Casely-Hayford Marks New Direction With New U.K. Flagship

LONDON — Charlie and Joe Casely-Hayford, the father-and-son duo behind the British tailoring label, want to keep it in the family.

The brand, which has just turned 10 years old, is opening the doors to its first retail space in London’s Marylebone area and collaborated with Sophie Ashby, Charlie’s wife, to design the interiors.

The idea was to express an intimate, deeply personal point of view through the store, reflective of the couple’s flair for one-of-a-kind design.

“We combined new and old, included a beautiful curation of art, introduced color and ultimately tried to create something that feels really welcoming and cozy,” said Ashby, pointing to the variety of design objects and personal memorabilia scattered across the space.

There is a jug from the couple’s engagement trip in Positano, Italy, artwork from their trips to Paris, while the staircase features a knitted design made with offcuts from past collections.

All the artwork and furniture featured in the store is for sale, alongside the brand’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections — which are merchandised together — and made-to-measure pieces.

“This is the first time we’ve had any of our stuff in a retail environment and it’s all for sale,” said Ashby, noting that the interior could change completely depending on the pieces of furniture and artwork that gets sold.

The fitting rooms were also designed to reflect the atmosphere of the designer’s family home: A fitting room painted green upstairs features African masks on the walls, which belong to the Casely-Hayford family, as well as a chair from the duo’s old apartment. The downstairs fitting room is painted yellow, the same shade that covers Casely-Hayford’s family sitting room.

The store opening marks a shift in direction by the brand, which stepped away from the London Men’s catwalk last year and is now rejecting the traditional wholesale model and seasonal collections altogether.

Charlie Casely-Hayford said from strategy through to merchandising, the brand is operating from the idea of being “the antithesis of current fashion.”

“We’ve been planning the transition for about four years. We will now just be selling online and through the store, so it’s really the start of a new chapter in the business,” he added.

Bespoke services, which have been the bread and butter of the business, will be another key focus and Casely-Hayford will utilize the basement of the store for one-on-one appointments.

“There is a big chasm between ready-to-wear and couture in women’s wear. We are trying to provide something that feels similar to couture, which is unattainable for the majority, but at a respectable price point. We have 3,000 fabrics for our customers to choose from,” Casely-Hayford said.

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