North London Food & Culture

Ted Baker comes to Blustons

The clothes brand has set up a pop-up installation in the windows of K-Town's iconic former clothes store

Ted Baker at Blustons. Photo: Stephen Emms
Like or dislike? Ted Baker at Blustons. Photo: Stephen Emms

There was a bit of a buzz on social media this weekend as Kentishtowners first noticed the colourful new display at legendary Grade II-listed store Blustons, which closed back in March.

And we can reveal that the brand currently lighting it up is….drum roll….Ted Baker.

It's not the first time a fashion brand has used the striking frontage. Here's Blustons featured in Vogue, August 2011. Photo: Vogue
It’s not the first time a brand has used the striking frontage. Here’s Blustons featured in Vogue, August 2011. Photo: Vogue

Since his beginnings as a shirt specialist in Glasgow back in the late 1980s, the designer has, we hear, “always remained proud of his roots” – and to underline this down-to-earthiness he’s apparently decided to take over Kentish Town’s most spectacular double-fronted windows. Why? Why not, indeed. The slogan is, if you look at the gallery of images below, ‘Keeping Tradition Alive’.

Atmospheric stripes. Photo: SE
Atmospheric stripes. Photo: SE

The old Blustons store was, in some ways, as down-to-earth as you could get. Opened in 1931, the much-loved family-run Kentish Town ladieswear outfitters (read our interview with the former Michael Albert owner here) had a pleasingly old-fashioned emphasis on traditional service to women of a certain age (not to mention a core group of male customers, too).


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And that red polka dot dress in the window over the years became as symbolic of NW5 as, well, almost anything else.

Former owner Michael Albert in his store before it shut. Photo: Tom Storr
Former owner Michael Albert in his store before it shut, with red polka dress to the left. Photo: Tom Storr

“It’s a 3 month project, and only a window display,” says Ted Baker’s Hannah Gallie. “We’re trying to inject some life back into the gorgeous windows until a new owner comes along. And there will be no Ted Baker signage; it’s for people to discover for themselves.”

Be sure to swing by to check it out – and let us know what you think of the surprise Ted Baker takeover below.

Find Blustons at 213 Kentish Town Road NW5

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The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.