The label set to include Ireland in the streetwear conversation has fans lining around the block for €95 hoodies. Kate Demolder writes.
Robbie Fidgeon Kavanagh (26) and Charlie Proctor-Quigley (25) "kind of halfway," met online. "Back on Facebook, when that used to be a thing, there was a Facebook group literally called Streetwear Ireland, which we both followed as teenagers," Fidgeon Kavanagh says.
"And then we also ran into each other at a couple of events in Brown Thomas, where I was working at the time. Charlie used to just come in all the time and talk about shoes for ages. One day, he basically asked outright "Can I work here?" and as it happened, we were hiring, so we took him on."
"I realised it was better to be hanging out there and making money, rather than spending it," Proctor-Quigley smiles. "We were both like, 18 and 19 at that stage," Fidgeon Kavanagh says. "And it was around that time that EMPORIUM began."
Dublin-based streetwear brand EMPORIUM first began life as an events organisation and curation brand. "The way markets have become, like, a big thing now," Fidgeon Kavanagh says. "Back then, they weren't really such a big thing. At least for, like, my generation. I figured that if we got together multiple brands in the same place, we could create a community amongst the brand leaders.
"That worked really well for a while, and then Charlie was like, 'Hey, we should make merch'. So we made a t-shirt, and then that t-shirt sold better than all the brands at the pop ups. So we restocked and that sold out, then we did two colourways, then four, then eight, then different graphics… and then we eventually had a miniature collection."
"Then we started selling Levi 550s with rhinestone graphics in a sort of a Western font down the leg," Proctor-Quigley interjects. "We found a place selling them for £12 each, and started working." "That was six years ago," Fidgeon Kavanagh smiles. "And it still feels like we’re learning on the spot today."
The brand's original mission was to be the flagbearers of streetwear culture, style and community in Ireland, a place regularly overlooked when talk turns to European fashion.
"When you go to every other capital city in Europe, there's a scene, and it's tied into the vintage stores, the cool restaurants, the bars. All the artists, like the musicians, wear those brands, and it's cohesive, it fits together."
They also believed––based on their experience researching streetwear basics––that they could turn garments such as oversized hoodies and vintage, durable denim into high-concept luxury items. By 2020, EMPORIUM clothes had begun showing up in boutique, independent stores around the city, the kind with which streetwear aficionados from all around Ireland are familiar.
The first collections featured t-shirts and thick, comfortable tracksuits with bold graphics in traditionally male silhouettes. From the start, they sold well.
"At one stage we had a 120-person queue around the block," Fidgeon Kavanagh says. "There was a guy from Limerick who arrived here for eight, and we weren’t planning to open until 12."
Robbie Fidgeon Kavanagh and Charlie Proctor-Quigley grew up in Glenageary and Dalkey, the children of lecturers, seamstresses and entrepreneurs. At college, never gave credence to an education in fashion–Fidgeon Kavanagh studied Geography and Sociology, Proctor-Quigley, Mechanical Engineering – but veered in its direction as a result of personal tendencies.
They both took up internships during college, working in corporate branding, oftentimes at the coalface of cult-status fashion brands. (When asked whether they were the kinds of people who queued overnight for Yeezys, they replied: "No, we sold them.")
Soon they grew interested in the social messaging of clothing, and how the wearing of niche brands told a story without uttering a word. "The culture surrounding things like basketball shoes and how certain brands are identifiable to certain people really spoke to me," Fidgeon Kavanagh says. "How you could recognise a cultural subgroup and have so much in common with them."
"Whereas I was always into the concept of dressing eclectically, and how streetwear allowed for that," Proctor-Quigley smiles. "How you can wear a dress shirt with shorts, and that you can not stick to the normality of what clothes go with what. It’s just whatever feels right."
In the autumn of last year, Fidgeon Kavanagh and Proctor-Quigley decided on the idea of a bricks-and-mortar presence. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, they had sold multiple units online ("We bit the bullet and ordered thousands of euros worth of stock, when piles of clothes showed up at my parent’s house I was like… Oh s**t, this is real") but Fidgeon Kavanagh was set on a physical storefront.
"I was less into the idea," Proctor-Quigley laughed, "but I got there eventually".
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The original idea was to rent a space from Black Friday to the end of the year, an idea that tested the waters of store leasing. Eventually, they found a space, but were let down at the last minute.
"Two days before we were due to open, the guy calls us––after putting us through six months of hell looking for us to do anti-money-laundering checks, articles of incorporation, paying extra VAT… basically trying to get us to jump through hoops––and says the deal's off," Fidgeon Kavanagh says.
"At this stage, we were desperate. We literally walked the streets of Dublin calling numbers attached to TO LET signs. We eventually found this spot", he circles his arms around the Drury Street store in which we currently sit, "and the estate agent basically turned it around for us in 48 hours. That weekend was crazy."
"Rails, stock, paint, rugs," Proctor-Quigley says. "We didn’t have a till for the first few weeks, but we were open." When Christmas came that year, they checked in with the owner. Almost immediately, he offered a 10-year lease. "We negotiated it down to something reasonable," Fidgeon Kavanagh smiles. "And then we spent the next days weeks deciding whether it was insane to stay there or not."
"We decided it was insane but feasible," Proctor-Quigley says. "And now we’re here for the next five years."
Today, EMPORIUM is stocked on Drury Street, several spaces in Japan––a place which feels like an inspirational hub for the brand––and Brown Thomas. "It’s a really nice full circle moment," Proctor-Quigley says. "The buying team also didn’t even realise that we’d worked there before, which made it feel especially complimentary."
Looking into the future, their vision of where they want to land is already carved out. "Philosophically, I really like the idea of intentionally keeping things small," Fidgeon Kavanagh says. "That’s something Patagonia does so well. Creatively, Charlie is great at pushing boundaries and progressing, and then I meditate on whether it makes sense.
"That’ll continue," he smiles. "But for the minute, really we’re just looking to keep making good clothes," Proctor-Quigley says. "Put Ireland on the map globally and for our space to really feel like home. Like, there’s family photos on the walls, all the clothes are meant to make people feel comfortable overall, and as so many people who come into the store say: oh my god, they’re actually good quality."
EMPORIUM is located at 21 Drury St, Dublin 2.
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