If you were ever to visit Liverpool in the UK, one of the fashion stops you’d have to make is SEVENSTORE, a globally curated mecca of luxury labels, streetwear staples, and technical outdoor brands. You’ll find designers like Issey Miyake Homme Plissé and Raf Simons coexisting seamlessly with Arc’teryx, The North Face, and Salomon—along with exciting emerging brands selected by its well informed buyers.
The physical space itself is just as inspiring. It sits in a fully renovated industrial building located in the city’s vibrant Baltic Triangle Area. Its minimalist design and spacious interior provide the perfect backdrop for the finely picked products carried in the store.
We caught up with Mark MacDonald, SEVENSTORE’s Buying Director to find out more about the impressive shop and brands he’s excited about for the new season.
First off, what’s the significance of your store’s name?
The store has a real sense of historical significance as our building dates back to the early 1800’s and was a former industrial unit that was at the heart of early Liverpudlian trade. The name SEVENSTORE relates to the seven main streets that the city was built on—it’s a nod to the heritage of our vibrant city.
Talk to us about the Liverpool fashion scene. What are the prevalent style trends and cultures we’re likely to see?
It’s a real melting pot of cultures, micro-trends and opinions which makes it such an interesting place to have a store. The outdoor trend has always been a mainstay of the fashion culture here with brands such as Arc’teryx and The North Face mixing now with more contemporary outdoor brands such as And Wander, Klattermusen and Salomon S-Lab. Sneaker culture is also massive in the city which facilitates a strong belonging to the long-established streetwear brands such as Stussy, Parra, and Undercover. Also in the mix is the legacy of early casual culture and the long standing love affair the city has with Luxury and Contemporary fashion. We sell all of the above brands as well as partners such as Issey Miyake Homme Plisse, Craig Green and Raf Simons which illustrates the cross section of consumers engaging in a global stable of brands.
How do you go about selecting the brands you carry. Is there a specific theme you like to stay close to or does the merchandise mix/narrative vary from season to season?
We always think about our consumer groups and what they want as they are at the heart of everything we do. It’s well known that Scousers want to stand apart and retain individuality from other cities in the UK so we always look to curate our product selections in line with that attitude. Sneaker and outdoor culture will always be the lifeblood of the city but I always want the store to evolve and embrace emerging brands as well as housing the powerhouse brands that our consumers know SEVENSTORE for.
All businesses are having a tough time with the pandemic - how has it been for you adjusting to this new reality?
We place content as one of the pillars of our business and this ethos allowed us to weather the pandemic storm by keeping our existing consumers engaged and bringing new consumers on board. Having a young, outward looking team has meant we know what our consumers want to read, buy and share, and this proved to be invaluable over the past twelve months. The real adjustment came from having to trade a web only business which was frustrating after working so hard to establish a physical space in an out of town location. The rebuilding starts from April of this year and we’re ready to go on that journey again.
Who are a few emerging and established designers you’re loving in 2021 and why?
I love what Casablanca and 1017 ALYX 9SM have done in recent years as both designers have brought such strong identities to the marketplace and our consumers buy into the key pieces which allow you to buy the brands in a ‘true’ sense. We have also bought brands like Needles and Visvim from the first season the store opened and these remain cornerstone brands for the business.
Lastly any exciting plans and projects coming up for SEVENSTORE this year you want to share with us?
We always have a busy schedule! We’re working hard on some exciting and safe store events for our consumers, collectively we’ve missed that face to face interaction. This year is also really exciting for product launches and we have some amazing activations and content partnerships coming up with Arc’teryx, Nike and New Balance. After a year of being fully digital we’re really looking forward to physical activations again.
Shop the full SEVENSTORE collection from Complex SHOP here.
