Partner Article

Ve Interactive’s been to Iceland

Traveling back from a recce to Reykjavik for Ve Interactive’s omnichannel concept store, The Clerkenwell Collection, what impressed me yet again, was the unconventional inventiveness of the Icelandic people. In design. In fashion. In music (Bjork, Of Monsters And Men, Sigur Rós), in the content and interior design of their stores. Well actually, in everything.

This is primarily due to the relentless isolation and massive scenery of the place. But what a heady antidote to the self-consciousness of the rest of the world. And by the way, this observation wasn’t the result of being over-stimulated by the midnight sun, I’ve been to Iceland in the depth of winter too.

You will either find this lack of conventionality in Icelandic culture disorienting or inspiring. But it’s a wavelength that The Clerkenwell Collection identifies with in its maverick outpost of Clerkenwell, removed from London’s homogenised West End streets, breaking all the retail rules and defying the laws of austerity physics. And if recent history is anything to go by, its magnetic attraction is already pulling a like minded clientele daily, who have little or no need for mainstream validation, drawn purely by the inventiveness of our designer makers, (a collective force of nature in themselves) and the ethos of those involved in the creation of this hotspot.

So whilst Ve gets busy working on the digital core of The Clerkenwell Collection to help its creative magma trickle through to a global tribe, if you happen to be passing by in EC1, take some time to acquaint yourself with it. Don’t be a stranger. Just like Iceland, The Clerkenwell Collection aspires to one day have a ‘phonebook’ that is listed alphabetically by first names.

[Ve Interactive is the digital partner in Tech City’s first omnichannel destination store - The Clerkenwell Collection. Opened in March 2013, the independent concept store will provide valuable online-offline integration learnings that we will be sharing with our clients.]

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathy Heslop .