Esprit

On Wednesday, I popped along to the relaunch of the Esprit shop on Regent Street. I first became familiar with Esprit back when I lived in Belgium, but at the time, it wasn't really where I shopped (places like C&A and Etam were higher on my list). More recently, I was aware of it from seeing Gisele staring down at me on train platforms, all tousled waves and bronzed limbs. The clothed she wore looked cool, but perhaps not quite my style (I'm usually a bit quirkier and more tailored). 

The new Esprit flagship shop is absolutely massive but instead of having that undesirable warehouse feel of others of it's size, thoughtful additions of sketched point of sale, vintage-looking glassware and mood-setting imagery all made it feel homely and welcoming.

The product seems to have come on too with an impressive denim area (this time overseen by Erin Wasson) and accents of bold colour. I ended up buying a bright orange shift (at a very reasonable £41) and my housemate Laurel got a gorgeous oversized coral shirt. I will be going back for some jersey dresses (relaxed workwear) and more colourful dresses (just my thing). 

The launch party was fun too-along with some fruity cocktails, there were craft stations hosted by the Make Lounge where guests could decorate photo frames, print their own cotton tote or decorate a cupcake (unsurprisingly, the busiest station! Laurel and I had our photo taken and it was printed onto beautiful paper featuring pressed flowers. Natasha Beddingfield performed but unfortunately we couldn't stay to watch her as we had to head to Westminster for the P&G party.

These are tough times for retailers but it looks like Esprit have realised and reacted well, with a considered brand update and a really cool shop event. 

The new Esprit store is here:

178-182 Regent Street,

London

W1B 5AZ

 Lydia Bright with the dress I bought!

 I wore a Reiss dress to the event with New Look shoes

 Laurel bought this shirt

 Possible next purchase

 Great workwear

 Loved this raffia clutch...

 ...and this raffia hat (with a hole cut out of the middle like Kylie's circa the 80s!)

 Cool moodboard behind the till

We couldn't believe this was a vintage year!