial bears his name) who is an emerging talent to watch. Charles who is otherwise known as Kenrich007 (yes like James Bond no less!) styles, models and does everything fabulous in between. He has a good eye so we enlisted him in this piece highlighting a street where some of the best tastemakers shop and hangout.
In this editorial we shoot Charles having a day out on Brick Lane. He has a ball. He visits the following places and as you can tell from the photo evidence, he has a great time!
He wears a custom durag by a brand called Mama Established (founder of the brand Gemma – who is super lovely kindly obliged and made the bespoke durag with the word ‘Drip’ printed on it especially for this shoot)
Charles takes a taxi by none other than Addison Lee. Who better than them to get to Brick Lane in?
No one does better service. Addison Lee know great can service. They are the best to get you about town. Charles knows this so he gets about in one of their black cabs. One of the photos shows him arriving at Brick Lane and getting out the Addison Lee cab. He is looking very stylish.
He stops at Morley’s on Brick Lane (Founded in the 1980s, this famous chain is now on Brick Lane!) for their famous wings. This he eats while rocking an incredible burgundy Weekday puffer jacket, Roscomar trainers (trainer enthusiasts run and go buy these!), a Hemsley London denim hood and a pink balaclava (yes he eats the famous Morley’s chicken in the iconic store with a balaclava on).
He shops for vintage at Rokit Vintage and he gets up on that till looking like a rockstar in a scuba neoprene hooded Kappa jacket, 7th Heaven Jeans, Thomas Sabo jewellery and watche and Off White trainers which he is too cool to do up.
In AOC Fashion (where the style mavens go) Charles says no more to the paparazzi shots. It’s hard being a star! Here he’s photographed seated wearing yellow Kappa shorts and another Mama Established design. A tie-dye sweatshirt. There is more Karl Kani here. He has a penchant for Karl Kani and the other images show this.
In Taj Stores a famous Indian supermarket Charles shows his rockstar status in a green neon lurex tracksuit by Hemsley London. Our man is sitting in a shopping trolley eating Pringles. He has time to chill. Talking about time He likes a good watch and in these photos for his adventure on Brick Lane he wears watches by Thomas Sabo and Larsson & Jennings.
He loves a good accessory too and wears bags, hats, face masks and shoes by Kappa, K Swiss, Karl Kani, Suicoke, Hemsley London, Dinny Hall, Parris London, 44LDN, The Hundreds, Cote & Ciel, Sans Matin, Off White and Yeezy.
Our Charles in this editorial is a rapper so only the most luxurious will do. He rocks a platinum necklace by Lucky Metal by Dovi Friedmann. He wears rings and necklaces by Thomas Sabo. He likes socks from the best, Burlington. He likes a great sock and loves Amari Amari and Green Inc who make some great ones. Just check him out on those bales of fabric in the famous Z Butt Textiles store (a wonderful family run business) in Brick Lane. Look closely… he’s wearing a great pair of blue socks by Amari Amari.
He stops to buy a drink at the best convenience store on Brick Lane, Best-One London (the owner is lovely, more on him in another feature coming soon). We then spot him in Rokit Vintage again sprawled out on the floor in a fantastic Ebyak T-Shirt which has a barcode print (genius!). We swoon with envy at all his Helly Hensen gear. We love this brand!
As he swings (playground amusement never looked so stylish!) in the local park just off Brick Lane we take a moment to reflect on his arsenal of eyewear. The dude likes a good pair of sunglasses and wears the best in the world. Brands like East Valley, Kaleos, Gigi Studios (finest Italian materials), Flowers That See Me etc are just some of the eyewear brands that Charles favours.
Charles goes from rocking more tie-dye (this time it is by the very sweet Jack Millers brand Millers Mind) to patronising tattoo artist brand Carpe Diem of Macclesfield to wearing a tracksuit by talented brand Parris London. He likes Parris London, from their bucket hats to throw face masks, he wears it all.
One of his favourite brands is Kappa. We open the editorial in a black puffer stole by the brand which we style Charles wearing as a hood over that custom bespoke
From Versace to Weekday. From Karl Kani to Helly Hensen. From Off White to Yeezy. From platinum necklaces by Lucky Metal by Dovi Friedmann to rockstar jewellery by Thomas Sabo and luxury watches by Larsson & Jennings. From Addison & Lee Cabs to shopping in destinations like AOC Fashion. From hunting down hard to find pieces at Rokit Vintage to eating them best chicken wings at Morley’s (the spot for all the cool and hip kids). From picking up snacks and food from Taj Stores and Best-One London to stopping by Z Butt Textiles for fabric and inspiration…
This is Charles.
This is the best in fashion.
This is the best in style.
This is the best in ‘drip’ (as the cool cats refer to it, hence the name of the editorial – ‘Drip Drip’.
This is the best of Brick Lane.
This is – ‘Charles & The Best Of Brick Lane’.
Celebrate Brick Lane and getting there with us by visiting
Rokit Vintage, Brick Lane – 101 Brick Lane
Morley’s, Brick Lane – 60-62 Brick Lane
AOC Fashion, Brick Lane – 164 Brick Lane
Z Butt Textiles, Brick Lane – 24 Brick Lane
Taj Stores, Brick Lane – 112 Brick Lane
Best-One London, Brick Lane – 20 Brick Lane
This editorial was brought to you by …
Charles Eguakun on modelling @kenrich007
Lois Goswell on photography @auburnroe
Marian Kwei (formerly Kihogo) on styling and creative direction – @marian_kwei
Dylan Capelle of Noir Nice on styling assistance – @noirnice
OilSlicc on Graphic Design – @oilslicc
Many kind thanks to all the businesses (and the taxi company!) featured. Keep an eye out for a spotlight feature per each business featured in this editorial coming soon.
Thank you to Charles for showing the best of Brick Lane.