Cult Brand Eytys Has Become Part Of Soho's Streetwear Expansion

There’s an area of Soho that’s booming with streetwear brands. You know the spot. The pathways around Peter, Brewer and Wardour Street that have lines of people snaking around them as they queue patiently for the latest drops from Supreme, Palace, Stüssy, and now, Eytys.

The Stockholm-based brand, which launched online with footwear in 2013 to a joyful reception from editors looking for streamlined trainer styles not owned by the masses, is opening the doors of its first London outpost on 75 Brewer Street today. A bricks-and-mortar presence in the capital has been the plan since founders Max Schiller and Jonathan Hirschfeld unveiled Eytys’ first shop in Stockholm in 2016, but the 1,000-square-foot space features much more than the thick-soled pumps that populated its first retail concept. Over the years, the footwear offering has expanded to include a jeans collection and a soon-to-launch unisex ready-to-wear collection.

“The brand evolves naturally as we change as people and we’ve been lucky to have a community around us who continuously check back in on what we are doing and support the collections,” Schiller tells Vogue of Eytys' evolution. “And, luckily, since we own the brand, we don’t have to make compromises on creativity and development of new ideas.”

Eytys’ new home is indicative of this freedom. Influenced by ’60s Swedish brutalism and ’70s and ’80s postmodernism, the starting point for the store was archival images of Shiro Kuramata’s spaces for Issey Miyake in Japan in the early ’80s. “Décor and architecture are a natural extension of the brand because it’s another arm of design – and that’s our passion and the starting point of everything we do,” Schiller explains of the myriad inspirations on the team’s moodboard. “We wanted the design to reflect the ethos of the brand: current with a whiff of retro, a stage for art and creativity, while not taking ourselves too seriously.” There’s concrete and aluminium in abundance, a monochrome-taupe colour scheme with light tubes inspired by the Centre Pompidou, and artwork by progressive female artists, including Hilde Retzlaff and Linnéa Sjöberg – a veritable mixtape of ideas.

As for its location next to Palace, the founders are non-plussed by the skateboarders ready-and-waiting to snap its wares. “Soho has always been happening in one way or another,” Schiller says. "It's an easy, central spot, I think it's rare to visit London without passing through it.”

Competition from rising streetwear talent and industry heavyweights, like the hypebeasts behind Supreme and Off-White, doesn’t concern Eytys, either. “We’re in the right place at the right time,” Schiller continues. “We’ve been making shoes for five years now and we’re lucky that the movement we are a part of continues to gain momentum and support.” As the brand continues to grow at a steady pace, Eytys' new position in the UK market validates its confidence.