Start

My experience in Start was a bit of an akward one! Their wesbite says they close at 7pm and I arrived at about 6.30pm, and there were no other people in there apart from myself, so they were essentially trying to get me out of the shop after I said I didn't need any help. Yet another shop that sells Comme Des Garcons, but only small things like the afteshave and wallets. The rest of the items were Start London shirts, which were presented in small piles and looked quite pristine, which I definitely think is what the shop was going for style wise, with everything being tailored.

The way they their shirts were arranged meant I didn't really want to pick anything up to have a proper look at it in case I ruined their display, which I think means to shop there you would have to have a very haphazard way of shopping, and just pick things you didn't really have a proper look at, unless you really didn't care about that.

They didn't have a lot of range, but I think that they didn't really need to have it, as it's a very particular kind of stock. It's in East London so really they're selling to people who are saturated by vintage shops and probably want something new for a change or for something particular, like meetings or interviews, but don't go into the shop a lot. I would say that means their age is early 20s/30s and works in business like arena where smart dress is necessary despite their interest in the trendy area of East London.

As Start, like Acne, is its own brand, it's very different from the other high end shops and therefore avoids a lot of competition, and also helps itself to associate with these other shops like Dover Street by stocking the same brands but different products.