We Make London’s 5th Birthday

There is nothing like the words ‘drinks and nibbles’ to make a girl go giddy on a Friday night, but throw in some fashion, crafts and Nutella drenched Danish donuts and there were almost tears of joy as I skipped out of the office in the direction of Camden Lock Market to check out We Make London’s fifth birthday bash at their gorgeous new pop up shop.

We Make London has been bringing together crafty geniuses from across the capital for five whole years, offering a platform for British creatives to sell their work through unique events, fairs and even a newly published book, Inspired:London.

I can’t tell you how the first half an hour of the party went as I was completely absorbed inside the beautiful We Make London pop-up;  a colourful curiosity shop of serious design talent with just the right amount of hand-crafted whimsy sprinkled on top.

With a variety of trinkets and fancies that made Aladdin’s cave look like a garden shed, the little boutique has it all from kitsch embroidered baby-gros to 3D paper crafted works of art. Amongst my favourites were the amazingly unique jewellery pieces, such as Benu’s geometrically gorgeous hand cut and pieced together leather necklaces and, on the more subtle side of the spectrum, Crystal and Stone’s  delicate gold ring pendants on glittering fine chains which had me almost affectionately pecking at them like an actual human magpie.

If bunting is your bag then you might as well head down here with a sleeping bag and a box of cornflakes and just make it your heavenly home for the whole summer as designer Celia Reid has created some of the most tasteful and unusual bunting around, accompanied by a gorgeous selection of greetings cards which I wanted to buy and never send to anyone so I could hoard them all for myself.

Back on the cobbles outside it was clear that Friday night’s jubilations were all about celebrating what the collective does best: bringing together design talent, letting the creative juices flow (which were sangria flavoured and fruit filled, YUM) and even included a live music performance of a sweetly sung cover of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie. The cherry on the birthday cake was a live catwalk show to showcase a selection of the accessories stocked in the little shop of curiosities by Hatastic.

Perusing little treasure troves like the We Make London boutique are what summer is made for, so make sure you pop in to the pop-up before the end of June to see what handcrafted British talent is really made of.

You can find the We Make London pop-up shop at:

Camden Lock Place
Chalk Farm Road
Camden
NW1 8AF